The Nature of Saving Faith

John MacArthur 90-21

— In a Bible conference several years ago, a well-known speaker brought a message on salvation.  He argued that to tell unsaved people they must surrender to Christ is the same as preaching salvation by works.  He defined salvation as the “unconditional gift of everlasting life given to people who believe the facts about Christ, whether or not they choose to obey Him.”  And one of his main points was that salvation may or may not alter a person’s behavior.  “Transformed character,” he said, “is desirable, but even if no change in lifestyle occurs, the one who has believed the facts of the gospel and received Christ can rest in the certainty of forgiveness and heaven.

— That’s pervasive in our society, preaching today; multitudes approach Christ on those very terms.

— I suppose we need to ask the question, is this new?  And the answer, frankly, is it isn’t new at all. 

— And if you follow church history from the fathers, who lived just after the early church, right up until today, you will find that this kind of gospel of easy-believism has always been espoused.  And people were reacting to it through all the history of the church, postulating and affirming the difference between that gospel and the true gospel. 

— For example, pick one shining light in the history of the Christian church by the name of Martin Luther.  Now Martin Luther, coming out of Roman Catholicism, fought more than anyone for the truth that man is saved by what?  By faith, and not by works.  He never wavered on his insistence that works, however, are necessary to validate faith.

From Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans:

Faith, however, is something that God effects in us.  It changes us, and we are reborn from God.  Faith puts the old Adam to death and makes us quite different men in heart, in mind, and in all our powers.  And it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit.  Oh, when it comes to faith, what a living, creative, active, powerful thing it is.  It cannot do other than good at all times.  It never waits to ask whether there is some good work to do; rather before the question is raised, it has done the deed and keeps on doing it.  A man not active in this way is a man without faith.  He is groping about for faith and searching for good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are.  Nevertheless he keeps on talking nonsense about faith and good works.  It is impossible indeed to separate works from faith just as it is impossible to separate heat and light from fire

A.W. Pink in 1937 wrote:

The terms of Christ’s salvation are erroneously stated by the present-day evangelist” – this is 50 years ago, same problem –  “With very rare exceptions, the present-day evangelist tells his hearers that salvation is by grace and is received as a free gift, that Christ has done everything for the sinner and nothing remains but for him to believe, to trust in the infinite merits of His blood.  And so widely does this conception now prevail in orthodox circles, so frequently has it been dinned in their ears, so deeply has it taken root in their minds, that for one to now challenge it and denounce it as being so inadequate and one-sided as to be deceptive and erroneous, is for him to instantly court the stigma of being a heretic, and to be charged with dishonoring the finished work of Christ by inculcating salvation by works

— There was in those days a message of the evangelists which called for a belief that brought about no change, and anyone who spoke against it was accused of preaching salvation by works

Pink goes on to say:

“Salvation is by grace, by grace alone.  Nevertheless, divine grace is not exercised at the expense of holiness, for it never compromises with sin.  It is also true that salvation is a free gift.  But an empty hand must receive it and not a hand which still tightly grasps the world.  Something more than believing is necessary to salvation.  A heart that is steeled in rebellion against God cannot savingly believe.  It must first be broken.  And only those who are spiritually blind would declare that Christ will save any who despise His authority and refuse His yoke.  Those preachers who tell sinners they may be saved without forsaking their idols, without repenting, without surrendering to the lordship of Christ, are as erroneous and dangerous as others who insist that salvation is by works, and that heaven must be earned by their own efforts

— Why don’t they listen today?  Why is it that people do not hear when we say that a gospel that does not affirm repentance and confession and submission to Christ as Lord is not complete?

— And what we have today is a form of evangelism that was really stylized and popularized by Charles G. Finney, who developed the invitational system as we know it today right about the same time that Elliott was writing “Just As I Am,” the mid 1830’s.

— Charles G. Finney was an Upstate New York lawyer with no formal theological training of any kind.

— He had a skilled, logical mind.  He was converted in 1821.

— He became a popular evangelist and revivalist.  He believed completely that salvation was a result of a human choice.

— He believed that man could make that human choice because he was not by nature depraved.  He had a certain bent toward sin, but it was not his constitution and so he had the ability within him to choose what is right.  And so Finney determined that since man could do what is right, since he was not innately depraved, that what you had to do was work on the will of man.  And if you could activate the will of man, or motivate the will of man, he would make the right choice.  And you could use almost any legitimate or even illegitimate means, including manipulation and emotion.  He developed what came to be known as the “anxious bench” and began to call people forward.

— This is brand new.  In the time before that, in the years of the great awakening of George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards, no such thing was ever done.  But Finney began to call people forward to what he called the “anxious bench.”  It later became known in Methodism as the “altar,” and people then became the objective.  And as the preacher came to the conclusion, he began to call people forward, because people wanted to see something visible, since the invisible work of regeneration could not be seen.

— The response to his ministry, and his persuasive and logical powers, was great.  People came to the anxious bench.  He was outwardly successful in getting them there.  In fact, he was so successful that people were reluctant to say anything against him, fearing they might be saying something against the Holy Spirit of God.

— But as you went behind the scenes to check into what was left after Finney did his work, his fellow workers couldn’t help realize the small number of converts who ever remained faithful.  In a letter to Finney dated December 25, 1834, James Boyle asked these questions: “Let us look over the fields where you and others and myself have labored as revival ministers, and what is now their moral state?  What was their state within three months after we left them?  I have visited and revisited many of these fields, and groaned in spirit to see the sad, frigid, carnal, contentious state into which the churches had fallen, and fallen very soon after we first departed from among them.”

— Now, let me say this, and I want you to hear this.  Someone may be saved without understanding the full truth of repentance.  Someone may be saved without grasping the full reality of the lordship of Christ.  Someone may be saved without fully understanding the call to obedience, because no one told them about it.  But listen: no one who is saved will fail to repent, will fail to submit or fail to obey.  That’s the issue.

Listen to Jesus’ gospel invitation:

Luke 14:25–26 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

— Now, how is that for an invitation?

— Then He said in verse 27, “Whoever doesn’t carry his own cross and come after Me can’t be My disciple” – in other words, willing to die.

What is saving faith? First, what kind of faith does not save?

John 2:23 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.”

— Many believed in His name; that is, in who He was. 

— No doubt believing Him to be the great prophet, probably many of them believing Him to be the Messiah.

— But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man,” and He knew their faith was not true faith.  They believed, but their believing was not adequate – it was not genuine.  There was not saving faith.

— They believed that He was the Messiah; that doesn’t mean they surrendered their souls to His lordship.  That doesn’t mean they were willing to turn from their sin.  He knew their belief was shallow.  He knew it was not the genuine work of the Spirit of God.  And if He talked of sacrifice, and when He talked of repentance, and when He talked of a cross, they would be gone.

— And Jesus would not accept the moment’s emotional decision.  He would not accept a faith born of selfishness.

— Everybody would like absolution from sin and the promise of immortality in heaven, but that could be born sheer out of sheer selfishness.

— John 6:14–15 “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

— He wanted nothing to do with their kind of faith.  They believed He was the Messiah.  They wanted to force Him into their plans.

— In the sixty-sixth verse of that chapter, would you please note, after His very strong teaching that “you have to eat My flesh and drink My blood,” you have to be willing to accept My death, My sacrifice and those things which He called for in terms of their dedication, it says, “many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”

John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”

James 2:14 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

— what use is it?

— Can that faith” – what – “save him?”  What’s the answer?  No; no, can’t save him.

— Can faith not accompanied by righteous conduct save?  Of course not.

— Verse 19 really pinpoints it.  “You believe that God is one.  You do well; the devils also believe, and shudder.”  That’s a tremendous statement.  “You believe that God is one?  You do well; the devils also believe, and shudder.”  They’re one up on you.  They believe, and shudder.  You believe, and you think you’re saved.  They’re ahead of you.  Demons have all the right theology, but they will not bow to the lordship of Christ.  They will not bow to the sovereignty of God.  They chose rebellion.  They hate good and they cherish evil.  In a sense, dead faith is inferior to demon faith; at least they tremble.

— So you can see from these verses that there is a faith that doesn’t save.  There’s a faith that’s temporary, partial, inadequate, that’s different than the faith that saves.

Saving Faith

— John 3:16, the word there “believe”, “whosoever believes shall not perish,” the word “believe” there is the same word in John 2:24 translated “commit – commit.”  It’s something deeper than just believing facts; it’s committing one’s life, turning from sin, submitting to Christ, and the Spirit of God works it all and produces a changed life.

— You see, salvation and saving faith is more than wanting forgiveness, it’s more than wanting heaven; it’s being willing to turn from sin and submit to Christ.

If we drift away from what we believed we were never saved

— True faith perseveres

— 1 Cor 15:1; Col 1:21, 23; Heb 2:1, 3:14, 4:14, 6:11; 10:34, 36, 37, 39; James 1:2, 12; 2 Tim 2:12.

— Beloved, it is the nature of saving faith that when God gives that faith, He sustains that faith.  And if there comes a point in time when a person ceases to believe, the faith was never the faith that God gives.

One more thought in general

— Because when you say to people, “Saving faith involves repentance and commitment to Christ,” they’re going to say, “Well, you’re adding works, it’s nothing but believe.  “Only Believe,” the song said,” – remember that song, “Only believe, only believe?” – “that’s all it is.  And if you add anything, you’re adding works.”

— But the fact is far from championing the truth that human works have no place in salvation, that modern easy-believism has made faith itself a wholly human work.  Why do I say that?  Because it is fragile and temporary; it may or may not endure, and that is not true of that which God gives

— So that is a salvation by works, which a man may do and then not do at his own whim

— But if you believe that salvation is by God’s grace, and that God grants that faith, then the faith that God grants is not temporary, it is enduring, and it is not subject to a whim of a man.

Definition of Saving Faith

— It is a gift from God – it is a gift from God.  In Ephesians 2, you know it, 8 and 9, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one should boast.”

— Jesus said to Peter, verse 17 of Matthew 16, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”  What is He saying?  Peter had just said, “Thou art the” – what – “the Christ” – “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

— It is the Father God who enables anyone to believe.  Man, locked deeply in the deadness of his own sin, could not generate his own faith.

— John 6:44, “No one can come to Me” – implying in faith – “unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

— Verse 47, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”  Those two verses come together to say the Father gives you faith.  The Father draws you by eliciting your faith

— cf. Acts 3:16; Phil 1:29; 2 Pet 1:1.

Faith Obeys

— The wishing to obey to is there even if we can’t and don’t.

Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

Look at Titus - I just have to show you Titus 1:15 and 16, because it’s so important – and we’ll wrap this up.  Titus 1:15: “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.  They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”  You want to hear something amazing?  Hodges, in his book, says, “These people are true believers who are spiritually sick.”  True believers who are spiritually sick; “defiled, unbelieving, impure, detestable, disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.”  No.  Paul is saying, “Look, the people who profess to know God and make the claim, but deny Him by what they do are detestable, disobedient, and worthless because they’re lost.”  They’re unbelieving.  Their mind, their conscience is defiled.  Disobedience proves disbelief.  Obedience proves faith.

— And again, I remind you of that tremendously haunting verse, 1 Peter 2:7, “To those who believe, He is precious.”  I’ll tell you how you can spot a Christian; to that person Christ is – what – precious – precious.

— You don’t have to debate whether he should submit to Christ, he’s precious to Him. 

— He longs to submit.