Authentic Faith

We are saved by grace. This is the message we hear from many of today’s theologians that preach that God sees us as perfect beings, made in his image and that there is absolutely nothing he requires of us in order to save us from condemnation.  That Christ died for everyone, therefore, everyone will be welcomed into heaven with open arms.  While there is a certain element of truth to these statements, they are convoluted enough to imply that no one is destined for hell.

John 3:16 is often the one verse of scripture that is used as rationale for this mindset.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  When used out of context it fits the narrative and sounds as if the doors of heaven have been kicked wide open for a come as you are festival welcoming sinners from all walks of life, sin and all.

Ephesians 2:8-9 is used to justify the assertion that since there is nothing one can do to earn salvation, there is also nothing one can do to retain salvation, therefore, repentance of sin is unnecessary.  This is flawed theology and a poor understanding of the heart and mind of God.  By cherry picking scripture to emphasize only the warm and fuzzy messages of love and forgiveness, while ignoring the passages that discuss punishment and wrath, God is not portrayed as he has revealed himself to be in the pages of the Bible, and the portrait we are provided with is incomplete.  The resulting disconnect between the attributes of God as they are revealed in scripture and the message from pulpits causes the gospel to lose credibility with observers who question the validity of Christianity.

One must not teach John 3:16 without the context provided by John 3:18, which qualifies it by adding, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”  Jesus died for all, but belief is necessary to gain from his sacrifice.  In order to believe, we must trust that his testimony is true and that requires faith.

We are saved by grace – through faith.  It is our faith that compels us to repent and follow Jesus.  Faith is an action, therefore, it involves repentance.  When we have committed ourselves completely to Christ we are given the gift of grace.

To have faith in Christ means to believe that he is the Son of God, that he was crucified as atonement for sin and that he rose from the dead after three days and then placing all of our hope of salvation in Jesus.  This means forsaking everything else and putting all of our eggs in the one basket that is Christ.

Grace is defined as unmerited favor.  In the New Testament, the word translated as grace is the Greek word “charis” which means graciousness.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrew term used is “chen,” which is equivalent to favor, grace or charm.  Grace is the help given to a person from God because God desires them to have it.  It is understood as generous, free and totally underserved.  Modern Christianity often preaches grace for all people and over exaggerates grace to compensate for an unwillingness to totally forsake worldly values.

If grace is given to us before we believe, then atheists would be under grace, which is contrary to scripture.  John 3:18 clearly states that whoever does not believe stands condemned, so they can’t be under grace.   Furthermore, James 4:4 warns, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”  James goes on to say that we ought to submit to God, draw near to God and purify our hearts, otherwise we remain double-minded (James 4:7-8).  We can’t remain with one foot in the world and the other in God’s kingdom.

James advises that a double-minded man is unstable and when we have doubts about God and aren’t fully submitted to him we run the risk of being polluted by the world. This is the tension that many Christians wrestle with.  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24.

Grace theologians attempt to bridge the impossible chasm that exists between worldly values and godly values by insisting that grace trumps sin, therefore, repentance is redundant.  They claim that we cannot accomplish what Christ already succeeded in accomplishing on the cross.  These half-truths neglect to acknowledge Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts, where nearly one half (25/58) of the primary uses of the term repentance in the New Testament are found. 

Scripture does not contradict itself, therefore, being saved by grace through faith and the necessity of repentance for salvation must be indistinguishable from God’s point of view.  Mark 1:15 informs us of the words of Jesus, “’The time has come,’ he said, ‘The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!’”  Similarly, John 3:18 teaches that while belief alone is what saves us, unbelief alone condemns us, therefore, we must deduce that repentance is a component of belief.

It is conceivable then, that since repentance can be defined as the changing of one’s mind, that affirming belief in Christ as opposed to unbelief, is synonymous with repentance and John 3:16’s declaration that, “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Those who recognize that they are sinners in need of saving and come to Jesus through faith will then spontaneously turn from their sins and believe in Christ.  Since all sin begins in the mind, that is where the decision to turn from our wickedness and embrace Jesus also originates.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”  In other words, we are saved through faith and not through works.  It doesn’t say that our faith is a gift of God, however it can be argued that God is responsible for the receptive hearts of those who do believe.  Our faith authenticates our belief.  Our faith activates grace.  Faith is a verb and it is a function of our free will.  It is an action.  We believe and then grace is extended to us as a gift.

It is our faith that is credited to us as righteousness and that is when we are saved, not before.  When Abraham did not withhold his one and only son Isaac, it was his willingness to cut the wood, load his donkey, travel three days to the mountain, and then offer his son as a sacrifice, that constituted his faith.  His actions didn’t earn him extra points towards attaining righteousness, but his belief that God would raise Isaac from the dead defined his faith as authentic.  He trusted in God, therefore, his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

In the same way, our faith is the result of a conscious decision to forsake our lives of sin and follow Christ, after which point we receive the gift of grace in response to our belief.  While there is nothing we can do to earn salvation as far as works are concerned, we must truly believe that Jesus is who he claims to be and that belief stems from our freedom of choice. 

Belief must be wholeheartedly sincere in order to be authentic.  Jesus used the phrase “being born again” as a metonymy to more concisely convey the essence of repentance when he was speaking to Nicodemus in the third chapter of John’s gospel.  He was imparting that a transformation must take place in us that can only come when we surrender to the Holy Spirit and begin to live in obedience to him.

Authentic faith is therefore synchronized with repentance and living according to the Spirit who indwells with us when we truly believe.  This is what Paul is emphasizing in Ephesians 5:8, when he says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light,” and again in Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”

We are saved by grace, which is the free gift of God, through faith, however, our faith cannot be counterfeit or we believe in vain.  Paul puts it this way, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8.

We only fool ourselves if we think we can continue to live in sinful indulgence and be saved.  In 1 John 3:6 we are told, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.  No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”  The gospel of Jesus Christ is truth therefore we cannot live a lie and rationalize we have been rescued from condemnation.  Our faith must be authentic.