Why Does Faith Save?
Faith doesn't save in the same way God saves. God alone
is the saviour and faith is the instrumental means by which his
salvation comes to us. Faith is the work of God (Philippians 1:29 and
elsewhere) but it is personal to the individual. That is, the sinner's
faith is the sinner's faith and not God's. It is the sinner who does the
trusting and submitting that result in salvation. However many
instruments God uses in bringing the sinner to saving faith it is the
sinner who does the believing and the trusting and the obeying. The
sinner will not take the credit for any of this as if he had virtue
enough to respond to God without God giving him aid. Just the same, when
God has completed his holy loving work the sinner has freely given
himself to God. In short, God doesn't coerce the sinner and the sinner
by God's grace is personally involved in the process of his salvation.
The sinner places his faith in God who saves him.
Faith saves the sinner because it is a confession that he cannot deal
with his sin problem and must wholly rely on God to bring
reconciliation and life. Faith points away from the sinner and points to
God the saviour. Ask the believer, "Who saved you?" and because he has
faith he points away from himself to someone else!
Faith saves the sinner because it rests on the work of reconciliation
that God accomplished in the Christ who went to the cross to bear our
sins. Faith says that the sin problem was not dealt with by his own
goodness, much or little, but by God who reconciled the world to himself
in Jesus Christ. So faith not only confesses a total reliance on God to
forgive and save, it confesses a total reliance on the God who bore the
sins of the world on the cross. In resting on that God and that work
the sinner doesn't have to (and does't want to) rest on his own virtue
or obedience or his own faith. This is what faith confesses and that is
why it saves.
Faith saves the sinner because faith gives God the homage that is due
to him. Sinners need to understand that God doesn't call people
"righteous" when they are impenitent in their evil. They also need to
understand that God cannot fellowship those who insist on living in
darkness and being darkness (Ephesians 5:8-9). If a person is in
fellowship with God he must be righteous. But how does he stand
righteous before God? In and only in Jesus Christ. Yes but how does the
sinner gain that righteousness that is found only in Jesus Christ? He
gains it by faith. Without faith he doesn't gain that righteousness
which is found in Christ alone. But why is it that faith gains that
righteousness that enables the sinner to live in fellowship with God?
Because faith embraces all that Jesus is and stands for and offers that
(him) to God.
Faith approves of Christ who has come on God's behalf to reveal his
holiness and the nature of the sinner's offence. Faith approves of
Christ who came on God's behalf to reveal that in him is no darkness at
all. Faith willingly and gladly embraces Christ who stands as humanity's
representative and offers to God the homage due him. In doing this
faith offers God his own heart in regard to righteousness and holiness.
Christ becomes the wisdom and righteousness and power of God to the one
who has faith (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30). This only faith can do and faith
can do this only because it claims Christ as all truth and all
righteousness. Faith, in doing this and being this, transforms the
sinner's heart from one that belongs to an impenitent rebel to one that
belongs to a grateful and reconciled child of a Holy Father. The
prodigal has come home not because the pig-pen was miserable, not
because his latent righteousness came to the surface but because the
nature and person of his father created in him the holy longing for his
fellowship.
Faith says "Amen" to God's judgement against sin as it is revealed in
Jesus Christ on the cross. A heart of faith has Christ at its centre
and a heart that has Christ at its centre has God at its centre. A heart
like that is reconciled to God (in and by Jesus Christ through faith).
By faith in Jesus Christ the sinner is no longer a rebellious enemy who
delights in holding God in contempt. Since he has a heart like God's
heart in and through Jesus Christ by faith he is truly righteous. That's
how and why faith saves--it reconciles us to God by realigning our
hearts with God in and through Jesus Christ.
I think the above is accurate but I feel the need to make an
additional remark. It's right to say that faith reconciles us to
God--and we should. But the truth about faith is even richer than that.
Faith not only reconciles us to God, it is
reconciliation with God. It isn't only the way to reconciliation with
God it is the mark and proof of reconciliation with God. Faith = a
transformed heart.
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