"FAITH"

DEFINITION #7: ROMANS 3:25

FAITH: taking God at His Word - and leaving the consequences to rest upon His faithfulness.

Faith is a simple thing. It is something we exercise every day. The average driver thinks nothing of going 55 miles per hour down a highway 20 feet behind another car. When they approach a red light, each driver applies his brakes in full faith expecting them to work and stop their car. We continuously live by faith. We trust our employers will give us a paycheck at the end of the week. We trust the labels on the canned goods at the grocery store. We trust the bank with our money and doctors with our lives in surgery.

Yet, somehow--when we come to the bible--we lose all of our common sense. Some people say, "I believe!", but when asked what they believe they don't know. Some have become so confused that they have put their faith in faith. They think if they just believe hard enough, things will come true. Others have made faith a work. They say; "Salvation is not a gift because you have to believe." This is foolishness. Believing is not a work. Romans 4:5 makes it clear:

"BUT TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT, BUT BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY, HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Notice the words "Believe" and "Faith" in Romans 3:21-28; and take note of these points:

• VERSE 22 - Said that God's righteousness is imputed upon all that BELIEVE.
• VERSE 24 - Said that God declares a person righteous FREELY by His GRACE because of Christ's payment for sin on the cross.
• VERSE 25 - Said that God's anger against man for his sins is appeased by the satisfying sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But it also indicates that God's anger is not satisfied until that sinner exercises FAITH in the blood of Christ.
• VERSE 28 - "THEREFORE" - concludes that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law.

When the Bible says a person is justified or saved by FAITH, it does not mean that a person is saved by believing anything they want. Faith is taking God at His Word. Faith is man approaching God according to God's terms! Those terms (for this age) are based upon "FAITH IN HIS BLOOD" (Romans 3:25). God will save, impute righteousness, or justify any sinner who will believe what God said concerning the Blood of Jesus Christ; namely, that it is the only acceptable payment (redemption) for man's sins, and the only satisfying sacrifice (propitiation) that will appease the justice of God. The very moment a person chooses to believe this truth, God declares him justified! So "Saving Faith" is faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It may be helpful to think of "FAITH" as incorporating three elements:

1. KNOWLEDGE - One must know "In Whom" and "In What" they must trust - II Tim 1:12
2. BELIEF - One must accept the facts as truth - see Romans 4:20,21
3. TRUST - After knowing the facts and accepting the facts as true, one must rely on them to accomplish what they claimed. One must rest in the truth.

The reason we can live in full assurance that we have been justified, redeemed, propitiated, and reconciled with God is because our faith is in what God has said and not in ourselves. God is faithful and cannot lie!

PRACTICAL POINT:

We have already seen that the work of salvation was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then finally we have come to see that, through faith, "God's salvation" becomes "My salvation." One person has said it this way: "Faith is the arm of acceptance."

Receiving salvation is like receiving a gift at Christmas. Someone hands you a gift and you accept it. God is offering you eternal life through Jesus Christ as a gift. But, in this case, you cannot reach up and put your hands on eternal life or Jesus Christ to accept the gift. Therefore, it is your faith in what God promised that accepts the gift.

Now because my faith is in what God said, then it is true that the day I first trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior, God saved me. This I know, because God said so. Therefore on the authority of God's Word, I KNOW I have eternal life. What a great assurance God has given to me. It can be yours as well! Read I John 5:9-13 and please don't call God a liar.

As the Psalmist said: "SUCH KNOWLEDGE IS TOO WONDERFUL FOR ME." Could there be even more Good News? Yes!