What Makes Saving Faith Saving?

By Wendy Wood

Years ago as I was parenting very young children, I read an article by Tedd Tripp called “A Child’s Call to Faith”. Tripp’s goal in the article was to help parents understand the difference between their children having head knowledge and assent to the truth of God and His word, compared to a salvific trusting in God.  The distinction between knowing, believing (assenting) and trusting is huge, though often mistaken.  Understanding where we, and our children,  fall on this spectrum is crucial!  It is the difference between spending eternity with God or apart from Him.  While we don’t know our own hearts perfectly, or other people’s hearts perfectly, examining the fruit of a person’s life will give insight to the depth of their knowing, believing, or trusting God.

Everyone who comes to faith in Christ must have knowledge.  A believer places their trust and hope in a Person.  Knowledge about God, His attributes, His purpose in all things to bring about His glory, His plan for salvation through Christ are essential truths that must be known.  Before a person can believe and trust in Christ as Lord and Savior, he must that he is a sinner, and he must know that Christ lived a perfect life, was fully human and fully God, and was the atonement for sins on the cross that satisfied God’s wrath against us sinners for all who would repent and follow Him.  Our job as parents is to continue to teach and provide knowledge of God through His word.

Our children need to know more about God.  They need to learn about God’s sovereignty and providence over all His creation.  They need to know how God’s holiness sets Him apart from all other beings and that His moral perfection is the very essence of His wrath and His grace.  God describes Himself in scripture and it is our job as parents to give our children a high view of Him.  In the midst of difficult circumstances everyone needs to be reminded (or taught) about how great God is.  Knowledge of Christ and His redemptive work is also essential to teach.  Christ, as the exact imprint of God, gives us a clearer view of God’s compassion and judgment on sin.  Knowledge must precede faith.  Faith is not to be in the absence of truth.  We place our faith in God.  

The Pharisees are a good example of people who stopped at knowledge.  The Pharisees were experts in the law.  They knew all of God’s law from the Old Testament and knit-picked every single one.  In Matthew 23 Jesus issues His seven ‘woes’ to the Pharisees.  Each ‘woe to you’ is about how they knew the law, but didn’t love God or others.  Knowledge was not enough for faith.  They focused on minutiae and ignored the larger Truth about God’s attributes and purpose.

In our children, this head knowledge might show up as a compliant child or teen.  Children who grow up in the church learn the behaviors and right answers to church questions.  They may gladly come to church or life group and be known as a “good kid” and yet not have a saving faith.  In our desperate desire for our children to be saved, we can rush into getting them to “pray a prayer of salvation” at a young age and cling to that.  One way to think about this is, a person can study space.  They can learn all about the planets and their atmospheres.  They can study the moons around each planet and learn about gravitational pulls and why each planet has a different number of moons. They might study asteroids and comets and learn the names and trajectories of each one.  Yet all this knowledge, all these “right answers” does not make them astronauts.  Head knowledge is never enough to make someone a true Christian either.  Knowledge is a necessary component of faith, but on its own, it does not produce salvation.

Believing is one more step down the road to saving faith.  Believing is giving assent to the knowledge.  Webster’s dictionary defines assent as  “to agree to or approve of something (such as an idea or suggestion) especially after thoughtful consideration : Concur”.  Where knowledge can say “I know that Jesus is the person Christians believe died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins”, someone who believes that truth would say “I am persuaded that Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins”.  Where some might reject the knowledge outright and say “I don’t believe that at all, it’s just a fictitious story”, a person who gives assent to this truth can approve and agree with what Christ has done.  This is still not saving faith.

The demons believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He was sent into the world to be the Savior for all who would trust in Him.  In Mark 5 Jesus comes to the land of the Gerasenes and comes to a man who lives among the tombs.  As Jesus approaches this man, the demons cry out with a loud voice “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I adjure you by God, do not torment me” (Mark 5:7).  The demons know who Jesus is!  They address Jesus as the Son of the Most High God showing their belief in Jesus’ power and deity.  These demons know that Jesus can cast them out of the man they are dwelling in and are begging Jesus not to do that.  A few verses later the demons say, “Send us to the pigs, let us enter them’ (Mark 5:11).   The demons have given thoughtful consideration to Jesus and agree that He is truly God.  Yet, they do not have salvation.  The demons will spend eternity separated from God in hell because they do not have saving faith.

Because our children grow up hearing their parents affirm these truths, they may readily agree that Jesus is the Savior of the world and be able to see the difference in other’s lives who are truly redeemed and transformed into Christlikeness.  They will pray and ask God to do them favors, as the demons did in the story of Mark 5.  They will want the benefits of being a child of God without the sacrifice and commitment necessary to be a follower of Christ.  They may be confused as to why the fruit of their life is still producing anxiety, frustration, and broken relationships.  They may be confused about why they keep struggling with anger and feel defeated by the on-going, repetitive sins in their lives.  They will by trying really hard to get biblical principles to “work for them” but not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them to produce genuine fruit.  John Piper says, “But being persuaded that Christ and his promises are factual is not by itself saving faith.  That is why some professing Christians will be shocked at the last day, when they hear him say, “I never knew you,” even though they protest that he is “Lord, Lord”.  Believing that Christ and his promises are true, based on a testimony, is a necessary part of faith.  But it is not sufficient to turn faith into saving faith” (Future Grace, page 199).  This person is not truly in a relationship with God.

Saving faith comes when a person apprehends the truths about Christ in a different way.  Saving faith is a genuine trusting of the Lord where who God is and what He is for us in Christ changes the way we live every moment of every day.  John Piper is again helpful in explaining this truth.  “This different way is what [Charles] Hodge calls a ‘spiritual apprehension of truth’.  He says, ‘It is a faith which rests upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit of the excellence, beauty, and suitableness of the truth… It arises from a spiritual apprehension of the truth, or from the testimony of the Spirit with and by the truth of our hearts’” (Future Grace page 199).  When a person has saving faith in God, God is treasured, savored, and delighted in.  

Picture the parable of the hidden treasure from Matthew 13.  When a person has the knowledge and belief of who Christ is, and is willing to sell all he has and pursue Christ alone, he has truly tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord through the Holy Spirit enlightening the eyes of his heart.  This love of God, this delighting in Him, comes from the Holy Spirit and produces the fruit of Spirit in a life that is unmistakable as saving faith.  The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control replace the fruit of anxiety, frustration, broken relationships, and fear.  “Another way to say it would be that, in all the acts of saving faith, the Holy Spirit enables us not just to perceive and affirm factual truth, but also to apprehend and embrace spiritual beauty.  It is the ‘embracing of spiritual beauty’ that is the essential core of saving faith.  This is what I mean by ‘being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus.’ Spiritual beauty is the beauty of God diffused in all his words and works - especially in the saving work of his Son.  Embracing this, or delighting in it, or being satisfied with it, is the heart of saving faith” (John Piper, Future Grace page 205). Apprehending and embracing is the evidence of a new heart and a new creation.

A child who knows, believes, and trusts (and delights) in God is a joy to every parent.  There may be ups and downs along the journey of parenting, but there is a genuine desire to surrender their will to God’s will, a deep repentance for sin, a love of God’s word and enjoyment of spending time with Him. John Piper calls this “seeing and savoring” Christ.  As our children see the truth laid out for them in scripture and as the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to see and their ears to hear, they see God as beautiful.  As they see the beauty of His nature and understand His works at a greater depth, they savor the love, mercy, grace, and holiness of God more and more.  

Picture yourself sitting down to your favorite meal.  As you take a bite of your favorite dish you sit back, close your eyes, and experience all the details of the texture and flavors. You take time to think about how much you love this meal and even tell the cook how great it is.  That is what savoring God should be.  We should read His word and sit back, taking our time to appreciate how loving, compassionate, and merciful God is.  We should take time to think about all the blessings He has given us in Christ and then exclaim to God how great He is in praise and worship.  Giving voice to that enjoyment in prayer and praise grows our delight even more.  The evidence of saving faith is the treasuring of Christ that transforms the follower of Christ from one degree of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Here is an analogy that I often use to explain this concept.  

Nick Wallenda is a professional and famous tightrope walker.  He has walked across tightropes over the Grand Canyon and Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua  without a safety net below him. In 2012, Wallenda arrived at Niagara Falls on June 15, and there was a huge crowd waiting to watch him work. Picture themself in the crowd.  As the crowd watches the tightrope being laid out across the falls and secured carefully on the ends, what are they thinking?  They watch Wallenda walk across the tightrope and easily cross Niagara Falls 1,800 feet above ground.  As he comes to the end of the rope and safely gets down, they KNOW he can walk across a tightrope.  

Then, Wallenda asks the crowd, “Do you think I can walk across the rope while pushing a wheelbarrow?”  The crowd is cheers and screams “yes”.  The crowd is in agreement that Wallenda can do it and enthusiastically wants to see it.  Wallenda gets up on the tightrope with the wheelbarrow and carefully walks safely across again.  There are no wobbles or moments of doubt.  The crowd now BELIEVES Wallenda is the greatest tightrope walker of all time.

For his third pass across the falls, Wallenda asks the crowd, “Who thinks I can go across pushing the wheelbarrow while a person rides inside it?”  The crowd all cheers and replies “yes, we believe you can do it!”.  Nick Wallenda then points at you and says “get in and I’ll push you across”.  What would you do?  Do you get in the wheelbarrow or think ‘that’s fine for other people but there’s no way I’m risking my life for that!’.  

That is the level of TRUST.  Someone who knows the facts and gives assent to the truth is not really trusting until they are ready to give up their way of life for the truth.  Trust changes the way we live.  When we are trusting (seeing and savoring) Christ, we live in surrender and obedience to Him.  

Jesus said “If you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15).  Treasuring Christ, seeing him as beautiful, glorious, and delighting in Him, leads us to want to please Him and live wholeheartedly for Him.  Trusting involves action and obedience.  

Seeking the Lost

By Barry York

A few weeks ago, we returned home after a wonderful family vacation in Michigan. A week filled with sunny days, afternoons at the beach, and hearty family meals at night had us rested and relaxed. As it was dusk and distant lightning threatened rain, we hustled to unload our vehicles. We were able to get all the suitcases, bags, and boxes into the house just before the doubly dark skies opened up and a heavy rain began.

A bit weary after a day of traveling and unloading, Miriam my wife, Celia my daughter, and I sat down and enjoyed a few minutes of reflection over snacks before deciding to head to bed. Around 10:30 p.m. Miriam, thinking our dog Oscar was already in his crate, went in to close him up for the night. But Oscar, our pet King Charles Spaniel of eight years, who has grown increasingly blind because of a chronic disease this breed often suffers, was not there. A thorough search through the house revealed that he was missing.

In the midst of all the ins and outs of unloading, we remembered we had left him outside to do his business. In all our years here, Oscar has never wandered away. We can let him out and, after no longer than ten minutes, he is back at the door barking or scratching to be let back in to be rewarded with the doggie biscuits he loves. But he was not at either of our doors.

For the next couple of hours we searched for Oscar. In the pouring rain with lightning flashes overhead, we used lights as we tromped though woods, looked around neighbor's yards, and walked then drove along streets calling for Oscar, hoping we would spot him. One neighbor even joined us at that late hour to help us. But well after midnight, we came back home defeated. With no sign of him anywhere, we were convinced that the coyotes we often hear at night, and that the neighbors keep warning about, had snatched Oscar. I could not distinguish the rain from the tears on my wife and daughter's faces as I sought to comfort them. One would say "I know he is just a dog" before bursting into tears again. We could not believe our family vacation had ended on such a sad note. The thought of him being torn apart by coyotes haunted us.

However, well after 1:00 a.m., as we were trying to ready ourselves for bed, Miriam and I heard a shout from Celia. When Oscar came up missing, she had posted about it on various forms of social media. Someone had seen her post on a neighborhood app and another one on Facebook, where a man asked if anyone had lost a blind dog. She then contacted us. Apparently Oscar, confused due to his blindness, having been away on our vacation, and the storms, had wandered out onto the street. A man in a car almost hit him, but stopped, picked him up, and took him to a nearby neighbor's house. In the wonders of the digital age, we found out that Oscar was alive and we could pick him up the next morning!

So after that dark, rainy night, there was a joyous reunion early that sunny, Sunday morning. Celia retrieved Oscar from the neighbor's and brought him home, his tail wagging furiously amidst all the loving and petting. I think there were more tears shed, though for different reasons than the night before. Everyone following the story on social media rejoiced with us.

                                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week, I taught a church planting class at RPTS to over thirty folks from all around the country. It was a wonderful week, as we shared the challenges, struggles, and joys of bringing the gospel to others. At one point, I was emphasizing how vital it is to keep an evangelistic thrust in a church plant. To help them empathize with sinners, I encouraged them to meditate on how the Bible describes them.

For sinners, like our little dog, are lost, blind, and, by all appearances, dead. Yet are we willing to go out and search for them? Do we keep calling them over and over again to come home to Christ? Do we shed tears over the prospect of them being destroyed eternally? Do we use all righteous means available to seek them? Do we have the faith, encouraged by Luke 15, that lost people, pictured as straying sheep, misplaced coins, and wandering sons, will eventually return to their rightful place? Do we anticipate rejoicing wholeheartedly when what is lost is found by Christ?

After all, Oscar is "just a dog." How much more joyous it should be to us when a lost sinner, made in the image of God, returns to his Maker and Redeemer! Do people in your congregation or church plant seek the lost and rejoice over their salvation like they would in finding a lost sheep, coin, or dog? Do you? Do I? May the Lord give us more the heart of our Savior, who came "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

Barry York. : Sinner by Nature - Saved by Grace. Husband of Miriam - Grateful for Privilege. Father of Six - Blessed by God. President of RPTS - Serve with Thankfulness. Author - Hitting the Marks.

Posted at: https://gentlereformation.com/2020/09/08/seeking-the-lost/

The Doctrine of Saving Faith

AN ESSAY BY J. V. Fesko

DEFINITION

Saving faith is faith that not only knows and comprehends the facts about the gospel of Jesus Christ but also trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

SUMMARY

While faith can be used in various ways, saving faith is faith that not only knows and comprehends the facts about the gospel of Jesus Christ but also trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Historical faith understands the claims of Scripture, and temporary faith seems for a time to trust in them, but saving faith is a firm conviction and trust in the person and work of Christ. While demons understand and comprehend the facts about God and Jesus Christ, this faith causes them to tremble. For the Christian, faith leads to joy and confidence in the goodness and grace of God, which bestows salvation through Jesus Christ apart from works, even apart from the fruit that flows from faith.

The Bible is replete with references to faith. Hebrews 11 stands out as the great “Hall of Faith,” where the author highlights the many Old Testament saints who placed their faith in the promise of the gospel. But what exactly is faith? And why do theologians add the adjective saving? In other words, what is saving faith?

Definition

The simplest and most basic definition of faith comes from the book of Hebrews: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). The author of Hebrews gives a functional description of faith; in this case, faith is believing in what cannot be seen, such as God, or as the author points out, God’s creation of the world out of nothing (Heb. 11:3). We take creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) on faith since we cannot return to the beginning personally to observe God’s act. But when we relate the doctrine of faith to salvation, the definition becomes more specific. Saving faith is a conviction wrought by the Holy Spirit regarding the truth of the gospel and a trust in the promises of God in Christ (for this definition, see Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology: New Combined Edition, 503). Given this definition, what are the parts of saving faith? What other kinds of faith does the Bible speak of? And how does saving faith relate specifically to the doctrine of salvation?

Elements

The church’s historic understanding of saving faith contains three elements: the facts (notitia), comprehension of the facts (assensus), and trust in the facts (fiducia). In order for someone to believe in and trust in the saving work of Jesus, a person must first know the facts. She must know that Jesus existed as a real, live, historical person. Jesus is not a myth or fairy tale. But a bare knowledge of the facts does not constitute saving faith. A person must know the basic facts and comprehend them. In other words, knowing that Jesus lived is not enough; one must understand what Jesus did in his life. He claimed to be God in the flesh (John 8:58), God’s son and equal to him (John 5:18), and the only way to be saved: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But it is not enough to believe that Jesus exists and that he made these claims. The sinner must place her trust in Christ’s claims—she must believe that Jesus is the incarnate son of God and that he came to save sinners through his life, death, and resurrection (Rom. 1:16–17; 10:9–10).

We can illustrate the relationship between the elements of saving faith in the following manner. I can go to the airport and recognize the fact that there is an airplane in front of me. I can acknowledge the fact that the airplane and its pilot can hurtle down the runway and leap into the air for sustained flight. I can study the principles of aeronautics and comprehend that when air rushes over a curved surface it creates lift, which thus enables the airplane to fly. But I must trust the airplane and its pilot, board the aircraft, take my seat, and ride the airplane in order to demonstrate my faith in it. A bare knowledge of Christ and his claims is insufficient for salvation. We must trust that he is the only way to be saved from our sin and the only one who can give eternal life.

Other Types

Saving faith is thus a firm conviction and trust in the person and work of Christ, but the Bible does speak of other types of faith. Theologians have discussed historical faith, which is a bare intellectual grasp of the claims of Scripture barren of the work of the Spirit. The apostle Paul, for example, chided King Agrippa for his belief in the Old Testament prophets but the King did not believe in Jesus, the one of whom the prophets spoke (Acts 26:27–28).

The Scriptures also speak of temporary faith, which is when a person temporarily “believes” in the gospel but later falls away. Christ’s parable of the sower captures this type of faith. The sower cast seed on rocky soil, quickly sprouted, but then died for lack of a root (Matt. 13:5–6). Christ explains that this portion of the parable corresponds to the one who “hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matt. 13:20–21). Christ contrasts the rocky with the good soil, which is when one hears, understands, and believes in the word and produces fruit (Matt. 13:23). Christ never states who prepares the soil, a vital element of the parable. Within the broader context of the New Testament, we know that the Spirit prepares the soil of the heart to enable sinners to believe and trust in Jesus (Eph. 2:8–9; Acts 16:14). Apart from the sovereign work of the Spirit, the best that sinful humans can do is achieve a historical or temporary faith.

A third type of faith is the faith of demons; this category is similar to historical faith. James writes: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19)! In other words, demons know the facts—God exists and is sovereign over all, including their own demonic realm. Demons comprehend these facts, and the comprehension of this knowledge creates fear in them. But they refuse to believe and trust in God, and they are incapable of doing so apart from a sovereign work of God’s Spirit. All three types of faith (historical, temporary, and demons) stand in stark contrast to saving faith. The adjective saving denotes that this type of faith is a sovereign work of God’s Spirit that secures a sinner’s salvation. But how does saving faith work in the broader scope of the doctrine of salvation?

Conclusion

We must recognize with Scripture that faith works through love, which means that the fruit of love and obedience flows from saving faith (Gal. 5:6). But we must also acknowledge faith alone saves, not the fruit of faith. As Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). How do we relate Paul’s two different ideas, namely, that faith works by love but that we are saved by faith apart from works (Rom. 3:28, 4:6)? A historic seventeenth-century Protestant confession of faith provides a helpful distinction. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) explains that the “principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life” (XIV.ii). In other words, saving faith does not save because of what it does but rather because of whose work in which it rests in, namely, Christ’s. The Scriptures regularly emphasize this fact from the very beginning.

When the apostle Paul expounded the doctrine of justification, how sinners can receive the forgiveness of their sins and the right and title to eternal life, he returned to the earliest pages of Scripture and the life of Abraham: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’” (Rom. 4:2–3). Abraham looked to the promised Messiah, saw his day from afar, and trusted in God’s promise (Gal. 3:10–14; John 8:58). And even though faith works through love (Gal. 5:6), God does not factor this love in the justification of sinners as Paul makes abundantly clear: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4–5). In fact, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the crucial role of faith by using either the term faith or believe 17 times in Romans 4 alone. This should impress upon our hearts and minds that saving faith, not our works, is the only thing that can save us, not because it is inherently worthy but because by faith we lay hold of Christ’s work and thus receive his perfect suffering and obedience as the means by which we are saved. This is the way that all sinners have been saved throughout all of redemptive history, and this is the chief point of Hebrews 11. The Bible knows of no other means of salvation other than trusting in Christ and resting in his finished work. Old Testament saints looked forward to Christ and New Testament saints look backward to Christ, but all lay hold of Christ’s work through saving faith.

FURTHER READING

• Guy M. Richard, “A Picture of Saving Faith”

• J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith?

• John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied

• John Owen, Gospel Evidences of Saving Faith

• Ligonier, “What is Saving Faith?”

• Paul Carter, “What is (Saving) Faith?”

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/doctrine-saving-faith/

Salvation According to His Word

Chris Poblete

Psalm 119:41, “Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD— Your salvation according to Your word.”

Notice that this stanza in Psalm 119:41-48 begins with a request. It begins with a cry for the mercies (or steadfast love) of Yahweh.

And the Psalmist seems to know that he does not deserve such love, nor can he attain it by his own volition. “Let Your mercies come to me,” he cries. In other words, this steadfast love can only be given by the One who offers it. The psalmist cannot produce it himself; it must be received as a gift.

What about you? Do you long for such divine mercies? Do you know your need for them? Are you aware of your need for God’s steadfast love? Our greatest need in life is to be reconciled with the Creator through the steadfast love that is expressed in Jesus Christ. However, many of us live as though our greatest need is something else outside of God.

But God has created us to be dependent upon Him—His mercies and steadfast love. Sure enough, He does not have to give us anything. From the time He first spoke creation into existence and formed our first parents from the dust of the ground, He has not owed us one thing. And yet, He freely gives to all. Water, food, air, you name it—these are all gifts from a good and gracious God.

Yet, there is one gift of love that supersedes all others. It is the gift that every soul yearns for: the gift of saving love—steadfast love. This love does not produce just a fuzzy feeling but a salvific deliverance! God alone defines the terms of such love, and as the psalmist states, it is a love delivered “according to [His] promise.”

We want love and salvation from God for all sorts of things. We want Him to save us from our critics, from our financial shortages, from our conflicts with people, and from the long, hard days. But this is love according to my word, my will, my idea of what is good and right with the world.

The Psalmist does not respond this way. He is different. His cry is for saving love on God’s terms, not his own.

The way we look at God and His promises toward us is confronted here in Psalm 119:41.  Do I want God’s love to come to me according to my preferences or according to His?

What are the things you think about every day? What are the dreams you are engrossed in? Do they revolve around your own desires, or do they revolve around God’s? When our desires revolve around us, then we lose perspective. We begin to think that God’s love is best expressed in relief from our circumstances. The Psalmist refused to fall prey to this way of thinking. He did not elevate His own interest over God’s promise and redemptive plan. He knew that God’s ultimate goal for His people is not to give them new circumstances but to make them new creations. And God does so through the limitless power of His Word.

About the Author: Chris is a Christian, husband to Alyssa, works as Executive Director of The Gospel for OC and Writer and Editor at Blue Letter Bible. Chris and his wife Alyssa worship and serve at Reverence Bible Church in Mission Viejo, California. He is the author of The Two Fears: Tremble Before God Alone.

Posted at: https://servantsofgrace.org/salvation-according-to-his-word/

Abiding in Christ

John MacArthur

Our relationship to Christ is unlike anything else in the human realm. It can be described only by comparing it to relationships we are familiar with. It is like a deep friendship. It is like two people in love with each other, or like the love and respect shared by a father and son.

Scripture uses a number of metaphors to describe our relationship to Christ. He is the King and we are the subjects; He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are the body. One of the best metaphors is the one Christ Himself used in John 15:1-11, where He is the Vine and we are the branches:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

The vine-and-branches concept makes an ideal metaphor, because it is filled with parallels to our relationship with Christ. A branch grows through its connection with the vine, and we grow because of our relationship with Christ. A branch is nothing apart from the vine, and we can do nothing apart from Him. A branch draws strength from the vine, and we become strong through Him.

In the metaphor of John 15, Christ is the Vine and the Father is the vinedresser. He prunes the fruit bearing branches to make them bear more fruit. He removes the fruitless branches, and they are burned. Through continual pruning, the fruitfulness of the vine is increased. The branches that abide in the vine—those who are truly in Christ—are blessed, they grow and bear fruit, and the Father lovingly tends them. It is a beautiful picture of the Christian life, and it magnifies the blessings associated with abiding in Christ: salvation, fruitfulness, answered prayer, abundant life, full joy, and security.

Salvation

The branches that abide in the true Vine represent those who are truly saved. The others are not properly connected to the Vine. You have seen shrubs that have weeds growing in them. The weeds are intertwined with the branches of the shrubs and appear to be part of the same plant, but in reality they are attached to a different root. They are like people who have only a superficial relation to Christ.

Tragically, some people pretend to be Christians but have no real connection to Christ. They might regularly go to church or be involved in a Bible study. They might even talk about having a relationship with Jesus. But they aren't genuine branches in the Vine. Evangelical churches are filled with false branches. Some husbands come to church only because their wives want them to. Some young people come to church to be involved in a youth program, but they are not interested in knowing Christ personally. In fact, many outwardly spiritual people never go beyond mere association with Christians.

Jesus pleads with people who are superficial branches. He says in verse 4, "Abide in Me." He is saying to those who are like Judas, "Be genuine; abide in Me and show that your faith is real; bear fruit and remain on the vine." It is like saying, "You superficial branches: be saved; have a genuine relation to Christ."

Abiding in Christ is a mark of true salvation. Sometimes a person who is active in the church leaves suddenly and never goes back to church again. Or a leader in the church may become apostate. People in the church wonder what happened. The explanation is in 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."

If a person's relationship to Christ is genuine, he remains. First John 2:24-25 says, "As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life." Those who abide inherit eternal life.

That is not to say that you can be saved by being steadfast. The point is that if you continue in the faith, you are showing that your connection to Christ is real; if you depart, you demonstrate that it never was.

Paul made the same point in Colossians 1:22-23: "He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven."

Hebrews 3:6 likewise says, "Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." By continuing in Christ we give evidence that we are really part of His household. Later, the same chapter says, "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end" (v. 14). A true believer has a living and vital relationship with Jesus Christ that cannot give way to unbelief or apostasy.

Only the person who abides in the true Vine can claim the promise of the constant presence of God. Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you." That means if we truly abide in Him, He will truly abide in us.

Many people come to church thinking that God is with them just because they sit in the pew. But being in a church doesn't mean the Lord is with you. He doesn't live inside a church; He lives in His disciples. A person who sits among true disciples might be as far from Christ as the native of a tribe that has never heard the gospel—if he does not abide in the true Vine.

Jesus says in verse 9, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." A real disciple doesn't come to Christ, receive His love, and then leave again; he remains. That is what Jesus is saying, whether He says "abide," bear much fruit," or "abide in My love." They all mean, "Be a real believer."

A Christian can abide only by being firmly grounded in Jesus. If a branch is to abide, it cannot be even half an inch away—it must be connected. Those who are saved are those who are abiding, and those who are not abiding are not saved.

Fruitfulness

Those who truly abide will bear fruit. Jesus tells us how in verse 4: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." The person who abides discovers that his soul is nourished with the truths of God as he stays in a close, living, energized relationship with Jesus Christ. The natural result of that is spiritual fruit.

Sometimes we think we can bear fruit alone. We become independent because we think we are strong or clever. Or sometimes we look at fruit we have borne in the past and think we can do it alone; we forget God worked through us to produce the fruit.

A branch can bear no fruit apart from the vine. Even strong branches can't bear fruit independent of the vine. The strongest branches, cut off from the vine, become as helpless as the weakest; the most beautiful are as helpless as the ugliest, and the best is as worthless as the worst.

Fruit-bearing is not a matter of being strong or weak, good or bad, brave or cowardly, clever or foolish, experienced or inexperienced. Whatever your gifts, accomplishments, or virtues, they cannot produce fruit if you are detached from Jesus Christ.

Christians who think they are bearing fruit apart from the Vine are only tying on artificial fruit. They run around grunting and groaning to produce fruit but accomplish nothing. Fruit is borne not by trying, but by abiding.

To bear genuine fruit, you must take your place on the Vine and get as close to Jesus as you can. Strip away all the things of the world. Put aside the sins that distract you and sap your energy. Put aside everything that robs you of a deep, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. Stay apart from sin and be in God's Word.

Having done all that, don't worry about bearing fruit. It is not your concern. The Vine will merely use you to bear fruit. Get close to Jesus Christ and His energy in you will bear fruit.

Some people find reading the Bible insipid and boring; they think sharing their faith is dull. Others find those things exciting. Invariably, the difference is that one is working on the deeds, and the other is concentrating on his relationship with Jesus Christ. Don't focus on the deeds; focus on your walk with Christ—the deed will grow naturally out of your relationship.

Fruit is a frequent metaphor in Scripture. The main word for it is used approximately a hundred times in the Old Testament and seventy times in the New Testament; it appears in twenty-four of the twenty-seven New Testament books. It is mentioned often, yet it is also often misunderstood.

Fruit is not outward success. Many think that if a ministry is big and involves a lot of people, it is fruitful. But a church or Bible study group isn't successful just because it has many people—fleshly effort can produce big numbers. Some missionaries might minister to few people but bear much fruit.

Fruit-bearing is not sensationalism. A person does not have a lot of fruit because he is enthusiastic or can make others enthusiastic about a church program. God produces real fruit in our lives when we abide.

The fruit of the Spirit is common to all of us, yet the Spirit uses each person differently. Fruit cannot be produced by simulating the genuine fruit another person has borne. It is tempting to see the fruit another person has produced and try to duplicate it. Instead of abiding, we try to produce what someone else has produced, but end up with only artificial fruit. God did not design us to produce the same kind of fruit. Our fruit is uniquely arranged, ordered, and designed.

Real fruit is, first of all, Christlike character. A believer who is like Christ bears fruit. That is what Paul meant in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Those were all characteristics of Christ.

Christlike character is not produced by self-effort. It grows naturally out of a relationship with Christ. We don't first try to be loving, and when we have become loving, try to be joyful, and so on. Instead, those qualities become part of our lives as we abide in Christ by staying close to Him.

Second, thankful praise to God is fruit. Hebrews 13:15 says, "Through Him then, letus continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." When you praise God and thank Him for who He is and what He has done, you offer Him fruit.

Help to those in need is a third kind of fruit to God. The Philippian church gave Paul a gift; in Philippians 4:17 he told them he was glad for their sake that they had: "Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account." He appreciated it not for the sake of the gift, but for the fruit in their lives.

In Romans 15:28, Paul wrote, "Therefore, when I have finished this, and I have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain." Again he referred to a gift as "fruit." In both cases, their gifts revealed their love, so Paul counted it as fruit. A gift to someone in need is fruit if it is offered from a loving heart, in the divine energy of the indwelling Christ.

Purity in conduct is another kind of spiritual fruit. Paul wanted Christians to be holy in their behavior. He wrote in Colossians 1:10, "that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Converts are another type of fruit. Many New Testament passages show that converts are spiritual fruit. For example, in 1 Corinthians 16:15, Paul called the first converts in Achaia the "first fruits of Achaia." Like other spiritual fruit, success in winning converts is not accomplished by anxiously running around and participating in lots of "evangelistic activities"—it comes by abiding in the Vine. The way to be effective in leading people to Christ is not solely by being an aggressive witness; rather it is by abiding in Christ. Concentrate on your relationship to Jesus Christ and He will give you opportunities to share your faith. There is no need to become anxious because you have not yet won a certain number of people to Christ. As you become closer to Him and more like Him, you will discover that sharing your faith is a natural outgrowth of abiding. You may not always see fruit immediately, but fruit will be borne, nevertheless.

When Jesus was traveling to Samaria, He met a woman getting water. She told the people in her town about Jesus. As the people from the town came out to meet him, He said to the disciples,

Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, "One sows, and another reaps." I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. (John 4:35-38)

The disciples were reaping the results of other people's labor. Those people did not see all the result of their labor, but their efforts still bore fruit.

William Carey spent thirty-five years in India before he saw one convert. Some people think he led a fruitless life. But almost every convert in India to this day is fruit on his branch, because he translated the whole New Testament into many different Indian dialects. He was not the one to reap directly what he had sown, but his life's legacy bore much fruit.

One of the most fulfilling experiences in life is to bear fruit for God. If it isn't happening in your life, the reason is simple—you are not abiding in the Vine.

Answered Prayer

God gives an incredible promise to those who abide: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7).

Notice that there are two conditions to that promise. First, we must abide. The Greek word for "abide" is in the aorist tense; it indicates something that happened at one point in time and has permanent results. Again, it refers to salvation and indicates that the promise is only for real believers.

Of course, in His sovereign wisdom, God sometimes answers the prayers of a non-Christian; but He does not obligate Himself to do so. If He does, it is His sovereign choice and for His purpose; but He does not have to. The promise of answered prayer is reserved only for those who abide in the true Vine.

Still, many who are true branches do not always get answers to their prayers. It may be because they are not meeting Jesus' second condition, which is, "If my words abide in you."

"My words" doesn't mean only the individual words of Christ. Some people misuse red-letter Bibles because they regard the words of Jesus as more inspired or more important than the words of other writers of Scripture. But the words of Paul, Peter, John and Jude are just as important. The Lord Jesus Christ has spoken through all of Scripture; it is all His message to us. Therefore, when He says, "If My words abide in you," He means we must have such high regard for all of Scripture that we let it abide in us, that we hide it in our hearts, and that we commit ourselves to knowing and obeying it.

To meet the first condition, a person must be a Christian. To meet the second condition, he must study all of Scripture in order to govern his life by what Christ has revealed.

The same principle is found in John 14:14, "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." Praying in His name is not merely adding "in Jesus' name" to the end of a prayer. It means praying for that which is consistent with the words and will of Christ.

The Christian who is abiding in Christ and controlled by His Word is not going to ask anything against God's will. Because he wants what God wants, he is guaranteed an answer to his prayer.

Our prayers often go unanswered because we pray selfishly. James 4:3 says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

Our prayers will be answered if we follow Paul's example in 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." We must rid our minds of everything that violates God's truth and will. When we think according to the will of God, we will pray according to the will of God and our prayers will be answered.

There is so little power in the prayers of the church today because we are not fully abiding and seeking His mind. Instead of bringing our minds into obedience to Christ and asking according to His will, we ask selfishly, so our prayers go unanswered. If we cultivated an intimate love relationship with Christ, we would desire what He desires; and we would ask and receive.

The psalmist said, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). That means that when you delight completely in the Lord, He implants the right desires in your heart. His desires become yours. What a blessing it is to know that God will answer every prayer we bring to Him!

Abundant Life

Abiding in Christ is the source of the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10. Those who abide fulfill the magnificent purpose of life, which is to give God the glory He deserves. Jesus said in verse 8, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit." When a Christian abides, God can work through him to produce much fruit. Since God produces it, He is the one glorified.

Paul recognized the source of fruit in his life. He said in Romans 15:18, "For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me." He did not tell people how good he was at preaching or evangelism. He recognized that everything worthwhile in his life came from God.

In Galatians 2:20 he said, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." He knew God did it all.

Peter had the same idea in mind when he said in 1 Peter 2:12, "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."

So this is the logical progression: the one who abides bears fruit; God is glorified in the fruit because He is the One who deserves credit for it; the purpose of life is fulfilled because God is glorified; and thus the one who abides and glorifies God experiences abundant life.

Full Joy

One of the chief elements of the abundant life is fullness of joy, which is an outgrowth of abiding in the true Vine. Jesus says in verse 11, "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."

God wants us to be consumed with joy, but few Christians are. Churches have many people who are bitter, discontent, and complaining. Some people think the Christian life is monastic deprivation and drudgery—a bitter religious pill. But God has designed it for our joy. It is when we violate God's design that we lose our joy. If we abide fully, we will have full joy.

When David sinned, he no longer sensed the presence of God. He cried out in Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." He had allowed sin to hinder the pure abiding relationship. He did not lose his salvation, but he lost the joy of his salvation.

That joy returned when he confessed his sin and accepted the consequences of it. His guilt was removed; he returned to a pure, unhindered, abiding relationship; and his joy was made full again.

The joy of abiding in the true Vine is unaffected by external circumstances, persecution, or the disappointments of life. We can experience the same joy Jesus had. And His joy flows through those who abide in Him.

Security

Abiding in the true Vine brings the deepest kind of security. Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Those who are in Him cannot be removed, they cannot be cut off, and they need not fear judgment. There is no suggestion here that those who now abide might later cease to do so. Their position is secure.

On the other hand, those who do not abide will be judged. Jesus says in verse 6, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." He is referring to the Judas-branches, the false disciples. Since they have no living connection to Jesus Christ, they are cast out.

The true believer could never be thrown away. Jesus promises in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." If a person is cast forth, it is because he was never a real disciple.

The branches that are cast off are gathered and burned. They burn forever and ever. It is a tragic picture of God's judgment.

The parable of the wheat and tares tells us that the angels of God gather those destined for judgment. Jesus says in Matthew 13:41-42, "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

There will be a day when God sends His angels to gather from around the world the Judas-branches who have no connection to Christ. He will cast them into eternal hell. It is tragic when a person appears to be a genuine branch but ends up in hell.

William Pope was a member of the MethodistChurch in England for most of his life. He made a pretense of knowing Christ and served in many capacities. His wife died a genuine believer.

Soon, however, he began to drift from Christ. He had companions who believed in the redemption of demons. He began going with them to the public house of prostitution. In time, he became a drunkard.

He admired Thomas Paine and would assemble with his friends on Sundays when they would confirm each other in their infidelity. They amused themselves by throwing the Bible on the floor and kicking it around.

Finally, he contracted tuberculosis. Someone visited him and told him of the great Redeemer. He said Pope could be saved from the punishment of his sins.

But Pope replied, "I have no contrition; I cannot repent. God will damn me! I know the day of grace is lost. God has said to such as me, 'I will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh.' I have denied Him; my heart is hardened."

Then he cried, "Oh, the hell, the pain I feel! I have chosen my way. I have done the horrible damnable deed; I have crucified the Son of God afresh; I have counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing! Oh that wicked and horrible thing of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which I know that I have committed; I want nothing but hell! Come, oh devil and take me!"

Pope spent most of his life in the church, but his end was infinitely worse than his beginning. Every man has the same choice. You can abide in the Vine and receive all of God's blessings, or you can be burned.

It doesn't seem like a difficult choice, does it? Yet millions of people resist God's gift of salvation, preferring the superficial relationship of the false branch. Perhaps you know people like that—or perhaps you are like that yourself. If so, Jesus' plea to you is a loving invitation: "Abide in me, and I in you."

Posted at: https://www.gty.org/library/articles/P18/abiding-in-christ

Christ the Divine Son

Joseph Hamrick

John 1:1-4- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

The Divine Son of God, the Word of God

Jesus is the divine Son of God, without beginning and end, fully equal in the Trinity with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

As William Hendricksen states in his Colossian Commentary, “If the Son is the very image of the invisible God, and if the invisible God is from everlasting to everlasting, it follows that the Son, too, must be eternally God’s image.”

When Paul states that Christ is the image of God in Colossians 1. Christ Himself agrees when he states, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Christ can say that and be completely accurate considering He is the express image of God. In His incarnation, He was the invisible God made visible.

See the distinction: we are made in God’s image, but Christ is God’s image. And as God’s image, therefore, He must be fully equal in divinity with the Father.

The Divine Son of God, Creator, and Sustainer of All Things

Everything exists because of Christ, and everything exists for Him.

Christ’s preeminence is not only present in the Gospel accounts, but also throughout the Pastoral letters, including Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3, and a plethora of others as well. The New Testament authors, carried along by the Spirit, took painstakingly clear measures to show in no uncertain terms, Christ is fully divine, and being divine is eternal.

Since Christ created all things, He is considered the “firstborn” of all creation. This is different than how we view that word. To be a firstborn naturally means one was born first. But here in Colossians 1:15, Paul means for us to understand Christ not as firstborn in the sense that Christ the Divine Son of God was ever created, rather, that considering that God created all things through Christ, He has the status of the firstborn: all things are His.

And not only does everything owe its existence to Christ, but also its continual sustainment. Christ keeps all things by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3). Take a moment to dwell on that knowledge. It can be too easy to gloss over these sections of Scripture, to read of the radiance of Christ so often that it becomes a mundane, ordinary affair. That is why meditation and prayer are so essential to the Christian walk. Read these beautiful passages of Christ’s divine power and meditate on what it means that Christ sustains you.

Breathe in. Christ sustains you. Breathe out. Christ sustains you still. He does this by the divine word of His power.

The Divine Son of God, the Light of Life

Humans have the innate ability to create. We see and use our creations every day: books, movies, electronics, buildings, etc.; but all these are secondary creations, and they all lack one essential thing: life.

No matter what we create, we cannot imbue our creations with life, we cannot create a soul.

But Scripture says that in Christ Himself is life itself. When we look upon Christ, we are looking at someone who controls the very essence of life. Thankfully, and most graciously, Christ did not keep that life to Himself. For  Christians, He gave us the twofold meaning of life.

First, in our creation, He gave us the breath of life. Our lives began from the moment of conception, knitted in the womb by Christ (Psalm 139:13), and secondly in our newborn lives, Christ gave us spiritual life, raising us from the dead, having created us in Christ Jesus for good works, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Christ is the giver of life, and the giver of life is none other than the divine Son of God.

Prayer

Christ, may we recognize who You are as the divine Son of God, without beginning and without end. May we realize our utter dependence on the Lord to give us life from the dead and to sustain our very breath and being. May we say along with Peter, “Where else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Amen.

Posted at: https://servantsofgrace.org/christ-the-divine-son/

Prayer Doesn't Create Salvation

Michael Youssef 

In the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17–23, a wealthy young man runs up to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus tells him that he must keep all the Ten Commandments. The young man says, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Of course, no one can keep all the Ten Commandments perfectly, but Jesus didn’t argue that point. He was trying to get to a more urgent issue in the young man’s life. The text tells us that Jesus “looked at him and loved him.” I think Jesus saw a real sincerity of heart in him; but there was something in the young man’s soul that was a roadblock to his salvation.

“One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The young man walked away sad, Mark tells us, “because he had great wealth.”

Now, was Jesus saying that the way to be saved and have eternal life is to sell everything you have and give it to the poor? If you read the story carefully, it’s clear that Jesus wasn’t saying that at all. He gave the same plan of salvation to the rich young ruler that he gave to Nicodemus—but he gave it in different words, tailoring his gospel call to each man’s individual need.

Same Gospel, Different Presentation

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and he had certain rigid, legalistic ideas about what it meant to be saved by God. Jesus had to shake him out of his narrow mindset by telling him he needed to be born again. Likewise, Jesus knew that the rich young ruler’s heart was tightly gripped by all his possessions, so he tried to shake the materialism out of the young man’s heart by telling him to sell everything and give to the poor. The point of the story was not that giving to the poor would save his soul, but that his love of possessions prevented him from following Jesus.

The Bible is unambiguous on this point: Good works won’t save you. Only Jesus saves. By grace are you saved through faith. Salvation is a gift of God, not an achievement of our own works. The plan of salvation that Jesus gave to Nicodemus was the same plan of salvation he gave the rich young ruler. He told Nicodemus that whosoever believes in him will have everlasting life. He told the rich young ruler, “Follow me.” Believing in Jesus and following Jesus are the same thing.

The point of the story was not that giving to the poor would save his soul, but that his love of possessions prevented him from following Jesus.

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, he didn’t tell them to sell their fishing boats and give the money to the poor. He simply said, “Come, follow me.” Jesus dealt differently with each person he met, because he treated each one as a unique individual. But no matter whom he was talking to, the plan of salvation he shared was the same: “Believe and follow me.”

Praying the Prayer

For many years, evangelists and preachers have used terms like “receive Christ” or “invite Jesus into your heart” to describe Christian conversion. The decision to receive Christ is often accompanied by a prayer of commitment. In his book Love Wins, Rob Bell ridicules the idea of a conversion prayer:

Christians don’t agree on exactly what this prayer is, but for many the essential idea is that the only way to get into heaven is to pray at some point in your life, asking God to forgive you and telling God that you accept Jesus, you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, and you want to go to heaven when you die. Some call this “accepting Christ,” others call it the “sinner’s prayer,” and still others call it “getting saved,” being “born again,” or being “converted.” That, of course, raises more questions. What about people who have said some form of “the prayer” at some point in their life, but it means nothing to them today? What about those who said it in a highly emotionally charged environment like a youth camp or church service because it was the thing to do, but were unaware of the significance of what they were doing? What about people who have never said the prayer and don’t claim to be Christians, but live a more Christlike life than some Christians?

Here’s someone who founded a church, was a pastor for 13 years, and yet seems to have completely missed the point of the prayer of conversion. Obviously, praying a prayer at one point in your life doesn’t make you a follower of Christ. Jesus didn’t say to Nicodemus and the rich young ruler, “One thing you lack—just pray the sinner’s prayer.” No! He said, “Believe in me. Follow me.”

Obviously, praying a prayer at one point in your life does not make you a follower of Christ.

Praying to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior isn’t a magical incantation or a spiritual prescription. It’s a commitment to follow Jesus and make him Lord of your entire life. If it’s a decision you make lightly or in an emotional moment, and you don’t keep that commitment, then you were never saved to begin with.

Conversion isn’t a matter of praying the right words; it’s a matter of believing and following Jesus. It means not merely receiving him as your Savior but making him the Lord of your life. For some people, following Christ begins by praying a prayer. For others, the decision to follow Jesus takes place gradually, and they have no recollection of a single moment when they prayed to accept Christ. That’s okay. What really matters is believing and following Christ.

Jesus said we must be born again. We must follow him. And if we all follow him as our Savior and Lord, if we abide in him and hold to his teachings, then our lives—and our world—will be transformed.

True Conversion

I hope you’ll take some time to examine your life and your soul, and ask yourself, Do I truly believe in Jesus? Am I following him? Have I made him the Lord of my life? If the honest, searching answer to those questions is yes, then take a moment to thank Jesus for dying on the cross for your sake. Thank him for the free gift of eternal life. Give praise to God the Father for his forgiving grace. Give thanks to the Holy Spirit for sealing your salvation for all eternity.

If your answer is no, then you can offer to God a prayer of commitment right now. You can invite Jesus to become the Lord of your life. If you don’t know what to say to Jesus, here is a prayer you can pray:

Dear Lord,

I know that I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin, and I ask you to forgive me. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I repent of my sins and I ask you to come into my life and take control. I make a commitment to follow you, and I trust you as my Lord and Savior.

In your name, Amen.

Remember, it’s not the words that save you. It’s the commitment of your heart that makes you a genuine follower of Jesus. If you prayed that prayer, and you mean these words with all your heart, then you’ve been forgiven. You’ll experience the abundant life in the here and now. And you’ll have eternal life in the world to come.

Editors’ note: 

This is an adapted excerpt from Michael Youssef’s new book, Saving Christianity?: The Danger in Undermining Our Faith—and What You Can Do about It (Tyndale Momentum, 2020).

Michael Youssef is the senior pastor of the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, and the executive president of Leading the Way.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/prayer-doesnt-create-salvation/

We Must Work Out Our Own Salvation

Paul Tautges

Philippians 2:12-13, “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

At some point in our Christian walk, we all ask questions like these: “How can I overcome this stubborn, sinful habit?” or “Will I ever change in this particular area?” Asking these questions of ourselves and God can be a positive indication that the life of God has been planted in our soul. In other words, since the Holy Spirit breathed new life into us, by means of the gospel, we long to be more like Christ. But some days we wonder how much progress we are really making. Therefore, it’s imperative that we have a biblical understanding of cooperative sanctification, that is, embracing our responsibility while also relying upon the power of God at work within us. Without a right grasp of progressive sanctification, our longing for godliness may tempt us to gravitate toward one of two extremes.

TWO UNBIBLICAL EXTREMES: QUIETISM AND PIETISM

First, there is the “Let Go and Let God” approach (also known as Keswick theology). According to an article written by New Testament professor Andrew Naselli, entitled “Why ‘Let Go and Let God’ Is a Bad Idea,” Keswick theology comes from the early Keswick movement, named after the small town in northwest England which has hosted an annual weeklong meeting on the deeper spiritual life since 1875.

Keswick theology is “one of the most significant strands of second-blessing theology. It assumes that Christians experience two ‘blessings.’ The first is getting ‘saved,’ and the second is getting serious. The change is dramatic: from a defeated life to a victorious life; from a lower life to a higher life; from a shallow life to a deeper life; from a fruitless life to a more abundant life; from being ‘carnal’ to being ‘spiritual’; and from merely having Jesus as your Savior to making Jesus your Master. People experience this second blessing through surrender and faith: ‘Let go and let God.’”[1] This theology is “appealing because Christians struggle with sin and want to be victorious in that struggle now. Keswick theology offers a quick fix, and its shortcut to instant victory appeals to genuine longings for holiness.” Naselli writes, “You can tell that Keswick theology has influenced people when you hear a Christian ‘testimony’ like this: ‘I was saved when I was eight years old, and I surrendered to Christ when I was seventeen.’”

This kind of theology is sometimes put in the category of Quietism. Quietists believe that the will of the Christian is quiet, or passive in sanctification. Concerning Quietism, John MacArthur writes, “Quietism tends to be mystical and subjective, focusing on personal feelings and experiences. A person who is utterly submitted to and dependent on God, they say, will be divinely protected from sin and led into faithful living. Trying to strive against sin or to discipline oneself to produce good works is considered to be not only futile but unspiritual and counterproductive.”[2]

A second extreme is Pietism. Advocates of this approach to spiritual growth are “aggressive in their pursuit of correct doctrine and moral purity. Historically, this movement originated in seventeenth-century Germany as a reaction to the dead orthodoxy of many Protestant churches. To their credit, most pietists place strong emphasis on Bible study, holy living, self-discipline, and practical Christianity….Yet they often stress self-effort to the virtual exclusion of dependence on divine power.”[3]

Pietism, as a movement, emphasized many good things in the area of spiritual disciplines and the mutual encouragement and exhortation of believers. However, it also has its downsides. It often gives birth to legalism, which is a false measurement of spirituality stemming from the dependence on one’s adherence to the law, in place of resting in faith. Pietistic tendencies also tend to feed what I like to call “The New Pharisaism,” which is an over-emphasis on externals, and the addition of extra-biblical rules and regulations to the neglect of the internal issues of the heart. This is also characterized by a hyper-critical spirit toward believers who fail to conform to the Pharisee’s demands.

Both Quietism and Pietism fail for the same reason: They place importance upon only one side of the process of sanctification.

• Quietism places more emphasis upon resting in God by faith.

• Pietism places more emphasis upon the diligent, unrelenting pursuit of holiness.

But growing in Christ requires both personal responsibility and dependence upon God in faith. In this regard, I am personally indebted to Jerry Bridges, who helped me to understand the importance of keeping these two equally-true priorities in tension with one another. In his first book, The Pursuit of Holiness (1978), he emphasized every Christian’s personal responsibility to be diligent in godliness. God expects us to wage war against the remaining sin in our lives and run the Christian race with great effort. We are not to flirt with sin, but fight against it. In a later book, Transformed by Grace (1991), he wrote of the energizing power of God’s grace to transform us into Christlikeness. In that book, he warned believers to beware of the “Performance Treadmill,” the never-ending tendency to base our relationship with God upon our personal, spiritual performance. Then, in 1993, he wrote The Discipline of Grace, which combined personal responsibility and divine empowerment into one. The book’s subtitle says it all: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness. It’s these two truths which the apostle Paul lays, side by side, before us:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13)

TWO ESSENTIAL TRUTHS OF COOPERATIVE SANCTIFICATION

In order to make progress in holiness toward the goal of being conformed to the image of Christ, we must grasp two essential truths that are always working together in the growing Christian.

First, we are 100% responsible for our spiritual growth (v. 12). Verse 12 begins with the word “therefore,” which links the exhortation that immediately follows to the apostle’s prior emphasis on the lordship of Christ. No one makes Jesus, Lord. He is Lord. The response of saving faith is to recognize this reality and submit to His rightful rule over our lives.

For this reason, he is thankful to be able to commend them for their past obedience. When they heard the gospel, they responded in faith, repentance, and obedience. Now, in the apostle’s absence, they are to continue to make progress in the obedience of faith by working out their own salvation.

Clearly, this Scripture is not telling us to work for our salvation but to work out [or outward] the inward change of heart that the Spirit has wrought. In other words, we are called to make every effort toward the completion of our faith “with fear and trembling;” that is, with a concern for doing what is right. This points to our need to be serious about our Christian walk. The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battlefield. It is a race to run. It is a fight to fight. It is a war in which we are called to be good soldiers. Numerous other Scriptures emphasize our personal responsibility in the pursuit of holiness (Matt. 5:27-30; Eph. 4:17-24; Heb. 12:1-2; James 1:21-22; for example).

Second, we are 100% dependent upon God for our spiritual growth (v. 13). Though we are responsible to discipline ourselves for godliness, it’s also true that we are incapable of making last change. However, the good news is that God “works in [us]” in two ways: both “to will and to work for his good pleasure.” As the Spirit of God works in us, our will is conformed to God’s will; that is, we want to become holy because God created that desire within us. This “sanctified willpower,” so to speak, enables us to work for God’s glory and pleasure. Numerous other Scriptures emphasize God’s work in our sanctification (John 15:5; Gal. 5:16, 22-25; Eph. 2:10; 2 Pet. 1:3, 5; 1 Cor. 15:10; for example).

Conclusion

In the bringing of these two essential truths together, 2 Corinthians 3:18 echoes the message of Philippians:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Our personal responsibility is to behold the glory of the Lord. We do this as we consistently meditate on Scripture, since the living Word, Jesus, is exalted in the written Word. Consequently, as we do this, the Spirit progressively (from one degree of glory to another) transforms us into the image of the One whom we are beholding. Ignoring either truth will undermine our spiritual progress. So, let us not be spiritual sluggards who put forth little effort to become godly. But let us also not assume that our progress is completely dependent upon us, for ultimately it is the Spirit of God who bears fruit in us for God’s glory.

[1] Andrew Naselli, “Why ‘Let Go and Let God’ Is a Bad Idea.” Ligonier.org.

[2] John MacArthur, Philippians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 2001), 152.

[3] MacArthur, 152-153.

Posted at: https://servantsofgrace.org/we-must-work-out-our-own-salvation/

The Greatest Salvation Imaginable

• Devotional by John Piper

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . ” (Jeremiah 31:31)

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas — and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God?

Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside, but are willing from inside, to love him and trust him and follow him.

That would be the greatest salvation imaginable — if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to know that Reality in such a way that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and the greatest pleasure possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about.

That is, in fact, what he promised in the new covenant. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness.

How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest possible joy?

The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many.”

Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died (1 Peter 2:24). He took our judgment (Romans 8:3). He canceled our guilt (Romans 8:1). And that means our sins are gone (Acts 10:43). They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them (Jeremiah 31:34). They are consumed in the death of Christ.

Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with all the unspeakably great new covenant promises. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will — his own heart — on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-greatest-salvation-imaginable

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

By Barbara Juliani

That was the question I asked the nine- and ten-year-old Sunday school class I was teaching. I wondered if they knew the answer. When I was ten, I thought I knew. After all, I was a pastor’s daughter and went to a Christian school. But I didn’t. I had learned a gospel, but not the true gospel.

WHAT WAS MY GOSPEL?

It started out right: You are a sinner whose only hope is to trust in Jesus, ask him for forgiveness for your sins, and he gives you the free gift of eternal life. But then my gospel took a wrong turn. According to my gospel, you also had to work hard, be the best at what you do, and keep the ten commandments.

It turned out my gospel closely resembled the values of my parents’ upbringing with a dash of Oregonian frontier independence thrown in. It was the gospel-according-to-the-Millers.

FOLLOWING THE RULES—AND FAILING

When I was ten, I remember my Sunday School teacher saying to our class, “You kids think being a Christian is just following a bunch of rules.” Her words caught my attention. Did she mean there was more than rule-following involved in being a Christian? But what could that be? If being a Christian didn’t mean being a good person and following rules, what did it mean?

I tried to be good (when convenient). When it wasn’t convenient, I hid my sins (as best I could). Once I wore my older sister’s blouse without asking. I’m pretty sure she said something like, “Don’t touch my things!”

After I wore it, I washed and ironed it to make sure she didn’t notice anything wrong. But the iron was too hot and burned the blouse. I hid it deep in my closet. Whenever I thought about being a Christian, I remembered the hidden blouse—the stealing, the cover-up, my inability to come clean—and realized Christianity couldn’t be for me.

I wasn’t a good person. Soon that became obvious. I stopped trying to be good and left my home and religion.

THE DEADLY GOSPEL

The gospel-according-to-the-Millers led me far away from the real gospel. It wasn’t about the grace and truth of Jesus Christ; it was what Paul calls “no gospel at all” (Galatians 1:7). This “no gospel,” characterized by trying hard to be good through our own efforts, led my father to quit his job as a pastor and a seminary professor and my mother to announce that she didn’t even know if God existed. It was a deadly gospel. It brought death because it was based on our efforts instead of Jesus’s sacrifice. It brought death because deep down we all knew our efforts weren’t enough to save us. It turns out it wasn’t just me who wasn’t a good person.

We all had a hidden blouse that spoke of our sins. For my dad, it was a failing church and the inability to see an impact as he taught young men to be pastors. For my mom, it was her failures as a mother that kept her up at night. She had tried so hard. Why was her daughter not trying too?

THE TRUE GOSPEL

Paul sums up the true gospel like this: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Jesus came to save sinners. That’s the good news that brings lasting faith, hope, and love into the lives of those who trust Jesus.

But the good news is only for those who know the bad news: I am a sinner who needs saving. That is just as true now as it was when I was a little girl hiding my sister’s blouse. As my dad famously said, “Cheer up! You are worse than you think. Cheer up! God loves you more than you know!”

That bad news/good news combination is not only for becoming a Christian. It’s the power of God for living as a Christian.

WE NEED JESUS EVERY DAY

My dad and mom, good people that they were, had to learn the hard way that they were worse than they thought. It turns out that pride and self-righteousness are deadly sins that need to be repented from. And I, bad girl that I was, also needed to know Jesus came to this world to save sinners.

When my parents learned the true gospel – that they needed daily forgiveness and help from Jesus for their daily sins and struggles – they shared that with me. Not by sitting me down and explaining it, but by living it in front of me.

By then the Miller gospel of self-effort and hard work had kicked in for me, and I had pulled my life together. I was in a stable relationship and going to graduate school at Stanford. My mom and dad had just returned from mission work in war-torn Uganda. My mom told me that she had walked the streets sobbing because she couldn’t love the people there.  

My dad pointed her to the forgiveness and love that was hers in Christ from her heavenly Father. He reminded her that in Christ she now had the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of sonship by which she could call out to her Father in heaven. She did just that and was forgiven and helped.

After listening to her struggle and how God met her, for the first time I thought maybe someone like me could be a Christian. For the first time, my mom sounded like a real person in real trouble who simply turned to God for help.

DRAGGED FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT                               

A few weeks later I was walking to class feeling guilty about something I had done. It was a small thing, but I felt the weight of another failure. This time, instead of stuffing my guilt deep down, I remembered that Jesus Christ came to the world to save sinners.

I remembered the forgiveness of sins was mine for the asking. So I asked Jesus to forgive me for that sin and many more. I stepped (was dragged) from darkness and death into the light of God’s love.

That’s the true gospel—the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). The true gospel was not just for that day. It’s how the power of God flows into my life every day. Every day I am still the worst sinner, and every day I need to turn to Jesus and ask for mercy and help in my time of need.

COMFORT IN THE CROSS

The needs of this day look different today, then they did many years ago, but deep down they are still the same. The overwhelming need of this day is for faith in God’s goodness and love as we grieve the death of our son Gabe from cancer eight months ago. Will I turn to God with my sorrow and grief? Or will I turn away and look to other things to comfort and fulfill me?  

We are wounded by death. But we turn toward the One who was wounded for our transgressions, who died that we might live. We look to Jesus – the author and finisher of our faith – who for the joy set before him endured the cross. We remember the resurrection and that Jesus defeated death. We trust our son into his hands.

We ask for the Spirit to comfort, help, and remind us of the Father’s great love this day. And for his help to endure again another day. I need Jesus today as desperately as I needed him that day long ago when I first asked for forgiveness for my many sins. I feel that need more deeply today than ever before. And he is still forgiving and helping. Because Jesus rose from the dead, I know for sure that there will come a day when he will welcome me to our true home where there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. That’s the gospel.

Posted at: https://blog.newgrowthpress.com/what-is-the-gospel/