Johann
Active Member
Two Kinds of Faith
Written by Mike Gendron.
The Bible clearly tells us that the only way to come to God is through faith in Jesus Christ. However, faith is misunderstood. Jesus warned against false faith or non-saving faith in Matthew 7:21-23. He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you: Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Saving faith should not be confused with faith in a profession, or faith in faith, or faith in a decision, or faith in a prayer. Let us look at two kinds of faith.
First, there is non-saving faith, which is temporal and usually is found in a person's head but not their heart. It is faith based on a historical event that Jesus is the one true God who died for the sins of the world. Many have this head knowledge but this kind of faith cannot save. The demons exercise this kind of faith and they certainly are not saved! "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (James 2:19). Professing Christians who merely acknowledge the historical facts of Jesus Christ without repentance are not saved.
Temporary faith lasts for a while, then fades away because it does not have any roots (Matthew 13:18-23). Jesus describes this in the parable of the sower in which the Word of God is sown upon shallow soil. But because of the shallow soil, there are no deep roots and the life is only temporary and quickly withers. Temporary faith is also like the seed which was sown on rocky places. This is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away. Some people have a religious experience or make a public profession of Christ but their faith fades away when the demands of the Christian life confront them.
True saving faith is a gift of God that will persevere. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). True faith is based on what God has revealed in His Word. The object of saving or justifying faith is Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished on behalf of sinners through His substitutionary death and resurrection. It is granted by God when the sinner, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, is humbled in godly sorrow for his sin. When God gives him grace to believe in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross, that person is transformed by the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
Saving faith is exercised when a person comes to the end of himself, recognizes his hopelessness before God, and turns from his sin and self-righteousness to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ONLY One who can save him. This repentance involves a change of mind such that the person turns away from his life of rebellion toward God and casts himself wholly upon the mercy of God to save him (Acts 2:38; Luke 13:3; Mark 1:15). The Apostle Paul described this work in his own life in Philippians 3:8-9. "More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."
Saving faith also involves a total reliance upon Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. This belief in Christ goes beyond a mere head knowledge of Jesus to a trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. Faith means "Forsaking All, I Trust Him." The Apostle Paul never boasted about anything he did in order to be saved, because he realized that it was all of Christ and none of him. "May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).
Saving faith also involves receiving Christ Himself as your Redeemer, Savior, and Lord.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). The adopted child of God enters into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ as his Lord. Jesus has redeemed him from the power of sin and has applied His blood and righteousness to his life and declared him to be righteous before God. Jesus has saved him from the wrath of God and there is now no condemnation to fear (Rom. 8:1). Praise be to God!
Written by Mike Gendron.
The Bible clearly tells us that the only way to come to God is through faith in Jesus Christ. However, faith is misunderstood. Jesus warned against false faith or non-saving faith in Matthew 7:21-23. He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you: Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Saving faith should not be confused with faith in a profession, or faith in faith, or faith in a decision, or faith in a prayer. Let us look at two kinds of faith.
First, there is non-saving faith, which is temporal and usually is found in a person's head but not their heart. It is faith based on a historical event that Jesus is the one true God who died for the sins of the world. Many have this head knowledge but this kind of faith cannot save. The demons exercise this kind of faith and they certainly are not saved! "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (James 2:19). Professing Christians who merely acknowledge the historical facts of Jesus Christ without repentance are not saved.
Temporary faith lasts for a while, then fades away because it does not have any roots (Matthew 13:18-23). Jesus describes this in the parable of the sower in which the Word of God is sown upon shallow soil. But because of the shallow soil, there are no deep roots and the life is only temporary and quickly withers. Temporary faith is also like the seed which was sown on rocky places. This is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away. Some people have a religious experience or make a public profession of Christ but their faith fades away when the demands of the Christian life confront them.
True saving faith is a gift of God that will persevere. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). True faith is based on what God has revealed in His Word. The object of saving or justifying faith is Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished on behalf of sinners through His substitutionary death and resurrection. It is granted by God when the sinner, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, is humbled in godly sorrow for his sin. When God gives him grace to believe in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross, that person is transformed by the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
Saving faith is exercised when a person comes to the end of himself, recognizes his hopelessness before God, and turns from his sin and self-righteousness to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ONLY One who can save him. This repentance involves a change of mind such that the person turns away from his life of rebellion toward God and casts himself wholly upon the mercy of God to save him (Acts 2:38; Luke 13:3; Mark 1:15). The Apostle Paul described this work in his own life in Philippians 3:8-9. "More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."
Saving faith also involves a total reliance upon Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. This belief in Christ goes beyond a mere head knowledge of Jesus to a trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. Faith means "Forsaking All, I Trust Him." The Apostle Paul never boasted about anything he did in order to be saved, because he realized that it was all of Christ and none of him. "May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).
Saving faith also involves receiving Christ Himself as your Redeemer, Savior, and Lord.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). The adopted child of God enters into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ as his Lord. Jesus has redeemed him from the power of sin and has applied His blood and righteousness to his life and declared him to be righteous before God. Jesus has saved him from the wrath of God and there is now no condemnation to fear (Rom. 8:1). Praise be to God!
