By Gary Ray Branscome
Saving faith, the faith described in
the words, Whosoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life, is not a matter of just
believing something in general, but a matter of relying on someone, namely
Christ (John 3:16). Those who trust in Christ are relying on what He did on the
cross, His triumph over sin and death, to get them into heaven.
Because our faith in Christ involves
believing that He, died for our sins, it is impossible
for us to have faith in Him if we do not believe that we are sinners
(1Corinthians 15:3-4). In other words: How can we believe that He died for our
sins, if we do not believe that we have any sins? For that reason, true repentance, a humble willingness
on our part to admit our sin and need of forgiveness, must precede faith. As it
is written, Repent, and believe the
gospel, // God will not despise a
heart that is humbled and sorry for sin (Mark
Although Christ is the object of our
faith, without the Bible we would not even know that He lived, and we certainly
would not know that His death atoned for our sins. Moreover, our faith is not
just in the knowledge of His death, but in
Gods promise of forgiveness to all
who trust in Him. As it is written, If
the inheritance comes by the law, it is not given by promise: but God gave it
to Abraham by promise (Galatians
The words of John 3;16,
Whoever believes on Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life, are
Gods promise to all who trust in Christ. And, our faith is in that
promise. The same can be said for the words, I am the door: if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, // The sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us, // There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, // Being
now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him, // Whoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord will be saved, and The blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us of all sin (John 10:9, Romans 5:9,
Romans 8:1&18, Romans 10:13, 1John 1:7).
While faith in Christ consists of knowledge, assent and trust, the inner
confusion and struggles of life tend to blur those distinctions in the minds of
many. However, let it be said that true faith in Christ involves knowing and
believing that He died for your sins, coupled with the inner assurance that because of what He did you will not
perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). That being said, I want to
make it clear that someone does not need to understand the way of salvation to
be saved. The essential thing is that they trust in Christ. I am not saying
that understanding the way of salvation is not important, but it is possible
for someone to come to faith before they realize that faith saves them. Take
for example John the Baptist. The words of his mother
Elisabeth, Why am I so favored, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the babe
leaped in my womb for joy, tell us that the babe [John] had a rudimentary
faith while yet in the womb (Luke
In saying this, I by no means want to
downplay the importance of understanding the way of salvation. Many who came to
faith before understanding the way of salvation have testified to the joy and
the assurance of salvation that they experienced when they finally did
understand it.
Satans attack on the gospel is two
pronged. On one hand he tries to convince people that faith in Christ is not
enough. Pauls words, Christ is of no
benefit to those of you who seek righteousness by the law is directed at
that attack (Galatians 5:4). On the other hand, Satan leads people to twist the
gospel into an excuse to sin. The book of Hebrews describes that error as, trampling the Son of God under foot,
and treating the blood of the covenant,
by which he was sanctified, as an
unholy thing (Hebrews
The words, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one who
believes
For with the heart man
believes unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, tell us that the
forgiveness that is ours through faith in Christ cleanses us of all sin making us righteous in the sight of God
(Romans 10:4,10, see 1John 1:7). And, if it makes us
righteous it also makes us holy and obedient. As it is written, By one offering He has perfected for ever
those who are sanctified (Hebrews