Faith Explained
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It has well been said that all Christians use the same thesaurus but different dictionaries.
I wholeheartedly agree.
When Christians talk about various theological words, we must be careful that our word meaning are correct.
Some words are so closely related to other words that we may think them interchangeable, when in fact they are separate.
Today's talk is to understand Faith.
Not a sermon on faith, how to grow your faith, how to sustain your faith… nothing like that: Today is simple on Faith as a biblical concept.
What Faith IS and What Faith IS NOT.
Faith is 2 things at the same time on opposite ends.
Faith is absolutely precious. So precious is faith that we are warned against causing others to stumble in their faith.
1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the person who eats and causes offense.
So its incredibly precious.
However
Faith also means nothing. Millions of Muslims have faith in Allah.
Million of Hindu’s have faith in their gods.
Faith, as an possession of the human heart, on its own, is neither precious, effective or valuable.
Faith is only as valuable as that which Faith is has as its object.
Faith is useless on its own.
But Faith in God is precious.
Why?
When God chose between Ishmael and Isaac, God was choosing between 2 covenants.
A covenant of works through Hagar and a Covenant of Faith through Sarah.
Its absolutely vital that every christian understands that it was God who made this choice, who made this decree.
What does this choice say?
That God has chosen to save sinners in response to His chosen Covenant, which is a covenant of Faith.
So God has chosen to save unworthy sinners on the basis of Faith.
Often simply refereed to as Belief.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned.
50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
15 so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So Faith and Salvation CANNOT be separated.
But what actually IS faith?
Faith is NOT a work.
Faith is NOT merits.
Faith is NOT what saves you.
“I have Faith in Jesus Christ and thus I am Saved”.
This sounds right, but we must make sure that we speak truth clearly.
Lets look at the Father of the Faith: Abraham.
What does the faith of Abraham teach us about God’s choice of the covenant of faith?
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Look very carefully at v3
Abraham's Faith did not make him righteous.
Faith cannot make a person righteous.
Yes, even faith in God CANNOT make a person righteous.
Faith is an un-meritorious belief.
Look at what v3 says:
God, by choosing a covenant of faith over works, credited or declared Abraham righteous
- IT WAS GOD WHO DID THIS, NOT ABRAHAM OR HIS FAITH: GOD!!!!!
God, in response to Abraham’s un-merits faith, credited righteousness to him.
Abraham's faith did not make him righteous, nor make him worthy of righteousness.
The work of Salvation is all of God.
Now, where many people get confused is between Faith in the heart and its effect on the person.
5 For Moses writes of the righteousness that is based on the Law, that the person who performs them will live by them.
6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),
7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
I want you to notice 2 things and make sure you don't confuse them:
1: Faith is in the heart and is credited as righteousness.
2: Confession is in the Mouth and results in Salvation.
Do not confuse Faith for confession.
Faith is not a work.
Confession is a work.
If you confuse faith and confession you will end so confused.
“Why would ever confuse the 2?”.
By substituting Decision in place of Confession.
We are saved by God alone by crediting our worthless faith as righteousness.
We are not saved by our confession, as if our confession has power to save.
Only Jesus has power to save.
Likewise, we talk about our decision to accept Christ as Lord.
But understand that you are not saved by the power of your decision.
Your decision did not save you.
Jesus saved you.
How?
By crediting righteousness in response to your faith.
And you faith then brought you to a place of confession and decision.
And as Romans says:
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Notice that our decision does NOT make us or result in our righteousness at all.
Righteousness is given to us by God in response to faith.
But Salvation, that is to be part of the New Covenant IS based on confession/decision because we must decide or as Joshua puts “Choose you this day whom you will serve”.
HOWEVER it is NOT our choosing that saves us: Yes even if our choosing is to choose God, that still is NOT what saves us or even makes us righteous.
This choice/decision/confession is NOT what God credits as righteousness.
Its Faith that God credits NOT the confession.
The confession acts in a similar concept as Baptism from an Ordinance Tradition:
Baptism is not “what saves you” - Christ is who saves you, but baptism acts as the confession of our faith.
Likewise, us confessing Christ as Lord, is not what saves us - Christ saves us, but the confession is the manifestation of our faith.
NEVER confuse Faith with its Manifestation of Confession.
Next
Where does Faith comes from?
Faith is simply trust.
Human being are all capible of trust.
When we speak about Christian Faith we speak about trust in God.
I would go further as say that Christian Faith is trust in God’s Covenant Promises.
So “Faith” in general is a natural ability of humanity.
However, what about Faith in God?
Well this is a bit more nuanced.
Here, again, we must not confuse terms.
Faith in God is NOT the same as Believ in God.
Belief in God is not a matter of trust.
Believing in God is not credit as righteousness.
Its not that Abraham belevin IN God that was credited, it was rather that Abraham believed God - Trusted what God was saying.
This is what was credited as righteousness.
After all:
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
God has revealed His existance to all.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
So again:
Do not confuse evidenctual belief in God’s existance as “Saving Faith”.
Where does the Faith that God credits as righteousness come from?
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Faith in God that is credited as righteousness CANNOT be present in the heart of fallen man without God providing His Holy Word first!
Thats why:
14 How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?
15 But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Let us look now at how important this is by looking at a bit of church History.
Monergism vs Synergism.
This is a very important piece of, notn only church history, but present importance.
Its birth resulted from the reformation led by Matrin Luther and then others.
This was a explanation of God’s salvation that stood in opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic church preached a synergistic salvation.
That we are faved by Faith (God) + Works (Man).
The reformers called this demonstribly wrong.
Insisting, as the bible says, that Salvation is ALL the work of God.
Shortly after Luthers Death the Book of Concord was written as a statment of Lutheren Faith.
Lets look at an extract:
“Man of himself, or from his natural powers cannot contribuate anything or help to his conversion, and that conversion is not only in part, but altogether an operation, gift and work of the Holy Ghost alone, who accomplishes it and effects it by His virtue and power, through the Word in the understanding of the heart and will of man.” Article 2, Free Will 89.
Martin Luther himself said:
“If any man doth describe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the freewill of man, he knoweth nothing of Grace, and he hath not learned Jesus right.”
I absolutly affirm this 100%.
However, again, the church got confused.
The church got confused between the Giving of Faith through God’s Word which is credited to as by God as righteousness.
And the manifestation of that faith through our confession.
Who got this confused: Calvanists.
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Notice the confusion between Faith and Confession.
Faith is NOT a work, confession is.
No Christian boats of their confession. Nor does any Christian boast of their Faith.
As Paul said:
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished;
26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Clip 2
Point 1
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people,
Point 2