FAITH: What is Genuine Saving Faith? How do I find it?
(Hebrews 11; Romans 4:16-25; James 2:14-26)
Our first study revealed the importance of Repentance for a genuine salvation experience. The Holy Spirit brings us to repentance by convicting us of having broken God’s Law (i.e. 10 Commandments; John 16:7-11; Rom. 7:7-11). First we must realize we are under eternal condemnation for have broken God’s Law. Then we are receptive to receiving God’s gift of salvation by Faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Repentance qualifies a man for salvation but it takes faith in Christ to acquire it (Acts 20:21). WHAT IS FAITH?
Everyone Has Faith! Faith is universally understood because it is universally practiced. No one can live in this world without exercising Faith every day. illustration: Just eating breakfast requires great faith.
CRUCIAL QUESTION:
Who or what are you trusting to obtain Eternal Life? Some people have faith in Mohammed who lies in his grave. Some trust in Buddha: He died eating bad meat; his body was cremated; has a temple for his tooth in Sri Lanka. Some trust in theoretical science (constantly changes). Empirical Science admits it can’t study spiritual realities.
THE ONE TRUE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE:
There is only one true & eternal faith: Trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation, Believing He rose from the dead 3 days after dying on the Cross for all your sins. (That’s the Gospel). Such faith comes from the Word of God (Acts 6:7; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 13:7). Four key historical events reveal Jesus is the 1 True savior: The virgin birth, His Death on the Cross for our sins; His bodily Resurrection; and His Ascension into Heaven to sit down at the right hand of God Almighty.
WHY IS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST SO IMPORTANT?
- It is impossible to be saved without faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:36; Mk. 16:16). He is the “only” way of salvation (John 14:6)
- You cannot please God without Faith (Heb. 11:6)
- Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).
WHAT IS FAITH? Web Definition:
- complete trust or confidence in someone or something:
- strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof (this part is misleading)
Dictionary Definition: Merriam-Webster
a (1) belief & trust in and loyalty to God
(2) belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
b (1) firm belief in something for which there is no proof
(this last part is misleading). New Atheists misapply the misleading part of these Definitions to Christians. Sam Harris says: “The whole point of faith is to believe regardless of the evidence, which is the very antithesis of science.” Another totally false statement based on a wrong definition of Faith is by George H. Smith: “Reason & faith are opposites, two mutually exclusive terms; there is no reconciliation or common ground. Faith is belief without, or in spite of, reason”
Illustration: Book “Evidence that Demands a Verdict”
Some Christian web sites don’t help matters: “… the biblical definition of faith is “trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove.”
But you can Prove Christianity beyond any reasonable doubt! Illustration: Book “Cold Case Christianity”
Why are such definitions WRONG when it comes to Christian Faith? Because Much of what we believe as Christians is scientifically sound, and has overwhelming historical documentation, & irrefutable personal experience (John 9:25).
BIBLICAL DEFINITIONS OF FAITH
Faith is an act of both the mind & the heart. With our mind we believe the facts & revelation of Jesus as taught in God’s Word. But true
Faith is also an act of the heart: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, & shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; & with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom 10:9-10).
Biblical Faith is believing & trusting what God says in His Word is true. We trust God’s Word enough to begin rebuilding our lives based on His Truth. Like Abraham “being fully persuaded that, what (God has) promised, He is able to perform” (Rom. 4:21). Like Sara we “judge him faithful who has promised” (Heb 11:11). Illustration: David Livingstone
True saving faith comes from believing what God says in the Bible. The Bible is “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). Timothy “from a child had known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). So Faith begins with trusting God’s Word. But when we trust God’s word it will bring us into an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Faith leads to Knowing God Himself! “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life (John 5:39; I John 5:10-3).
The most complete discussion on Faith in Hebrews 11. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). “Substance” = Greek “hupostasis.” Literally means “that which stands under,” thus “the foundation” or “assurance.”
“Evidence” is the Greek “elegchos.” Refers to that by which a thing is proved or tested; conviction. Two Examples: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house… (Heb 11:7). “By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured as seeing him who is invisible” (Heb 11:27).
Faith is a spiritual reality that enables us “see” things that are invisible to our physical eyes (Eph. 1:17-19). This is totally different than a “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Scientists study invisible things all the time. They observe it & believe it through indirect or circumstantial evidence. But they can’t study spiritual realities. As Christians “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Cor 4:18).
- The Christian faith is Scientifically sound:
Christian Faith is attacked by the Theoretical Science of Origins. (How everything began). Hebrews 11:3 makes it clear that saving Faith begins with an “understanding that the worlds (aion) were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Notice the special creation of the universe is the very first object of genuine saving faith! The word for “worlds” is the Greek “aion.” It can mean either “age” or “the physical world,” or both. Amazingly, It anticipates our present scientific understanding of the cosmos as a space/time/matter continuum.
The Universe is “not made of things which do appear” (Heb. 11:3)
The Bible teaches Almighty God Created everything from nothing by His Word. God is the uncaused cause of everything that exists. Atheists who deny God are stuck with the intellectual embarrassment of believing that nothing made everything (Ps. 14:1)
Choose Carefully the Foundation on which you build your Faith:
1. The Revelation of God: “In the Beginning God created.” If true, we are special; our life has eternal value, high morals, meaning & purpose
- The Theory of men: In the Beginning Nothing Created something; then something evolved itself into everything. If true you are an accident and your life has no value, meaning or purpose.
- Christian Faith can stand up Against the Theory of Evolution:
Evolutionists often equivocate 3 Definitions of Evolution
- “Change over time” – If all evolution means is change then everyone of us can agree evolution is a fact: ‘if’ this is all you mean by evolution.
- “Special Theory of Evolution” (Micro-evolution) – Many observations of this nature were recorded in Darwin’s book “On The Origin of Species.” Microevolution is the small changes that take place in species, over time, to produce new characteristics (empirical & observable). Examples of Micro-evolution: 1. Darwin’s Finches. 2. Antibiotic resistant bacteria. 3. All the dog breeds. 4. Changes in humans: skin color, height, eyes, etc.
- The General Theory of Evolution (macro-evolution). This definition “unscientifically” claims one species can ‘evolve’ into a new species. This definition is not a fact but unproven “Theory.” It is unobservable.
Examples of Macro-evolution: 1. The supposed evolution of reptiles to birds. 2. Supposed evolution of land mammals to whales. 3. Supposed evolution of apes to humans.
So when someone uses “evolution” to attack your Christian Faith, ask them: “What definition of evolution are you using?
If they use definition #1 or #2 we can agree with them. It is observable science BUT does not disprove anything in the Bible! But if they are assuming definition #3 then we must disagree that their definition is not science but unproven theory!
The Bible actually has many Supernaturally revealed Scientific Revelations! Deut. 23:12-14 – personal hygiene that prevents many deadly diseases. Leviticus 13-14 – the means to control contagious diseases & epidemics. Num. 19:11-19; Lev. 15:2-11- washing after touching a dead body or “running issue”
III. CHRISTIAN FAITH IS BASED ON OVERWHELMING
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION
In Fact the Bible contains the most accurate & best documented ancient history that exists today. Illustration: Robert Dick Wilson
“A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament.” Illustration: William M. Ramsay, “The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament.” (Many are willfully ignorant of these truths).
- CHRISTIAN FAITH INVOLVES IRREFUTABLE EXPERIENCE
When you put your faith in Mohammed you don’t meet Mohammed or God. When you put your faith in Buddha you don’t meet Buddha or God. But when you put your faith in Jesus you meet God!
Illustration: The bullet proof George Washington
Jesus said: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23; also 14:17, 21; I John 4:15-16). Are you ready to believe God’s Word and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation?