Oct 15
24
True Faith
Todd Nibert
True faith is in a Person. “Abraham believed God. ” Paul said, “I know
Whom I have believed. ” I do not trust the finished work of Christ. I
trust Him who finished the work. Faith is not believing that Christ died
for me. I may believe that He died for me when it may be that He did
not. Faith is believing that He in His life, death, resurrection, and
Person is able to save me. Faith is a reliance upon Him! Faith is not
believing a doctrine, proposition, or historical event, although all of
that is involved in faith. Faith is believing a Person! Faith is not
giving assent to the Truth, although it does give assent to the Truth!
Living faith trusts the Living Lord. What we believe is determined by
who we believe. If we believe Him, what we believe will be settled. It
is impossible to believe Him and not believe sovereign grace! As Henry
Mahan said, “We do not come to Christ through doctrine, we come to true
doctrine through Christ.
Faith
The Greek word translated “faith” (pistos) means primarily “firm
persuasion.” “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), being sure of what we hope
for, and certain of what we do not see. This faith is that conviction of
the truths of God’s word and His gospel wrought in the heart by God, and
which leads one to rely upon the promises of God in Christ. It has three
vital aspects: knowledge of the truth; belief of the truth; and trust in
the truth. This faith is “the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:14;
18:27; Philippians 2:19), given in regeneration and exercised forever
more. He who possesses faith may say, “I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until
that Day” (2 Timothy 2:12). – Daniel Parks
Saved By Faith
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
There are many who fancy themselves more theologically sound than Christ
Himself, who cringe at the teaching of saving faith. They say things
like, “faith doesn’t save, grace does,” or perhaps some even more crafty
wording, fashioned to make the clear teaching of Christ better fit their
preconceived doctrinal “position.” If you ever find yourself needing to
qualify or alter what Christ plainly said, for fear of compromising your
doctrinal position, then you need a new position. Or better yet, cease
to take positions at all, and simply believe what God said. Since Christ
said to a sinner, “thy faith hath saved thee,” I would be afraid NOT to
say it, and teach it.
Only faith, saving faith, the faith of God’s elect, God-given faith
exalts the grace of God and the God of grace. And only this faith makes
salvation sure to all of God’s elect. Rom 4:16 Therefore [it is] of
faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed . . . Why should we be hesitant to say the rain makes
the flowers grow? We know Who made the rain, and Who sends it and causes
it to fall when and where He pleases. You could argue that it is not the
rain, but the clouds that give life, because without the clouds there
would be no rain. Or you could just thank God for the clouds and rain,
and rejoice that He would delight to make it fall on such a worm as I. –
Chris Cunningham
The identification of a believer
“… the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Ga 2:20
The mark of Spiritual circumcision of the heart is faith in Christ. The
believer’s life in this world is governed by the new heart which is
freely given and sanctified by the Spirit of the Living God to a
preeminent faith in Christ. The abiding presence of “Christ in you”
reveals a distinct new life in contrast to our inherent, carnal heart
and nature. This is entirely a work of the omnipotent Spirit of God.
The child of God is identified and known by his living relationship with
Christ. The believer is identified by a new heart … not a renovation
(repairs, redecoration, or remodeling) of the old – “A new heart also
will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you” (Eze 36:26).
Spiritual circumcision is only comparative to fleshly circumcision in
the identification of a particular people – “He is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not
in the letter” (Romans 2:29).
The burden of emphasis is significantly directed to the heart that
recognizes “the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me”, and
therefore in response loves “Him Who first loved us” (1John 4:19). The
God-given love for Christ moves the believer to worship, adoration,
gratitude and commitment.
The new heart has a discernment of truth and error. The child of God
knows the voice of his Shepherd and has an undeniable will to follow Him
– “And when He putteth forth His Own sheep, He goeth before them, and
the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they
not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of
strangers” (John 10:4-5). God the Father identifies His children by
giving them a heart for Christ.
All else will ultimately be revealed as uncircumcision which is unbelief
and identifies those who perish.- Tommy Robbins
Believe ye?
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28).
This was a question the Lord asked two blind men regarding His ability
to give them sight. Their answer was, “Yea, Lord.” Here we are given an
illustration of what faith really is.
Faith is not believing you are saved, or believing that God loves you
and Christ died for you, or believing all of your sins are forgiven, or
believing you are perfect in God’s sight. These things belong to the
realm of assurance. Faith is neither more nor less than believing that
He is able to save you. Paul said in II Timothy 1:12, “I am persuaded
that He is able….” Assurance that you are saved and all of your sins are
forgiven will come out of that, but the actual act of faith is believing
He is able. If you lack assurance, perhaps you have never really
believed that “He is able.” Believing He is able will lead to the
assurance of these things, because you are relying upon His ability, and
not your own.-Todd Nibert
I Believe God
Gary Shepard
“Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be
even as it was told me.” Acts 27:25
Like the apostle Paul, my peace in every storm is in what God has said!
Whether it is in the storm of realizing and feeling the danger of my
sins or in one of the many stormy circumstances of life, it is the same,
I rest in what God has said. If I am in doubt of what God says in His
word in one place, what is to keep me from not believing what He says in
another? Faith is believing what God says concerning what He has done
and will do AND what He says that I am! If I were Noah and had lived in
his day, could I have believed that I was what God called me? Would I
have been what God said he was? Was it a future thing He spoke of when
he said to Noah, “for thee have I seen righteous before me in this
generation.”? (Gen. 7:1) Did God the judge of all the earth do right
when He destroyed all the inhabits of Sodom and Gomorrah? Yes, they were
unrighteous. Did He deliver “righteous Lot” because he was actually
righteous then or not? (Gen. 18) If the Bible says that “the Lord is
righteous,” is that to be taken at face value but not that Abraham was
righteous who was made the righteousness of God in Christ? Abraham who
believed God, who looked by faith to Jesus Christ the Righteous for
everything? What is justification but God declaring us righteous in
Christ? The only righteousness there is for a sinner is that
righteousness which is the gift of God, imputed to the sinner and
received by faith. It is in Christ and only Him and the righteous have
been so for a long time because God put them in Christ and sees them in
Christ! This may not fit a man’s theological timetable but it is what
God says! Thank God, His people are what He says they are in Jesus
Christ through His cross death and they have been since He made them the
righteousness of God in Him. What amazing joy they experience when He
reveals this to them by His Spirit through the gospel and enables them
to believe! God, help us to believe what you say.
Justification by Faith
It has been said that a church either stands or falls by the blessed
truth of justification by faith and their view of it, and their stand on
it. Faith is the opposite of works, faith is not doing but believing,
faith has to do with resting in Christ and His obedience and His
righteousness.
Faith is the means of our justification. “Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
Faith receives the truth of the gospel the merits of Christ. Faith
receives the doing and dieing of the Lord Jesus Christ. “We conclude
that a man is justified without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Faith is not its own object; those who have been given faith do not look
to their faith but to Christ who is the object of their faith. We know
there is no merit in our faith but in our Savior. Christ is faiths
object and it is based on knowledge. “For whosever shall call on the
Lord shall be saved. How then can they call on him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher” (Rom. 10:13-14).
Faith is based on God’s word, it is believing with the heart. Faith is
based on trust, on commitment. We don’t trust our faith we trust the
Lord Jesus. We don’t trust our feelings, we trust our Master who lived
for us as our representative before God, and who died as our substitute
bearing our sin away to a place where God doesn’t see it. We don’t trust
our knowledge or our intellect, we trust Him who has infinite knowledge
of us.
Oh, what comfort in knowing He knows us, that all is open and naked with
him and that even though He knows us as we are our Justification is sure
and secure, because it is what He did for us. We change, but not Him,
our faith sometimes is so weak and feeble but He is our strength.
Listen, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by THE FAITH JESUS CHRIST, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the Faith Of Christ” (Gal. 2:16).- Don Bell.