“Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” John 6:29
Many years ago there was a common phrase in the church: Justification by grace through faith alone. During the time of the Reformation (16th and 17th Century) the phrase “faith alone” needed to be brought back into the thinking of the church. This was done to bring the church back to its biblical foundations. The church of the Middle Ages did not deny the importance of faith but it had also begun to hold that human effort, or works, needed to be added to faith in order to be saved.
This led to a spiritual crisis in the lives of God’s people because deep down they knew they could never measure up, no matter how hard they tried. (In fact, we all know that instinctively.) Scripture stands as a witness to this fact; “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…”(Is. 64:6) And “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23).
The Reformers taught what Scripture taught, namely, that redemption is entirely a work of God. People can bring absolutely nothing to the table…but our sin! We simply receive God’s’ gift of grace with a saving faith. So then salvation is a matter of Faith Alone.
But some of you may ask, isn’t there something about our believing that contributes to our salvation? Isn’t faith the one work we must do to be saved? Isn’t this what Paul meant in Acts 16:30-31 when the Philippian jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” and he replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ…”?
It is true, we must believe. But we must remember that faith is not of ourselves but it, too, is a gift of God through the cross work of Jesus Christ. Scripture once again weighs in here on this clearly, “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8) Faith then is the means, or instrument, by which we are enabled to believe.
Theologian R.C. Sproul used to say, “Faith is like a hose. We water our gardens so that the flowers can grow. Now is it the water that refreshes the flowers or the hose? Of course, it is the water! The hose is merely an instrument, or means, to get the water to the flowers. Is the hose necessary? Yes. But it’s the water that refreshes the flowers. So too with faith. It is the instrument of; not the basis of salvation.” Only God’s grace gets the credit for new Life. And that is why the classic Reformation phrase summarizes it so well: Justification by grace THROUGH faith alone.
The Church today needs to reevaluate this phrase so that there could be a greater assurance of faith. This would lead to a greater confidence in the Lord. Which would make the church once again a powerful witness her Lord.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
