| By Grace Through Faith |
| BY David A. DePra |
|
Ask yourself this fundamental question: What is it that saved |
|
you? Many of us might answer, "Faith in Jesus Christ." |
| The Bible seems to back this answer up. We all know the |
| usual scriptures on the subject. The Bible says, "Without faith it |
| is impossible to please God," and, "Your faith has saved you...." |
| The suggestion that we are saved by our faith is prominent |
| among God's people. It is such an established fact that we rarely |
| think about it. |
| But we must think about this for a moment. In fact, if we do, |
| we will find that we are NOT saved by our faith in Jesus Christ. |
| We are not saved by our faith at all. Such assumptions are |
| wrong. Dead wrong. |
| Wrong? How can that be wrong? Doesn't the Bible say our |
| faith saves us? |
| No, it doesn't. I suppose you could find some isolated verses |
| where Jesus makes that statement when He heals someone, or |
| take it out of context in one of the epistles. But if you take all the |
| teaching of the Bible on the subject it does NOT say that our faith |
| saves us. |
| Ok. So if our faith does not save us, then what does? Well, |
| not -- WHAT does. But WHO does. In other words, our faith |
| doesn't save us. Jesus Christ saves us. Our faith is merely our |
| belief and embracement of the fact He does. |
| Note that again. Our faith does nothing to save us. It cannot |
| impart to us eternal life. It cannot. Jesus Christ, by the sheer |
| grace of God, saves us. And then if God calls us to Christ, and |
| we believe, we are saved. Our faith is merely the embracement |
| of what Jesus has already done. |
| This is not a petty distinction. Many Christians live under the |
| notion that it is by their faith that they are saved. They think that |
| their faith is what gets God moving for them on a daily basis. So |
| they try and try to "generate faith." And over the course of time, |
| their attempt to "generate enough faith" can become a worse |
| bondage than trying to generate enough works. They just can't |
| seem to do it. And it can be really discouraging. |
| Is Faith a Creative Force? |
| The notion that we must "generate" the necessary faith for |
| salvation, or for daily living, has been molded into a number of |
| heresies today. One of them is the idea that faith is a "force" |
| which "creates" the thing we believe. For instance, if I want |
| money, and "believe" I'll receive it, my faith will create the money. |
| Or if I "speak" victory, it will create victory. Or if I confess |
| anything with my mouth, it will come to pass. The underlying |
| idea is that if I speak, or believe, or claim, I will set in motion the |
| forces necessary to bring it to pass. |
| All of this is error. I cannot create anything by believing. |
| Rather, I must believe because it is already there. This is such a |
| simple thought that it is amazing that some Christians have |
| strayed from it. We cannot make something true by speaking it, |
| believing it, or claiming it. It is either already true, or it is not. |
| This is so in the physical world, and it is so in the spiritual |
| realm. |
| What all this boils down to is the will of God. Either something |
| IS the will of God, or it is not. Either it IS true, or it isn't. By faith |
| we apprehend and embrace God's will, and believe the Truth. |
| We don't create anything. We don't make anything true. |
| Heresies such as "positive confession," and "seed faith |
| theology" arise from the desire to have MY will be done, rather |
| than God's. All I need to do is claim my will, say I believe it will |
| come to pass, and accept nothing less. Then God is somehow |
| obligated to honor my "faith." |
| Such heresies are not new. They all stem from a refusal to |
| surrender to the will of God. They are religious devices, carrying |
| Biblical terms, which seek to justify a Christian in his tendency to |
| own himself. |
| By Grace THROUGH Faith |
| Notice what the Bible clearly teaches: |
| By GRACE you are saved THROUGH faith. And that, not of |
| yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man |
| should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ |
| Jesus UNTO good works, that God has before ordained, that we |
| should walk in them. (Eph. 2:8-10) |
| We are not saved by faith. We are saved by GRACE. It is |
| THROUGH faith that the free gift of salvation is imparted to us. |
| Our faith can no more save us than can our works. Only if Jesus |
| Christ has ALREADY finished our salvation, and offers it as a free |
| gift, is there anything there for us to believe and embrace by our |
| faith. |
| The finished work of redemption through Jesus Christ IS |
| finished. It doesn't become "more finished" if we believe it. It |
| doesn't become "less finished" if we disbelieve it. It is finished |
| whether we believe or reject it. Indeed, if there were never a |
| single soul who believed and accepted the finished work of |
| Jesus Christ, it would nevertheless be a fact. God has done all |
| the forgiving, saving, and redeeming He is going to do! He |
| simply beckons us to believe and receive it. |
| A Principle |
| Salvation is a once for all, one time event. But God's work in |
| us does not end with salvation. It begins with it. God intends to |
| work out His salvation in and through us, and in all creation. |
| The principle under which God works out His salvation in us |
| is the same one under which we are saved: Grace through faith. |
| In other words, everything God does in us in the realm of |
| santification and spiritual growth is by grace through faith. God |
| has done it all in Christ. But we must believe. And if we believe, |
| we will obey. We will choose the will of God, not our own will. |
| The victory of Jesus Christ is finished. It is DONE. Nothing |
| can change that, or add to it, or subtract from it. Not even our |
| faith. But by our faith we are able to embrace it, and ultimately, |
| be conformed to it. * |