The nature of saving faith…

Human faith is knowing the lights will turn on when the switch is flipped because we have tried it and proven to our minds that it is true. Human faith is also deciding to believe the salesman because we have done our homework and found that the product he pitches has been tested and approved by 99% of other customers. Human faith is based on evidence.

What about spiritual faith, the faith that gives us a relationship with Jesus Christ and the sure promised of eternity with Him? The Bible says this is different:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17–19)
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. (Ephesians 2:8–9)
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

Human faith requires proof and a decision. However, faith in Christ is a gift from God through hearing Him speak.

However, God also says of those who heard: “But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’ But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.’ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’ But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’ ” (Romans 10:18–21)

Israel rejected what they heard. Their faith was in themselves rather than in the Lord, and their response to Him was clouded by their DIY determination, as the NT explains:

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:2–4)

Human faith trusts all sorts of things, but the faith that saves sinners from God’s wrath is about not trusting myself or anything I do or think. It is trusting Jesus Christ and what God says about Him. He took my penalty for sin and died in my place. This faith is about the object, about who or what we trust.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

He rose from the dead. He promises that all who trust Him are set free from the law that says ‘sin and die.’ He grants His righteousness to all who believe and in Him. We are no longer condemned.

The only thing that can keep anyone from the punishment sin deserves is that “do it yourself” attitude. God says no one can be saved that way because that way is actually sinful — it is a declaration of “I don’t need God” and a denial of His gift, even if the person who thinks that way has never heard about Jesus.

Today’s reading says, “A large proportion of God’s children never get beyond these hopes and longings. “I hope my sins will be forgiven some day”; “I hope I may be favored to reach heaven at last”; “I hope God loves me”; “I hope Christ died for me.” How can these be called “God’s children” for without faith, they are only His by creation and not part of His forever family because they lack genuine saving faith.

PRAY: Jesus, Your Word says it plainly to me, yet it seems many are filled with doubts rather than assurance of eternal life. You know who belongs to You and who makes the claim without genuine faith. You also know what to do about it. So again I pray for those who are unsure and leave them in Your capable hands. Turn them from ‘hope so’ to ‘know so’ as You see fit and as only You can do.

Hope is a Person . . .

 

 

I’ve been reading a fiction series in which the main character is often in danger and hopes her influential father will come to her rescue. As soon as she sees him, her trust is rewarded because his mere presence assures her that she is safe.

This isn’t quite how the Bible defines HOPE but close. It is like the smell of fresh-baked bread as you walk into the house — you cannot see or eat it, but you know it is there waiting to be tasted.

This is like biblical hope. I know the reality of Jesus Christ and although I cannot see Him, I know that He exists and is a real part of my life, both now and in the future. It is in Him I put my hope. In the NT, hope sometimes means wishing or desiring but mostly it is about this firm conviction and faith in Jesus Christ meaning hope is much like faith. He is not visible yet I know He is with me and one day I will see Him.

Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

1 Peter 1:13. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Hope is not so much a wish as a person because it is based on who God is and what He is doing, His power and promises. It is “through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

He is the “God of hope” who fills me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I can abound in hope. That is, this biblical hope is a joyful expectation rather than an anxious emotion based on an “I want” — for which I have no assurance.

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” By His power and grace, believers simply know for certain that our future is secure, not because of how we feel about it but because of our God who says so!

This hope includes several things besides the promise of seeing Jesus and having eternal life. Romans 8:20–21 says, “In hope, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” and Galatians 5:5 tells me that “through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Yet the greatest is the One who is my hope:

Colossians 1:27. “ . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Titus 2:13. I am “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. My hope is strengthened by Scripture that tells me what God has done and is doing, and by the gracious assurance of the Holy Spirit. Like a helmet, this hope protects my mind and gives joy to my heart. It also causes others to wonder about my reasons for this hope and gives me opportunity to share it with those who have no hope and are yet without God. I want them to also know the One who grants this amazing gift.

Romans 15:4. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

With gratitude for hope, I am compelled “In my heart, to honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in me; yet do it with gentleness and respect” — “remembering that I was once separated from Christ, alienated . . . . and a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12 and 1 Peter 3:15)

Praise You Jesus, You are my living hope.

 

Jesus is my Hope

Some words in the English language are both nouns and verbs. Love is one of them. We can say, “I love you” and “You are my love” as an example. Another example is HOPE.

Normally we think of hope as a verb because it seems like something we do, but the Bible often uses hope as something we have, like confidence or assurance. It can mean a desire or a wish, such as “I hope yesterday’s snowfall will be melted by suppertime.” However both testaments tell us to hope in God with a difference in the source or desire; instead of it being something I want or wish for, biblical HOPE is a gift, a noun that comes from God.

Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Another example is in Romans 5:2 which says, “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This is not a mere wish — wishes easily produce anxiety because we are not too sure they will happen, but biblical hope is a confident expectation that produces joy because we are certain of the object of our hope. Romans 5:5 says this hope is a result of God’s love being poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit; again, it comes from Him, not my own wishes.  

While hope is about the future, about events like the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, a restored creation and being in heaven with all God’s people, my hope is centered on Jesus Christ. He is my hope, both now as concerning all the issues of this life, and the future where I will be with Him for all eternity:

Colossians 1:27. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 Timothy 1:1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope . . .  

In trying to think of a parallel, falling in love and marriage could illustrate. A bride hopes for a lovely wedding, a family, a good life, but her hope is centered on the groom, the one she joins with who will be with her in making that hope a reality. He is her hope for the future. The difference is that as the bride of Christ, the church (including me) has a certain hope in our Savior. All His promises assure the hope we have. He is our hope in the sense that He will give us a forever union with Him and eternal life, even a ‘marriage supper’ as declared in Revelation 19:9:

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. I’ve the sense of a bride walking down the aisle toward Jesus, my hope for all eternity. From the little I know at this time about Him, I have great anticipation that eternity will be filled with great and amazing discoveries about who He is and what He has done. The joy in my heart tells me that it will be far better that anything I can now imagine.