The Meaning of Faith
1. In Relation to Salvation
a. Believing the Gospel of Christ (Rom 1:16)
This is the power of God unto salvation.
b. Receiving the Christ of the Gospel (John 1:12)
Those that believe on Him will receive the power to become the son’s and daughter’s of God.
2. In Relation to God
a. To Believe God or Trust His Word (John 5:24)
We rely on the truth of God’s testimony.
b. To Believe in God or Trust Him (John 14:1)
To rely on God Himself.
3. In Relation to Prayer
a. Assurance of God’s Power to Fulfill His Word (Jer 32:17)
b. Assurance of God’s Will as Revealed in His Word (John15:7)
c. Assurance of God’s Answer Promised in His Word. (1 John 5:14,15)
4. In Relation to Works
a. Faith the Cause; Works the Effect (James 2:20-26)
This is likened to the domino effect. Faith is what tips the first domino. The dominoes themselves are our works. The action taking place is Sanctification. This is the fruit of salvation.
b. Faith the Claim; Works the Evidence (James 2:14,18)
One that professes to know Christ will show evidence through his works. This again, is why the “Carnal Christian” excuse does not work. Works are the evidence of your faith. You can give God lip service all you want, but believers will know by the fruit you bare. When you have no conviction when to things that are associated with filth like, drinking, fornicating, watching things that you know Christ would not watch or say things you know Christ would not say, I would check yourself. If the Holy Spirit dwells within you, as you claim, He will be appalled at what He sees, therefore convicting you of this filth in your life. You will see change. Do we occasionally stumble? Yes. Are we perfect? No. But there are some blatant things that you see these “so called” Carnal Christians doing that you know if the Holy Spirit dwells within them, He would be having a fit! And yet, they continue on and on with no conviction. What people don’t understand is that it is God that does the work. To say that they (The Carnal Ones) can go on about their lives doing whatever they what renders our God powerless. He grants saving faith. He opens your eyes. He starts a work in you. He finishes His work in you. He grants you grace. He grants you salvation. It is all about Him. It has nothing to do with you. Then these people have this cute little saying to justify their sin, “Well, I’m just a backslider.” What they are saying is that that have no sorrow for sinning against God. When they do have sorrow, it’s about how they look, instead of how they made God look.
5. In Relation to Its Possessor
a. Intellectual-Involving the Assent of the Mind (Rom 10:14-17)
The Gospel is not so much a promise or a covenant as it is a message, a proclamation. It is the “good news” of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And true faith is the belief of that good news. This good news is historical and factual. Faith always follows fact. “Fact, faith, feeling – this is God’s order…Fact leads, Faith with its eye on fact, following, and Feeling, with the eye on faith, bringing up the rear…Feed Faith with Facts, not with Feeling.” (A.T. Pierson in W. Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible, p 150)
b. Emotional-Involving the Response of the Heart (Rom 10:9,10)
An intellectual assent to Christ as Savior is insufficient. There must be a heart response to Him as my Savior which springs from a sense of realized need and deep-seated desire. The emotional element is essential.
c. Volitional-Involving Consent of the Will (John 1:12)
Faith not only receives the word of Christ, it reaches out and lays hold upon the person of Christ. There is a will to believe. Faith is not passive, but it is the consent of the will to the confession of the mind. It is putting the intellectual belief and the emotional desire into action along the line indicated by both.
No one or two elements are sufficient. All are necessary to the possession and the expression of a genuine faith.
To be continued…
