Antipas Herald No
5
SAVING FAITH
The Real and the
Counterfeit
Nico van der Walt
NOT JUST ANY FAITH
- The Bible is very clear on
the fact that God's forgiveness and justification can
only become a reality in a person's life through faith.
But this is not true of just any faith. There are many
types of faith, and they come to expression in a thousand
ways. Every person in the world practices faith - in
fact, one cannot imagine life without it. Even the small
deposit I make in the bank, is an act of faith, because I
believe that I will be able to get it back again!
Saving faith is something
very specific! And to have absolute clarity about
what it really entails, is literally a matter of life and
death. It is ever so frighteningly easy to live your
entire life under the illusion that you are saved, while
in fact you have nothing but the false and futile faith
against which we are warned throughout Scripture.It is even possible to have a
faith which is very orthodox - but in vain! (James
2:14-26)
- In the Sermon on the Mount
(Matt 7:21-23) the Lord says that there are people who confess
His name, who will nevertheless be lost. It is even
possible for them to prophesy, drive out demons and
perform miracles - in His name (!) - and yet
be rejected by Him on the day of judgement. No wonder
that they will be dumbfounded when this happens. And,
take careful note, not just a few, but many will
fall into this category.
Jesus calls them evildoers,
in other words, sinners. Their sins were never forgiven,
they were never justified by faith. They never had
saving faith!
- In His parables too, the Lord
repeatedly warns against self-deception in this regard,
against the natural inclination of man to delude himself
into thinking that he does not have a problem. How
important it is for us not to be superficial in our
self-examination (2 Cor 13:5)!
* Prior to the storm of God's
judgement, true and false spiritual houses may look equally
sturdy (Matt 7:24-27).
* Wheat and weeds often look
so much alike that the difference can only be discerned when
it is too late (Matt 13:24-30).
* Ten girls receive an
invitation to a wedding banquet; all of them accept the
invitation, all of them wait for the Bridegroom - only five
go in with Him (Matt 25:1-13).
* Two persons appear to have
exactly the same faith. Only after some time (it may be
years) it becomes apparent that the faith of one is fake -
when it withers under persecution or chokes under the desires
of this world (Mark 4:3-9; 14-20).
- True faith and false faith
look deceptively alike. There are, in fact, astonishing
examples in the Bible of the extent to which the Holy
Spirit works in and through people - short of His
regenerative work in their lives:
* True faith delights in
Christ alone; false faith can be feverishly excited about Him
(John 2:23-25).
* It is the Spirit who brings
about true faith; but false faith may be accompanied by much
of His work (Heb 6:4-6) See footnote.
* True faith breaks free from
the grip of this world; false faith may also do so, but only
temporarily (2Pet 2:20-22).
TRUE FAITH IS GOD'S GIFT
- What then is true, saving
faith?
In this regard, the Bible
teaches two apparently irreconcilable truths. On the one
hand, a sinner must believe in Jesus Christ before he can
be saved. It is his responsibility, and failure to do so,
is his ultimate sin before God. On the other hand, no
sinner is capable of believing in Christ in his own
power, because natural man does not understand his
terrible condition before God and is therefore blind to
the miracle of Christ's redemptive work.
- God himself provides the
solution - through the gift of regeneration. Born-again
man sees his need, he understands the gospel, and he
cannot but embrace Christ in saving faith. Regeneration
is therefore not faith, but it makes faith possible, in
fact, inevitable. Thus faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8;
Phil 1:29; 2Pet 1:1).
- The fundamental difference
between true and false faith has to do, therefore, with
the matter of origin. When it comes to
manifestation in itself, as we have seen, the authentic
and the counterfeit may be almost indistinguishable. Any
attempt to define the difference between the two merely
in terms of outward expressions, can therefore only
result in deception and endless hair-splitting.
No, false faith has its
origin in man; true faith comes from God - and the
difference between the two is one of essence, not of
degree.
- If faith then is a gift from
God, what exactly is it that He gives?
THE ELEMENTS OF TRUE FAITH
- An illustration may be
helpful.
You find yourself at a large
international airport for the first time in your life.
Minute after minute jumbo jets depart to all corners of
the earth. Your destination is New York, halfway around
the world. First of all you must establish your time of
departure, and through which gate (of the many dozens)
you must go on board. Step number one is therefore to
decipher the details on the giant electronic notice
board. You jot down the information, but suddenly a
thousand doubts beset you. Do I have it right? What if I
go through the wrong gate and land up in Tokyo? Wise man
that you are, you approach a weathered traveller for
confirmation. He puts his thumb up, and you make a
bee-line for gate 38. Only one thing remains: to get on
board. And as you relax into your seat, you breathe a
sigh of relief and resignation: now it's over to the
pilot - surely he knows exactly what he is doing.
- A minute's thinking will tell
you that your fictitious experience consisted of 3
components. Firstly you needed information or knowledge;
secondly you had to have assurance or conviction; thirdly
you entrusted yourself to the plane and its pilot.
This is what saving faith is
like. Essentially it is surrender and trust. But
obviously it needs an inner conviction that the trust is
resting on reliable facts.True faith therefore has three essential
elements: knowledge, conviction and trust.
So long has this been understood, that there are specific
Latin terms for these elements: Notitia, Assensus,
Fiducia.
FAITH IS KNOWLEDGE
- Faith is more than knowledge,
but no faith is possible without at least some knowledge.
Faith has content! And how can faith be true if
the content is false? The content of true faith must be
'true truth'.
How can you 'board the right
plane' if you do not have the required information, nor
understand it? For this reason Paul wrote: 'And how
can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
... Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ'
(Rom 10:14,17).
- The Bible does not reveal in
specific terms how much knowledge is required for faith
to be real. What knowledge did the criminal on the cross
possess? Perhaps it can be put like this: there must be
sufficient knowledge, no matter how embryonic, to cause a
person to flee from God's coming wrath - into Christ.
- Such knowledge must have at
least three elements:
* Firstly it is necessary for
me to have some understanding of who God is. In
particular I must have some perception of His holy
righteousness which holds me responsible and will judge me
according to His perfect standards (Acts 17:30-31).
* Secondly I must know that I
have a terrible problem: I am totally incapable of passing
His test. I must know that I am a guilty sinner.
Why? Without an understanding
of my sin, I cannot possibly be interested in God's solution
to my dilemma. It is this knowledge which really makes the
gospel such 'good news' to me.
* Thirdly, and this is really
the vital element, I must have a basic knowledge of God's
answer to my predicament: Jesus Christ!
It concerns His Person
[God's Son who became man to be mediator between God and
sinners (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1Tim 2:5; 1John 4:2)]; His
crucifixion [where He paid my debt before God (Rom
3:25-26; 2Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13)]; His life of perfect
righteousness [which is imputed (credited) to me in order
that I may meet God's standards of perfection (Rom 1:16-17;
4:1-5:21)]; His resurrection [by which the Father
proclaimed that He had lived a life of perfect obedience and
'successfully accomplished His mission' (Acts 13:32-35;
17:31; Rom 1:4; 4:25; 1Cor 15:12-23)]; His second coming
[when He will bring my salvation to completion by
resurrecting my body, and by destroying my final enemy, death
(Rom 8:23-25; 1Cor 15:24-26; 35-58; 1Thess 4:13-18; 2Tim
1:10; Rev 20:14)].
This is why the apostles'
preaching was so totally Christ-centred ( 1Cor 1:17-2:5 - in
particular 1:17-18, 23-24, 2:2).
FAITH IS CONVICTION
- It is possible to know a lot
about a subject - without being convinced that what you
know is true. An example would be the knowledge that a
Christian missionary in the Middle East has of Islam.
True faith therefore
encompasses more than factual knowledge. Conviction
is necessary. And this involves at least two things: I
must be convinced that what I know is factual indeed -
and that it also applies to me personally.
- It is the Holy Spirit
who converts knowledge into conviction. In this regard
the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 16:8-11 is
very significant
* The verb, translated as
'convict', carries a strong meaning: the person involved has
no doubts in his heart afterwards; he knows it is true.
* He convicts in regard to
sin, because the person does not believe in Christ
(v. 9). This brings the inner knowledge of personal spiritual
bankruptcy, and of God's perfect solution for it in Christ,
and of being guilty for the rejection of God's love in him.
* He convicts in regard to
righteousness, because the Lord Jesus returned to the
Father (v. 10). This refers to the resurrection and
ascension (14:12,28; 16:28), and the Father's accompanying
proclamation concerning the Son's compliance with all the
requirements of justice.
This conviction precipitates
in me the deep understanding that my own righteousness could
never meet God's perfect standards, and that my only hope
lies in being clothed with the righteousness which God
provides - that of Christ, imputed to me.
* He convicts in regard to
judgement - because the prince of this world now
stands condemned (v. 11 and 12:31-33). Satan has been
judged and is waiting, as it were, in the death cell for the
lake of burning sulphur (Rev 20:10). The point here is that
if the father of sinners cannot escape God's judgement, no
sinner can - least of all a terrible sinner like me.
* Note that the Spirit
convicts of those very truths which are described above as
essential knowledge.
- It is this work of the Holy
Spirit which changes mere intellectual knowledge into
experiential knowledge - something more precious than
gold, having burnt itself into a heart searching for
meaning, certainty and salvation.
FAITH IS TRUST
- Trust is at the heart of
saving faith; in fact, there is no salvation without it.
* Trust and assurance of
salvation should not be confused. Although the latter ought
to accompany true faith, some Christians do to a greater or
lesser extent experience periods of doubt. This is a
'pastoral malady', but it is also true that the strength of
faith essentially lies in weakness and dependence. In fact, a
faith which never doubts, is to be regarded with suspicion.
What is more, seasons of doubt often prepare the believer for
an even deeper appreciation of, and gratitude for, God's
sovereign grace in Christ - when ultimately the sunshine of
the Spirit's assurance breaks through again.
- It is possible for
counterfeit faith to have knowledge. Even demons have it
(James 2:19). It may even have some conviction - as in
the case of Saul (1 Sam 15:24), Judas Iscariot (Matt
27:3-4), and Felix (Acts 24:25). But Spirit-wrought
conviction always goes over into trust. It cannot 'remain
at the gates - it must go on board!'
- In Matt 5:3 the Lord Jesus
says that poverty of spirit (Greek: being a spiritual
beggar) is the threshold-condition for entering His
Kingdom. This is the case when someone comes before the
living God in a state of total spiritual bankruptcy,
knowing that his pathetic efforts at scraping together
sufficient merit in order to meet God's perfect standards
are not only useless, but presumptuous.
The trust, which is at the
heart of true faith, accepts Jesus Christ from such a
position of spiritual bankruptcy (John 1:12-13), embraces
the offer of the Gospel, and rests completely in the
Mediator's work on the sinner's behalf.
- In his Gospel, John
consistently makes use of a unique construction to
emphasize how profound this trusting faith is. Literally
he speaks of believing 'into' Christ. It is, as it were,
an action, which takes the sinner out of himself and out
of Adam - and implants him into Christ.
- Trusting Christ is to hang
onto Him - like a drowning man clings to a buoy, like a
mountaineer swings from a single steel pin. It is nailing
your eyes on the 'bronze snake' (Num 21:4-9; John
3:1-15). True faith is dependent trust!
* Nobody has ever expressed it
better than Toplady: 'Nothing in my hand I bring; simply
to Thy cross I cling; naked, come to Thee for dress;
helpless, look to Thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain
fly; wash me, Saviour, or I die!'
- Surely then, a faith such as
this, which truly understands and appropriates the
Saviour and His work, cannot but be the fountainhead of
lifelong devotion and obedience. To teach that someone
can accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, yet not serve Him as
Lord, is nothing short of heresy.
- Do you have true faith? Are
your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, the author and Perfecter
of your faith (Heb 12:2)? Do you look at Him again and
again, day after day, without getting tired? Is He your
only comfort, in life and in death? Will His Name be on
your lips when you die?
'But my faith is so
pathetically weak and wavering', you say.There is a world of difference
between weak faith and false faith. The Lord has promised
that He will never break a 'bruised reed', or snuff out
the 'smouldering wick' (Matt 12:20). His promises do not
apply to strong faith, but to real faith. Weak
faith need do nothing more than look. Not the faith,
but the Redeemer must be strong - and that He is, without
a doubt!
Oh, wonder of wonders, the
strength of true faith lies in its very weakness, its
dependence, its bankruptcy (2 Cor 12:9-10)!
| This then is the Gospel: 'Look,
look, keep on looking - and be saved!' |
Footnote 1:
These people are not born again.
Their hearts have never been changed, and remain, in spite of the
rain of God's blessing (v.7), as hard and wild as the soil of
v.8. The author to the Hebrews is however convinced that this is
not true of his readers, but that they are truly saved. This is
why he tells them in v.9 that he is confident of better things
in their case - things that accompany salvation.
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