On Saving Faith

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Romans 10:14-17

Faith is the empty and open spiritual hand which receives from God all the blessings and promises of Jesus Christ. It is empty because we can bring nothing to God. It is open so that we may receive all things from Him.

In order for us to appreciate what God has done in the salvation of His people, we must realize what our natural spiritual state was. The apostle Paul informs us that by nature we were spiritually “dead in our trespasses and sins.” [Ephesians 2:1]. Whenever we talk about faith, we must remember that this is where we start spiritually. Faith cannot be self-generated in the spiritually dead. It can only occur in those who have spiritual life, so God must first make us spiritually alive before we can have faith. God, by his grace, chose to give us spiritual life, and by the power of the Holy Spirit brings us to have faith in Jesus, as Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9. If our spiritual life and faith in Christ are the work of God, then all the glory for our salvation belongs to God.

We do not create our faith, nor do we bring our faith into its completion. Both the authoring and perfecting of our faith is the unique work of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We find this explicitly stated in Hebrews 12:2. Jesus is not only the initiator of our faith in Him, He is also the one who increases our faith until, through it, He leads us into the Kingdom of Heaven. We believe in Christ today because of what the Holy Spirit does in us, and we will believe even more tomorrow, because of what the Holy Spirit will do within us.

Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit usually uses an instrument in bringing us to faith in Christ: the Word of God. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” Not only does the Holy Spirit give spiritual life to the spiritually dead, He also gives spiritual ears to hear the Word of God. Our faith is rooted in the knowledge of God’s promises to us through Jesus Christ, and these promises can only be known from the Word. For our faith to remain strong it must continually be rooted in the Word. When we are close to the Word our faith in Christ remains strong and grows in strength; the moment we wander from the Word, our faith weakens.

Sometimes our faith in Jesus is weak, and sometimes it is strong. Sometimes this faith is small, and sometimes it is big. Faith exists in different degrees in believers, but even if our faith in Jesus is as tiny as a mustard seed [Matthew 17:20], it is still faith in Jesus. Just as a small candle can dispel the oppressive blackness of a cave, so also a small faith in Jesus Christ can save.

Sometimes this faith in Jesus is attacked and weakened by ourselves, by others, or even by Satan. But in the end this faith in Jesus will be victorious, because faith in Jesus ultimately belongs to God and not to us. Although we may be defeated in many things, God is never defeated in anything. God, who began this good work in us, will bring it to completion [Philippians 1:6]. The Holy Spirit will bring us through the valley of doubt to the place God wants us to be, even if Jesus Himself has to intervene and intercede to get us safely home. Remember how Jesus said these words to Peter in Luke 22:31-32, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail." And remember the words of the apostle John in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” John is saying that since our faith is born of God it will be victorious over the world. No matter how much our faith in Jesus Christ is shaken or bent by the world it will not be snuffed out. John affirms that our faith in Jesus will be victorious not only in one battle, or few, but that though it be assailed a hundred thousand times, it will prevail over the world, because it is born of and belongs to God. And the world cannot be victorious over God.

— Pastor Lance