John 2:23-25: Faith that Saves

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Intro

Romans 3:23-25 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Grace alone. Faith alone. Christ alone.

Those precious words. What a glorious, amazing truth. The most precious doctrine we have handed down once for all to all the saints.

A summary of the gospel itself.

We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not as a result of any of our own works.

What rest that is for weary, sin laden souls.

But we must ask a very important question.

A question that is not often asked in the church today.

And because it is not asked, leaves many people who profess the name of Christ to be deceived about their salvation believing they are right with God on the path to Heaven when nothing could be further from the truth.

They are dead in their sins, on the road to Hell claiming Jesus all along the way.

And here it is:

What is saving faith? What is the Faith that saves?

There is a kind of faith in the Bible that saves no one. A superficial or spurious faith. A false faith that deceives people about their salvation.

And there is a kind of faith that unites someone to Christ and saves them once and for all from all their sin.

Well what kind of faith is that?

Here is why everyone needs this sermon today.

2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to Examine ourselves, test ourselves, to see whether or not you are in the faith.

The Bible wants us to know what saving faith is and to examine ourselves to see if we actually have it.

Number 1, it helps us to not be deceived about our salvation. To know and have assurance that our sins are forgiven in Christ.

There are a few sides to this coin.

On the one hand you might be the deceived hypocrite who thinks they are in Christ because they prayed a prayer or walked an aisle, and my prayer is that God uses this sermon to wake you up and bring you into a true faith and trust in Christ so that you might have true forgiveness from your sins.

On the other hand, you might be someone who struggles with assurance. Who struggles to know if they are really saved, if God truly loves them, if they truly are forgiven.

This sermon’s for you. To hopefully pull you out of that doubt and fear and give you rest and peace in your salvation in Christ.

Or maybe your a child or someone brand new to the faith. Just recently born again. And you’ve been wondering whether or not you now a Christian.

Test yourself. Hopefully this sermon will help you to see whether or not God has saved you in Christ so that you can get off the fence and confidently take your first steps as a follower of Christ.

Number 2, understanding the nature of saving faith shows us what a life of faith looks like and urges us towards a life of greater godliness.

The righteous shall live by faith (Hab. 2:14, Rom. 1:17).

What does that look like?

How does saving faith guide us in how to live a life of faith that honors Christ.

What is saving faith?

Here’s the Big idea from John 2:23-25:

Saving Faith Trusts in Christ as Savior and Follows Him as Lord.

We are going to start with what saving faith is not.

Then we are going to look at what saving faith is.

And we are going to close with application and how do you know whether or not you have saving faith.

So let’s start with point number 1...

I. Saving Faith is Not a Superficial Faith

John 2:23-25 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

After cleansing the Temple, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem and while there He did many signs.

And John tells us that many people believed in Jesus’ name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

What wonderful news!

People were coming to Christ! Jesus was starting His ministry with a bang. A huge success.

But then John says something confusing.

Verse 24, But on His part, Jesus did not entrust himself to them.

There’s a word play going on in the Greek.

The word believed is the same Greek word as when it says Jesus did not entrust himself to them.

The idea is that they believed in Christ, but Jesus did not believe in them.

He had no faith in their faith.

Well, what’s going on here? Why would Jesus stand aloof from His followers? From people believing in His name?

Why would He keep them at a distance?

Because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Divinity

This is a clear picture of Jesus’ divinity, because Scripture tells us only God knows the heart Acts 15:8, 1 Kings 8:39, Romans 8:27, 1 Samuel 16:7, Hebrews 4:13).

If Jesus was not God He would not be able to know what was in man.

But He sees the heart, and He sees all the way down.

Hebrews 4:13 All are naked and exposed. Nothing is hidden from His sight.

Proverbs 21:2 the Lord weighs the heart.

And Jesus weighed the hearts of these would be followers and found them wanting.

Superficial Faith

Their faith was superficial. It wasn’t a true saving faith, but a spurious faith liable to be overthrown or quickly uprooted.

They believed when they saw the signs.

Their faith was rooted earthly things...in what their eyes could see.

But they were spiritually blind to the reality behind those things.

What did all of Jesus’ signs show?

What was He saying when He cast out demons?

Healed the sick?

Opened blind eyes?

Made the lame walk?

Multiplied bread without the sweat of His brow and Raised the dead?

That He was reversing the curse! Healing everything broken by the Fall!

They saw the signs, but they did not see what the signs pointed to.

It was a superficial faith that believed Jesus was sent from God, maybe even the Messiah, but it was a cold faith that did not trust in Christ with an all of life commitment to follow and obey Him.

So Jesus does not entrust himself to them because their “faith,” if we could call it, that might be best described as a “first attraction to the Lord.”

That there’s obviously something beautiful and glorious about Him, they might even believe that He was sent from God, but this attraction did not result in a wholehearted commitment, trust, and abiding belief in Jesus Himself.

Calvin describes faith as something more than just intellectually believing something is true, its actually submitting oneself wholly to it.

(Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 101).

That true faith is an entire giving of oneself in absolute commitment and trust.

Ironically we see this with Jesus.

Remember the word play? They believed in Him, but Jesus did not believe in them?

The way that’s translated, did not entrust Himself, is actually a good picture of what saving faith actually is.

Jesus did not give Himself to them. That’s faith.

Its a giving of all of our life, all of our hope, all of our trust, all of our will, hopes, dreams and desires to Christ.

Its a giving of ourselves totally and wholeheartedly to Christ.

And its an abiding commitment. A persevering commitment.

Later in John 6:66, John describes disciples just like this, and that’s the word He uses, disciples, turning back from the Lord and no longer walking with Him.

It was a superficial faith.

One that did not trust in Christ wholeheartedly with an all of life commitment to follow Him.

And one that did not persevere and endure to the end.

That is a faith that cannot save. And that is a faith that is prevalent in the American church today.

We are in the Bible Belt.

How many people profess Christ, claim to follow Him, say that He’s God and died on the cross for our sins, but do not follow him with all of their life.

How many people do we know who no longer walk with the Lord, but still believe they are saved because they prayed a prayer at one point in their life?

That is a superficial faith. And that faith without true discipleship will leave people dead in their sins deceived about their salvation.

Jesus actually gave us a picture of what this superficial faith and saving faith actually looks like in one of the most famous parables He ever gave. The parable of the Sower or maybe better, the parable of the soils.

Soils (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).

A sower went out to sow. The seed Jesus tells us is the gospel.

And this seed falls on four different types of soil. And these soils represent the hearts of people and four different responses to the gospel.

Path

Some seed falls along the path.

This is the unresponsive heart. They hear the gospel and it goes nowhere.

Hard packed soil that refuses to let the seed penetrate and grow until birds, that is Satan, comes and devours it. Snatches it away.

Rocks

The other two types of soil are the ones we are talking about here.

Some seed falls on rocky ground. Basically bedrock covered with a few inches of soil.

The seed takes root, springs up, but soon it withers away from the scorching heat of the sun, because they have no root.

These are people who enthusiastically hear the gospel, make a profession of faith, but they never count the cost.

They aren’t actually converted.

They are attracted to Jesus for the love, joy, good feelings and fellowship He offers, but underneath their heart is still hard as bedrock.

They haven’t repented and trusted in Christ with all of their life.

The moment scorching heat comes, any persecution or some type of suffering in their life, they give up following Jesus because that wasn’t the Christian life they were promised.

They were never told that to follow Jesus was to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.

And Thorns

Then you have the thorny soil.

This seed grows up but it’s choked out by thorns which Jesus calls the cares and riches of the world.

These are people that say they follow Jesus, but really they just love their sin and the things of the world.

They live for themselves.

They might have a general interest in Christ, even participate in the things of religion, but when push comes to shove, when the gospel calls them to give up their lives and follow Christ they either give up entirely or they just go through the motions claiming Christ, but living for their sin.

Both of these soils are a picture of superficial faith.

Both claim Christ. Both even look, on the outside, somewhat Christian.

But neither trusts in and follows Christ with all their life.

One falls away as soon as hardship comes and the other refuses to die to themselves and their sin.

They have the appearance of Christianity, but they were never truly saved.

This would describe most professing Christians and churches today. They are the same kind of followers from John 2.

Good Soil

But you have another type of soil. The good soil.

And when the gospel finds the good soil it grows and bears fruit some a hundredfold, some sixty, others thirty.

But they all bear fruit. And that is a picture of saving faith.

Saving faith always bears fruit in a true Christian’s life.

And that takes us to point number 2...

If superficial faith is a false faith, one that has no root or true commitment to Christ, then true, saving faith is what we would call a living faith...

A faith that bears fruit.

Number 2…Saving faith is not a superficial faith....

II. Saving Faith is a Living Faith

First and foremost saving faith rests on faith in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

The word of Christ being the gospel.

And just three verses before that Paul says that without hearing that gospel, no one will be saved (Rom. 10:14).

So this is important. Its not just faith in general that saves you.

Sometimes you’ll hear the idea that it doesn’t matter what someone believes as long as they sincerely believe.

But as R.C. Sproul said, someone can be sincerely wrong.

There is not saving faith without faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that was handed down once for all to all the saints (Jude 3).

Gospel

Well what is that? What is the word of Christ? The good news of the gospel?

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).

All of us have sinned against God and deserve the wages of our sin which is death (Rom. 6:23).

But the bad news is that is a debt we could never pay.

Left to ourselves, none of us could ever make atonement for our sin, let alone anyone else’s, because no amount of good works or religious activity or being a good person could ever pay for and wash away even one of our sins.

We needed a Savior. Someone who could pay for our sin and at the same time offer to God a life of perfect obedience we failed to live to the glory of His Name.

But here’s the good news.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus is the eternal Son of God who left Heaven and took on human flesh to live a perfect and sinless life on our behalf.

He went to the cross and died in our place for our sins suffering the wrath of God we deserved becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone hanged on a tree (Gal 3:13).

But because He had no sin of His own, God raised Him from the dead three days later proclaiming to the world that He was the Son of God and His sacrifice was accepted for our sins.

And now everyone who believes in Him, who puts their faith in Jesus Christ and trusts in Him alone for salvation, God gives forgiveness and the grace of eternal life, not through any works of their own, but through faith in Christ and His finished work on our behalf.

That is the gospel we must believe if we are to have saving faith.

But its not just knowing the truth of the gospel. Its not just a bare acknowledgement or intellectual agreement that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

Saving faith is a faith that moves beyond “believing that,” talking about the bare facts of the gospel, to “believing in,” and ultimately, “depending on.”

Even the demons believe in the bare facts of the gospel. They call Jesus the Son of God (Mt. 8:29), and believe that God is One (Jas. 2:19), but they do not believe with faith and utter dependence.

So faith is something obviously more than intellectual knowledge or agreement.

Well what is it?

Watson on Saving Faith (Body of Divinity, 215-220)

Puritan great, Thomas Watson, helps us here.

1. Self-Renunciation

First, Saving Faith is self-renunciation.

Its saying without question, there is nothing I can do to save myself.

Philippians 3:8-9 I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Saving faith says I have no righteousness of my own, my only hope is Christ.

Watson even gives us this amazing picture.

As Israel left Egypt in the Exodus, behind them they saw Pharoah and his chariots bearing down on them.

And before them, the Red Sea was ready to drown whoever entered its waves.

They had no hope. Death was on either side.

In the same way, the sinner looks behind him sees God’s justice and wrath chasing him down and in the front the mouth of Hell ready to devour.

And the man of faith sees nothing in himself to help. Nothing of his own to bring. God alone must deliver.

And in a miracle of God’s grace Christ parts the Red Sea and saves us from our sins. (A Body of Divinity, 215-216).

Number 2...

2. Reliance

The soul casts itself entirely upon Christ.

We see Christ, with the eyes of faith, as the only one who can save from our sins and we throw all of our lives on Him.

And its here we need to make an important distinction.

Faith is not what saves us. The object of our faith saves us: Christ!

That means your salvation does not rest on the strength of your faith. It rests on the strength of the one your faith is in and He is almighty God.

Number 3...

3. Appropriation

This is applying Christ to ourselves.

Receiving Christ and making Him our own.

Giving ourselves to him. Trusting in Him. Submitting to Him. Following Him.

Appropriation is receiving Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King:

Receiving Him as the One who has the words of eternal life and reveals to us God’s will for our life.

Receiving Him as the One who offered His life as a sacrifice for our sins and rose again three days later.

And receiving Him as the One who rules over all and deserves all the glory.

Its receiving Christ as Lord and Savior, and following Him with all of our life.

And this is where we come to a point that is crucial for understanding the true nature of saving faith.

One that if the church understood it today, would revolutionize our witness in the world and what it means to follow Jesus.

Faith and Works

Saving faith doesn’t just trust in Christ as Savior, it also follows Him as Lord.

This is where we’ve been talking about the all of life commitment.

Submitting to Christ and following Him.

In other words, faith, will always bear the fruit of good works. True saving faith works itself out in a life of obedience.

James 2:14, 17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?…Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

In verse 20, James even says faith without works is useless.

Well what are we saying? That we are actually justified by faith alone but by faith plus works?

Not at all.

As the Reformers would say We are justified by faith alone, but faith is never alone.

True faith, saving faith, will always work itself out in a life of obedience.

This is why I said Saving Faith is a living faith, not a dead faith that has no works.

It is not that our works in anyway contribute to our salvation.

But they do give evidence for our salvation.

The best way to think about it is that good works and a life of obedience is the fruit of faith.

As John MacArthur says, “The biblical concept of faith is inseparable from obedience...Obedience is the inevitable manifestation of true faith” (MacArthur, Gospel according to Jesus, 190).

Paul describes conversion, saving faith, as moving from being a slave to sin to obedient from the heart (Rom. 6:17).

Hebrews 5:9 describes those who are saved as all who obey him.

Acts 6:7 describes the early church as being obedient to the faith.

And Jesus Himself equates believing in Him with obedience in John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Faith without works is dead.

And this is the problem of American evangelicalism today.

The Church is weak today because we don’t actually believe God’s grace changes lives.

How many people profess the name of Christ and believed they are saved and forgiven of all their sin, when nothing in their life gives any proof for that fact.

They think they can follow Christ without obeying him, but that is a dead faith. One leading people headlong into hell.

True Christians, those who have the gift of saving faith, are transformed from the inside out.

They grow in their sanctification and follow Christ with more and more of their life putting their sin to death.

They live godly and obedient lives not as a means to gain their salvation but as the fruit of salvation.

The natural outworking of the indwelling power Holy Spirit.

Saving faith is a living faith that always works itself out in an all of life obedience to Christ.

But at the same time, saying that doesn’t mean we will live a sinless and perfect life.

As if, if you sin, and especially if you sin bad enough, you’re not really saved.

Even Paul himself talked about his war with the flesh and said Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:24).

You will stumble and you will fall into sin all throughout your life.

Until Christ returns, we will all battle against the flesh.

But difference is that the Christian, the one who has true saving faith hates their sin.

They confess their sin and they repent of it praying that God will give the grace to put it to death in their life once and for all.

So true faith. Saving faith. Is not without works. Its not dead.

As Spurgeon said Although we are sure that men are not saved for the sake of their works, yet we are equally sure that no man will be saved without them. (MacArthur, Gospel according to Jesus, 191).

Saving faith a living faith.

Its a faith that doesn’t just trust in Christ as Savior but follows Him as Lord.

Faith is a Gift

And this faith, this living faith, is not something we work up in ourselves.

Its a gift of God and a sovereign work of God’s grace in our life.

We can’t even understand the gospel if God doesn’t open our minds in the first place.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Left to our selves we are all like the seed that falls on the path and is devoured by the birds.

Outside of Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins unable to understand the things of God let alone believe in them and submit ourselves to them.

We are hostile to God, and the mind hostile to God does not submit to God’s law, indeed, it cannot. Those are Paul’s words from Romans 8:7.

We are dead, blind, lost in our sin.

Left to ourselves none of us would never believe because Romans 3:11 No one understands; no one seeks for God.

We must be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:6-8). By a miraculous work of God’s grace.

Jesus said No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44).

In salvation, God make us alive again and gives us a new heart.

And from that heart we believe and have faith in Christ.

If faith was something we could muster within ourselves, and if God were to save us in response to that faith, then we would contribute something to our salvation and even faith itself becomes a work.

But as it is...

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it [This grace-salvation-faith work of God] is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Or as Paul says elsewhere So then it [salvation] depends not on human will or exertion [that is our human effort], but on God, who has mercy (Romans 9:16).

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Not the result of works so that all glory would go to Christ and magnify the free grace of God to the absolute fullest.

No room for boasting. Just God’s grace.

A grace that is so gracious that what was impossible with man, is possible with God (Luke 18:27).

But this raises a very important question.

If we cannot muster this faith within ourselves and even this faith and all the fruit it produces is born out of the sovereign grace of God, then how do you know?

How do you know if you’re really saved?

How can anyone truly know whether or not we have saving faith and not just the superficial faith that is soon to fall away like the rocky or thorny soil?

And that’s point number 3...

III. How to Know if You Have Saving Faith

Watson actually gives us several proofs to look for.

And this is where we are able to, as Paul said, examine ourselves and test ourselves to see whether or not we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5).

Do I see these proofs, the evidences of saving faith, at work in my life?

Do these describe my faith?

Number 1...

1. Love for Christ

Paul said I count everything as loss to know Christ and everything as rubbish to gain Him (Phil. 3:8).

Faith is not just fire insurance or a get out of a Hell free card.

Faith treasures Christ for all that He is.

Isaiah said He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2).

The superficial faith sees no majesty in Christ. No beauty in who He is.

But Saving faith sees Christ, and counts Him all beautiful, all glorious, all worthy of all love, adoration, and praise.

Saving faith loves Christ and treasures Him above all else

Number 2...

2. Hatred of Sin

Through faith, God purifies our hearts (Acts 15:9). Cleanses us from our sin.

Do you hate sin in your life?

The wicked love their sin. They treat each one as a sweet morsel.

They will only throw away their sin if you pry it from their fingers.

But the Christian loathes their sin. Repents of their sin, and desires to put it to death no matter the cost.

As Thomas Watson says, “Though [faith] does not take away the life of sin, yet it takes away the love of sin. Examine if your hearts be an unclean fountain...If there be legions of lusts in thy soul, there is no faith. Faith is a heavenly plant, which will not grow in an impure soil” (Watson, A Body of Divinity, 219).

Number 3...

3. Obedience to Christ

I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

When God gives us saving faith He gives us new hearts that love God and love His Law.

Obedience becomes the delight of the Christian

This is what we talked about earlier…Faith bears fruit.

And this obedience is not a dry, dead obedience. It is a cheerful obedience.

Christ said If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).

1 John 5:3 His commandments are not burdensome.

Again Thomas Watson, “The true obedience of faith is a cheerful obedience....Have you obedience, and obey cheerfully? Do you look upon God’s command as your burden, or privilege; as an iron fetter about your leg, or as a gold chain about your neck” (Watson, A Body of Divinity, 219).

Number 4...

4. Love for Other Christians

John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Do you love other Christians?

This is one of the reasons why church membership is so important.

How do you obey all of the Bible’s “one another” command if you don’t belong to a one another anywhere?

Part of the evidence for saving faith is lived out as a part of a local body of believers.

Not only that, if you become a member of a local church you have other Christians, a bonafide body of believers that Christ says has the keys of the Kingdom, affirm your faith.

Church membership is a great assurance.

How do you know you’re saved? One of the ways is that this body of believers who love Christ and submit to His Word say I do. They see my testimony and affirm that I am bound to Christ.

Number 5...

5. Christ-Likeness

The more the soul loves Christ the more the soul is conformed to Christ.

Discipleship, the life of faith, is walking in the shadow of our Master.

The more we follow Him, the more we look like Him.

As Christ said A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).

Are you growing in Christ? Do you look more like Him and less like your old self?

That ties to the fifth proof of saving faith...

6. Growth in Faith

All living things grow.

Are you growing in grace? Growing in faith? Growing in knowledge?

Growing in a love for God and one another?

When we are born again, God does not want us to stay babes in the faith. He wants us to grow into maturity.

Ephesians 4:13 To mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves.

Are there sins in your life that are no longer there?

Are you hungry for the Word and growing in your faith through feeding on it?

Jesus said if we abide in Him we would bear much fruit?

Are you growing in the fruit of the Spirit? Are you growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control? (Gal. 5:22-23).

That is all evidence of saving faith.

Finally...

7. Perseverance

True faith endures.

We saw that with the rocky soil that sprung up quickly and soon died.

Saving faith follows Christ and keeps on following Christ to the end.

But here again this is not our own doing, but the grace of God.

Philippians 1:6 He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

From beginning to end we are saved by God’s grace.

Conclusion

Do you past the test?

Love for Christ

Hatred of sin

Obedience to Christ

Love for other Christians

Christ likeness

Growth in Faith

Perseverance

These are all marks of true saving faith.

Saving Faith Trusts in Christ as Savior and Follows Him as Lord.

Hypocrites

Maybe you’re here and for the first time you are confronted with your sin.

You thought you were a Christian but your life doesn’t have any fruit and if you were really honest with yourself, you would say you have a dead faith.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus even saves hypocrites. Come to Christ, for the first time, with true repentant faith...

Cast your soul on Him and commit to follow Him with all of your life.

A vague profession of faith will not save you.

Jesus said that not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21).

And that will is that you believe in Him whom He has sent (John 6:29).

Assurance

For the weak Christian. The one who struggles with assurance.

The one who doubts whether or not they are truly saved.

I hope this sermon has given you great comfort.

That you would know you have eternal life and life in His name.

Remember. Its not your faith that saves you.

A weak faith still has a strong Christ.

Encouragement

And finally, for every Christian.

First and foremost we should all give thanks and praise God for giving us the gift of saving faith.

When we were dead in our trespasses and sins, far off and without hope in the world, God made us alive again.

He did what left to ourselves, would have been impossible for us.

None of us would have ever been saved were it not for God’s great grace towards us.

And because God has saved us by His grace, let us live for Him by living out our faith.

Thomas Watson gives this great picture.

Talking about a dead faith, one that is characterized by sin and a love for the world he said, If their’s were a living faith, would men, like dead fish, swim downstream?” (The Godly Man’s Picture, Banner of Truth, 28).

Saving faith swims upstream.

We aren’t carried downstream by every wave of temptation or wind of doctrine.

The life of the Christian is a life of faith that swims against current of sin, Satan, and the world!

In other words, saving faith loves Christ with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

All of our devotion is to Christ.

All of our thoughts are submitted to Him.

All our emotions and affections are set on Him.

And all of our lives are lived for Him.

Saving Faith Trusts in Christ as Savior and Follows Him as Lord.

Let’s Pray