God’s Plan
of Salvation
Our Faith
Last week we began discussing God’s plan of salvation as part of our back
to basics series. We began by addressing the grace of God. It is the primary
factor in our salvation. Without the grace of God there would be no salvation.
Furthermore, grace is a description of God’s part in our salvation. BUT,
nowhere in scripture do we read that we are saved exclusively by the grace of
God (i.e that there is no other factor in our salvation). Man has a part in
receiving his salvation. Sometimes we summarize that part in the word “faith.”
Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” So what does faith mean?
In our lesson today, we are going to talk about faith in our salvation.
I. What is faith?
a. Defined – p?st??, pistis (noun), p?ste?? pisteou (verb) - “firm
persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing.” (Vine’s) Like the
word, grace, it has many usages. L&N, 31:85, “to believe to the extent
of complete trust and reliance.”
Other words associated with it include – trust, belief, assurance, conviction,
fidelity, etc.
The word “believe” or “belief” is from the same root
word. Typically, the difference is that when it is a noun it is translated “faith”
and when it is a verb it is translated “believe”.
In discussing this term, we note that faith is more than mere belief. It is
believing God (not merely believing IN God) and trusting Him (that He can and
will do what He says). We need to keep that in mind when we discuss faith.
b. The Greek word, in both forms is found about 490+ times in the New Testament,
split about even between believe and faith. Faith is what we have, belief is
what we do. Other than that, they are related to each other.
c. What faith is not:
i. Mere belief – while faith includes belief, it goes further. it is a
belief that responds or acts. As James 2:14-18 says, faith without works is
dead; “show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith
by my works.” (18)
ii. Blind – while faith is based on the unseen, it is not blind. God has
given us enough evidence to prove who He is and that He can do what He has promised.
We can see God in creation (i.e. this world without an intelligent designer
makes no sense), and we can see His work in history, etc. Romans 1:20 tells
us, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”
iii. Merely a feeling – there are many who base their faith upon feelings.
While there might be emotion involved in our faith, it is not purely emotional.
Yet there are many who act simply based upon what they “believe”
God has “guided” them to do. The problem with this is that feelings
are often subjective. Ask Paul about his former conduct – Acts 26:9, “Indeed,
I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”
iv. Given through the direct operation of the Holy Spirit – Calvinism
teaches that one cannot properly believe in Him unless the Holy Spirit directly
indwells us and alters our mind to follow Him. This is known as “Irresistible
grace”. Others teach that we cannot understand God’s word without
special and direct guidance. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing
the word of God. Furthermore, this would make God a respecter of persons (Acts
10:34, Rom. 2:11).
v. Exclusive to our salvation – it is key, and can even be descriptive
of all that is our part, (Acts 16: 31, Romans 3:26, 2 Cor. 5:7, etc.) but it
is not the only factor in our salvation. We need the grace of God (last week
- Eph. 2:8) and we need to obey – Rom 1:5 (next week).
Philippians 2:12 tells us, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling;”
d. Heb. 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.” (NKJV)
i. This verse describes what faith is.
ii. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB95)
“Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something
is real even if we do not see it.” (New Century Version, NCV).
iii. The substance of things hoped for - means that by faith we know that what
God has promised, He will do for us. There is no doubt in our minds that God
is real and what we have is His word. It is faith that keeps us faithful in
a world filled with doubt and rejection of God.
This is illustrated by the author throughout this chapter. AN example of this
faith is Abraham – who by faith obeyed God (11:8), dwelt as a foreigner
in the land of promise (9) and who “waited for a city which has foundations
(11:10). Vs. 13-16 further describes this as they died in faith not having received
the promise (on this earth) but knew something better awaited them after this
life.
iv. The evidence of things not seen – Heb. 11:3 says, “By faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” WE have already
stated that even though we have never seen God, this world declares a creator.
(Psa. 19:1-4) There are things we KNOW are there, based upon proof though we
have never seen it. How many have seen their own brain? Does it exist? We know
it does? There’s evidence.
Has anyone here ever been to Australia? How do you know it exists? By faith
based upon “evidence” which convicts you that it is a real place.
v. This faith causes us to TRUST God with our lives. We will live for Him, give
up pleasures in this life and make unnatural and unselfish sacrifices because
of our faith.
e. Faith is used in 4 ways:
i. Personal belief - Heb. 11:1, 6;
2 Cor. 4:18 – we do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things
which are not seen. 2 Cor. 5:7 says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
John 20:27-29 – to Thomas Jesus told him to touch, “Do not be unbelieving
but believe.” Then Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have believed.”
This is the attitude that will cause us to follow Him.
ii. Conduct or work based upon complete trust –
In the Bible we find of faith that trusted God. That trust was demonstrated
in actions. Abraham in Hebrews 11 is an example.
Matt. 9:2 when a paralytic is lowered to Him through the roof it says, “When
Jesus saw their faith.”
James 2:14-18, we show our faith BY our works.
This is the obedience associated with our faith.
iii. A trustworthiness – “faithful” – Matt. 24:45 –
a faithful and wise servant; (25:21, 23,) etc.
1 Cor. 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
This is the result of one’s faith
iv. A system of doctrine (or belief) – Sometimes the word “faith”
is used to describe (or include) everything we believe and teach. It is descriptive
of the whole process
Examples include: Jude 3, Gal. 1:23, Eph. 4:5, 13, Acts 6:7, etc.
II. Faith in our salvation
a. We must have faith to be saved. Ephesians 2:8. Romans 10:9-10. Romans 5:1
says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
When we speak of faith, we mean you DO have to believe. You must believe what
the Bible says about salvation and you must believe God that He WILL do what
He says.
Consider 1 Peter 3:21, “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism
(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” THIS verse ties
together our willingness to obey the gospel (baptism is the particular step
mentioned here) with our faith. In other words, all the acts of obedience in
the world will do nothing if you do not believe! That faith is directed toward
God.
b. Faith comes by hearing the word of God – Romans 10:17, Romans 1:16-17
– the gospel produces faith; Romans 10:14 – how can one call on
the Lord without hearing the word?
c. Faith is obedient – Rom. 1:5, 16:26 – obedience to the faith.
Acts 6:7 word kept spreading, great many priests became obedient to the faith
Mt 7:21-27 not only call Him "Lord", but obey Him.
By faith, Abraham obeyed: Heb. 11:6
NOTE: Obedience does NOT set aside our faith. It demonstrates our faith!
d. We need faith to stay saved – Rom. 1:17, Heb. 10:38 – “Now
the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure
in him.”
Rev. 2:10, be faithful until death.
III. Are we saved by “faith only”?
a. No! James 2:24
b. Even the demons believed - James 2:19. They knew exactly who Jesus was and
trembled at His presence. CLEARLY, the faith (belief) we must have is more than
merely acknowledging Him.
c. Not enough to merely believe - John 7:12,13; 12:42-43; 9:22 – on more
than one occasion, believers were afraid to confess Jesus for fear of repercussions.
We see in this that simply believing is NOT enough!
d. Faith works – Gal. 5:6 – faith working through love
1 Thess. 1:3, 2 Thess. 1:11 – their work of faith.
Conclusion:
And thus we can see faith as a part of our salvation. At times it is reference
specifically to our belief in Him, but at other times it is an all-encompassing
description of everything we do because we believe in Him. Just as grace is
God’s part in our salvation, so faith is our part in salvation. And that
is the point of Ephesians 2:8. There is no contradiction. So what about you?
How is your faith?
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