The Role of Faith in Salvation

In this week’s sermon, we were reminded that the Christian life begins by receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. But have you ever stopped to think about why the Bible uses the words “receiving” and "believing" interchangeably? In this blog, I would like to further explore that question.

One of the verses that we looked at on Sunday was John 1:12 – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Here, the apostle John makes the explicit connection between receiving Christ, and believing in His name. However, we still need to consider why this connection is made, and how it is most commonly misunderstood.

Addressing the latter first, one of the most common misunderstandings about faith is that it is a work that we must do. Have you ever considered why it’s not love that apprehends Christ? Or even why it’s not because of obedience that we receive Christ? It’s because love and obedience start from within, whereas faith looks outside and rests entirely on the work of another. Love and obedience flow from faith, and the transformation that occurs when we are given new life, but they are secondary.

The Bible views faith as an instrument and not a work. Faith is an instrument not because it produces salvation, but because it is a means by which Christ and all saving benefits are received. When we view faith as a work, the moment that our faith wavers, so does assurance. But when we view faith as a means of receiving Christ, we realize that our salvation is not dependent on the amount of faith that we have, but is instead completely dependent on the object of our faith—Christ Jesus, the Lord. The Bible never speaks of salvation occurring because of our faith. It always uses prepositions like by, through, or upon. 

Perhaps an illustration will help. Suppose you are drowning and someone throws a rope to you, you climb on and you are pulled to shore. Faith functions like the rope. It was the instrument that was used. Yet we must attribute salvation to the one who threw us the rope and pulled us to the shore. But even this is an imperfect analogy, because when Christ saved us we weren’t drowning. We were dead in trespasses and sins and at the bottom of the ocean when he breathed life into our dead lungs.

The Bible not only likens faith to an instrument, but also a gift–“By grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not a result of works” (Eph. 2:8-9). A gift is something freely given by another, originating entirely in the giver, and received without merit. It is not earned or caused, or else it would become a wage and not a gift. Faith is something that “has been granted” to us (Phil. 1:29). And yet, though faith has a divine origin, it is something that we must also exercise. Scripture calls us to “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31). Though God gives it to us, He does not believe for us. When I think of this, I think of the man with the withered hand that Christ healed. Christ told him to “stretch out your hand” (Luke 6:10). Isn’t that a bit odd? How can a man with a withered hand stretch it out? Yet, Christ enabled him to stretch out his hand. That’s the point. When he grants faith to us, he also enables us to exercise it.

Faith, then, is neither the reason God saves nor the work that earns salvation. It is the gracious gift God gives, enabling us to receive Christ, and the real act by which we lay hold of Him. Scripture never directs us to look to our faith for assurance, but to the Savior whom faith receives. And this is good news for weary sinners. Even weak faith, so long as it rests on a strong Christ, truly saves.