The Nature of Saving Faith B

Saving faith is obedient. The faith that God gives begets obedience. You see, the faith that God gives includes both the will and the ability to conform to His Word. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Imagine you've just taken off from an airport in Australia, thinking you're on your way to Auckland, New Zealand, when in reality you're headed in an entirely different direction to Oakland, California. Well, with an Australian accent, the words Auckland and Oakland sound almost identical. Some dismayed travelers learned that the hard way several years back when they responded to the wrong boarding call. You know, that story provides a frightening illustration. There are many people who think they've responded to the boarding call for heaven when the truth is they're on the road to hell.

How is that possible? Well, the issue is making sure you understand the Gospel our Lord taught, the Gospel according to Jesus. That's the title of John MacArthur's current study, so follow along now as he begins today's lesson. I want you to have your Bible ready. We will be considering some selected Scripture as we discuss in our series on the Lordship of Christ, the matter of the nature of saving faith, the nature of saving faith. There's a faith that's temporary, partial, inadequate. That's different than the faith that saves. 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. Yet, beloved, shockingly, and I say that advisedly, shockingly, there are Bible teachers and preachers in fundamental evangelicalism who do not allow for any connection necessarily between faith and works.

And therefore, they are forced to receive as genuine virtually every profession of faith because if there's not necessarily a correlation between faith and works, then any profession is a valid one. I believe that if you have faith that saves, that faith perseveres. You say, well, does the Bible teach that? Yeah, it sure does. Listen, for example, oh, I don't even know where to begin.

There's so many places. Now I make known to you, brethren, 1 Corinthians 15, 1, the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, listen to this, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preach to you, unless you believed for nothing. How clear is that? You're saved if you hold fast. How about Colossians 1, 21? And though you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. In other words, you've been saved, verse 23, if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast and never moved away from the hope of the gospel. And if you have not continued steadfastly, conversely, and if you have not continued in the faith and if you have been moved away from your hope in the gospel, you never saved. Christ is a part of God's saving work. He doesn't just secure us by His divine decree.

He perseveres by His Spirit in us in faith. Look at Hebrews. Let's look at a couple of verses there. Turn in your Bible to Hebrews chapter 2. We'll just jump through it real quick and look at maybe half a dozen Scriptures quickly to affirm this in your mind. Hebrews 2, 1, for this reason we pay much closer attention to what we've heard lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? In other words, the message here is look, we had better have a salvation from which we do not drift or we will not escape the judgment of God.

Why? Because if we drift away from what we once believed, we are headed for judgment and that is evidence that never were we saved to begin with. Chapter 3 verse 14.

This is so clear. For we, and I love this, verse 14, for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until what? The end. 4.14, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Chapter 6 verse 11, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises. Chapter 10 and verse 34, again, same concept.

For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Don't throw away your confidence. You have need of endurance and you will receive what was promised. Verse 36. In the meantime, a little while, verse 37, he who is coming will come and not delay and all the while my righteous one shall live by what? Faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him but we are not of those who shrink back to destruction.

Here it is. But of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul. Hebrews 10, 39. Hebrews 12, 14. This is so plain, pursue peace with all men and the sanctification, that's the set apartness, the godliness, the virtue without which no one will see the Lord. All who see the Lord will be sanctified.

And then James 1, 2. And following, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you counter various trials knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing. In other words, when trials come they prove your mettle, they prove your character. And verse 12, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. Once he has been approved, he receives the crown of life. That's eternal life which the Lord has promised to those who at one time in the past believed in Him.

Is that what it says? No, those who what? Who love Him. Those who love Him. Those who love Him. Those who obey Him. Those who persevere in the faith.

They're the true believers. Second Timothy 2, 12 says, if we endure, we shall also live with Him. We shall reign with Him if we endure to the end. The faithfulness of God is a blessing to loyal, enduring believers.

But look at the second half of 12. If we deny Him, He'll deny us. See, if we endure, we'll reign. If we deny Him at any point, our faith dies.

It never was there to begin with. It was a sham faith, a dreamy faith, a false faith. He'll deny us. If we are faithless, He'll be faithful.

What does that mean? Well, the idea of His faithfulness there has to do with judgment. It has to do with judgment. We may be faithless, but He'll be faithful to His promise to judge the faithless.

That's what it means. If we endure, we reign. If we deny, He denies us. We may be faithless to Christ at some time and never keep it, but when God makes a promise to punish sin, He will keep it.

He will keep it. And so what those verses are doing is giving a blessing to the loyal, enduring believer and pronouncing a curse on a disloyal and unbelieving soul. John 3 is really the source, perhaps, of that very thought. The one who believes not is condemned already because he doesn't believe. Beloved, it is in 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. Now, let me say something to you, one more thought in general.

Get this thought, will you? 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 holy 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.

You see that? 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 the whim of a man. There is no more reason to believe that a man living the Christian life could cancel out his God-given faith than that a man could have generated it in the beginning to be saved. If it is from God, it is divine.

If it is from God, it is enduring. And easy believism does not save the gospel from works, it becomes a works salvation by which a man gives and takes his faith at his own will. That's not biblical faith. To say one may have it at the moment of salvation as a gift of God but chuck it any time he wants does not make sense. That denies God's work. It denies that God is the one who gives and sustains the grace that makes faith endure. Now let me give you just a couple of things to keep in mind, a definition of saving faith.

Very simple. One, 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. Faith is a gift of God. Now what is the gift of God here? Some say it's faith, some say it's not faith. The Greek scholar B. F. Westcott says the gift of God is the saving energy of faith. Others feel you can't take that in the Greek because what you have here is a neuter and a feminine. For example, for by grace you have been saved through faith. Faith is feminine in gender and that is neuter.

So you can't use a neuter pronoun to define a feminine substantive. And so some would feel more comfortable with saying that must embrace the whole act of salvation. Fine.

Wonderful. Do you know what is part of the whole act of salvation? You are saved by grace through faith.

That not of yourselves. So if you want to take it to be all encompassing, the grace, the faith, the salvation, the whole thing is a gift from whom? From God.

I feel comfortable with that view. It embraces the whole thing. Either way, faith is included. 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. That is a confession. That is a saving confession. And Jesus says to him, you didn't get that from flesh and blood. My Father gave you that faith.

My Father gave you that revelation. 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. In 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. It's a gift of God. It's a gift of God.

It can be no less than that. For fallen nature cannot generate faith in God. Sometimes you hear people say that faith is a natural thing.

It isn't. Natural faith can't save you. Supernatural faith can. It comes from God.

Listen to verse 16 of Acts 3, Peter preaching. And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man he had just healed, whom you see and know, listen to this, and the faith which comes through him, that is Jesus Christ, has given him this perfect health. You know why that man was healed? Because he believed. You know where he got the faith?

From whom? From Christ. This faith which comes through him. Him, capital him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1 29, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake. Listen to that again. To you it has been granted to believe. Isn't that great? It's a gift of God.

You can't do it on your own. It's sovereignly given. 2 Peter 1 1, Simon Peter, a bondservant apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received faith of the same kind as ours. Peter knew faith was a gift. To those who have received faith of the same kind as ours.

That's who he's writing to. Faith is a gift from God. Secondly, it's permanent, permanent. As a divine gift, it is neither transient nor impotent. It is permanent.

It is permanent. It is not something God gives and takes away. It is not something man conjures and then loses.

Why? Romans 1 17, the righteous man shall live by what? Faith. He goes on living by faith. God continues to grant that persevering faith. True faith cannot die. It is a gift of God.

It is permanent. Galatians 3 11 says the same thing. The righteous man shall live by his faith. Hebrews, I think it's chapter 10, isn't it? Verse 38.

We mentioned it a moment ago. Yes, and my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he's the one who shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

He's not one of mine. Do you remember Philippians 1 6? I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will what? Perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, saving faith is obedient.

It is obedient. The faith that God gives begets obedience. You see, the faith that God gives includes both the will and the ability to conform to his word. That's right. For it is God, Philippians 2 13, who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Isn't that wonderful? When God saves you, he gives you a faith that he energizes that has the ability and the will to obey. W.E. Vine said regarding faith, it is a firm conviction. It is a personal surrender and conduct inspired by such surrender. And he was commenting on the term pestuo, to believe.

In fact, he compares patho and pestuo closely related etymologically. The difference in meaning is that the former implies what the latter produces, obedience and faith. He says when a man obeys God, he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God.

Did you get that? When a man obeys God, he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. I mean, what good is it for you to stand there and say, I believe God, I believe God, I believe God.

I just don't care what he said. Oh, he says patho in the New Testament suggests an actual outward result of the inward persuasion and consequence of faith. Faith obeys. Oh, it doesn't perfectly obey, does it? Your faith doesn't perfectly obey. It longs to obey and it does obey, but it doesn't perfectly obey.

Romans 7, Paul says, I don't do what I want to do and I do what I don't want to do and I fight the battle of my flesh, but the wishing, I love this in verse 18, Romans 7, the wishing is present with me. It wants to obey. It longs to obey.

It hungers to obey. To believe is to obey. Paul says in Romans 6, it's so wonderful that when you were saved, you took yourselves from being servants to sin and by God's grace, you have now become the servants of righteousness, obedience.

In fact, in John 3, I believe it's right at the end of the chapter, verse 36, he who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son shall not see life. Belief and obey used interchangeably. You believe you obey.

You don't believe you don't obey. Obedience proves faith. You see, faith and faithfulness are not substantially different concepts to the first century Christian because the word was used interchangeably. You look in your concordance, look up faithfulness and faith, and as you see those, you'll note if you have any kind of Greek source that that uses the same word. Faith and faithfulness go together because what you believe dictates how you obey. If you have faith, you're faithful to the faith you have. Lightfoot, the great scholar links the two together when he says, they who have faith in God are steadfast and unmovable in the path of duty. The faithful believing ones are the faithful obeying ones. So it's a gift.

It's permanent. It's obedient. And finally, another element of saving faith, and I'll just close with this, it's humble.

It's humble. For this, you need only look at the beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Goes on to talk about poverty of spirit, brokenness, repentance, sorrow, meekness, hunger, thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness sake.

You see, now watch this carefully. True faith begins in humility and in brokenness and in sorrow and in repentance and in poverty of spirit and it ends in obedience and endurance. It's humble. It's humble. Saving faith is like that of the little child. If you don't come to me, Jesus said in Matthew 18 four as a little child, you can't enter my kingdom. It's humble, obedient, permanent, and it's a gift from God.

You didn't stir it up. God gave it to you and He sustains it. And people who cling to a memory, to a salvation based upon a memory of an emotional feeling sometime in the past, but lack love for Christ and lack a deep desire to obey Him, don't belong to Him. And again, I remind you of that tremendously haunting verse, 1 Peter 2 seven, 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. People who don't believe, no matter what the past was, aren't saved. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13 five, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. May God grant you a true saving faith, a permanent gift that begins in humility and brokenness over sin and ends up in obedience under righteousness. That's true faith.

This is Grace to You with John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. The title of John's current study, The Gospel According to Jesus. Now, John, you made the point today that saving faith is a faith that perseveres. But there may be professing believers who are wondering what happens if they commit a really serious sin at some point. Would they somehow forfeit their salvation? How would you respond to a person with that concern? First of all, I would say, could you please name to me the not serious sins? That's a good point. All sin is exceedingly simple.

How serious is it? The wages of sin is death. It doesn't get any more serious than that. Every sin is a felony before holy God that deserves death. They're all capital crimes. And the punishment is not only temporal death, physical death, it's eternal death and punishment. So get it out of your mind that there is any such thing as an acceptable sin.

In fact, the truth of the matter is those that maybe have the acceptance of the culture may be doing the most damage because people seem to feel they can get away with them. So it's essentially important that we understand what saving faith really is and that saving faith lasts. And I think the first illustration of that is in the book of Job where the devil goes to God and says, you know, you've got this guy Job and he's faithful to you because you've made him rich. You bless him all the time and his faith is related to your blessing.

So God says, okay, go for it. Do whatever you want to do to him within the parameters of God's will. So you know the story of Job. He kills his family.

He makes his life beyond miserable. And the telling statement in the book of Job is when Job says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. So what he is saying is my faith has not changed. If God killed me, that wouldn't change what I believe about him.

So nothing short of that is going to do that. I mean, that was Job's way of saying there's no way to break saving faith. And that was God's way of telling us there's no way that saving faith can be broken, not even by, you could say, one on one personalized, sustained temptation and disaster at the hands of Satan. Even when you unleash Satan on one soul, he can't break saving faith.

Why? Because saving faith is a supernatural gift given by God and it will sustain and it will persevere. There's a booklet that will help you with this. It's called Is Your Salvation Secure?

We know it is, but you might not. So get a copy of this booklet. It's free, just a gift from us. And be certain about your salvation or, if not, be certain that you need true salvation. You can order it from grace to you.

That's right, Jon. And friend, this booklet lays out biblical truth that cuts through the confusion over whether or not salvation is permanent. You might want to give it to someone you know who is struggling with salvation assurance.

You can get a free copy when you contact us today. Call us at 800-55-GRACE. And again, the title of the booklet to ask for, Is Your Salvation Secure?

Our number one more time, 800-55-GRACE. And as a companion to the booklet, remember Jon's book, The Gospel According to Jesus. It's one thing for Christians to wonder whether their salvation is secure. It's something worse to put your faith in a false gospel. This hardcover volume clears up the confusion, helping you understand the gospel as the Lord Himself articulated it. The price for The Gospel According to Jesus is $15, and shipping is free. To get your copy, call 800-55-GRACE or go to GTY.org. And while you're online, be sure to take advantage of the thousands of free study tools that are there to help you dig deeper into God's Word.

Our website, one more time, GTY.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week with us at Grace to You, and be here tomorrow to consider whether repentance is necessary for salvation, and if you should call people to repent whenever you give the gospel. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.