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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
The nature of saving faith
Faith is mentioned something like 300 times in the New Testament in connection with our salvation. At this point, it may be helpful to clarify the meaning of "salvation". It is a comprehensive word in the New Testament that has to do with the total process whereby God reconciles us to himself, begins a process of inward transformation and growth, and eventually presents us without fault in the presence of God. One could say that it is salvation from the penalty of our sins, which happens when we put our faith in Jesus; salvation from the power of sin, as we allow Jesus to progressively have his way in our lives; and salvation from the presence of sin, when he presents us faultless in the presence of his Father in heaven. This is all his doing, though it demands our co-operation. Faith is the means by which this becomes possible. What, therefore, is faith? In order to clarify what faith is, it is necessary to correct two misconceptions that many people have.
Saving faith is not just a head belief
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"Just
being able to spell out the Christian beliefs, and really believe
them, will not get me to heaven"
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The essence of faith is trust. It is possible to believe all about someone without trusting them. I can believe that Jesus is fully divine, the Second Person in the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I can believe that he came to earth to die for me. I can also believe that, if I trust him to do it, then he can save me. However, it will do me no good unless I do trust him. And that is more than mere head belief. Just being able to spell out the Christian beliefs, and really believe them, will not get me to heaven. James warns us that even demons have this sort of belief. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder" (James 2:19). The devil himself believes in God. However, it does him no good. There is no trust involved.
Not just trusting God for life's needs
It is possible to trust God to do all sorts to things - to heal a sick child, to guide us in decisions, to provide us with sufficient income, to keep us safe on a journey, to give us strength to cope with trials. The Bible has much to say about this sort of faith. However, we are not talking here about how to live in a daily relationship with God. We are talking about how to be reconciled to him in the first place - how we receive forgiveness, how we become one of his children, how we receive his gift of eternal life, how we can be sure of heaven. For this we need to trust God, not for things to do with daily living, but for forgiveness, for salvation. We could call it "saving faith".
SAVING
FAITH IS TRUSTING JESUS CHRIST,
AND HIM ALONE,
FOR OUR ETERNAL SALVATION.
Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, gave the following illustration:
Suppose there is a fire on the third floor of a house, and a child is trapped in a room there. A huge, strong man stands on the ground beneath the window where the child's face appears, and he calls, "Jump! Drop into my arms!" It is a part of faith to know that the man is there; still another part of faith is to believe him to be a strong man; but the essence of faith lies in trusting him fully and dropping into his arms.
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"It
is not the amount of faith that reconciles us to God, it is what
we are putting our trust in"
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Thus it is with the sinner and Christ. A part of faith is to know that he died for our sins; another part of faith is to believe he is able to save all who put their trust in him; but the essence of faith lies in trusting him fully by resting one's whole case in his hands, now and for ever.
Again, it is not the amount of faith that reconciles us to God, it is what we are putting our trust in. Imagine two bridges across a river in flood. The first is an old bridge that is made of solid timbers, but which has been replaced. The second is a new concrete bridge which, unknown to anyone, has a serious flaw. A car arrives at the river and the driver, with lots of faith, drives across the new bridge. Half way across, the bridge collapses. Another car comes along. This driver sees only the one old bridge and, in fear and trembling, drives across. He gets across safely. The first driver had lots of faith, but he put it in the wrong bridge. The second driver had very little faith, but enough to trust the right bridge. The person who commits his or her life to Jesus Christ is secure for eternity, not because of the amount of their faith, but because of the greatness of the one who has pledged to save those who come to him.
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The kind of faith that will get you into heaven
The nature of saving faith
If salvation is by faith, do good works matter?
