Are Christians saved by the faith?
One of the tragedies of western Christianity is that is appears impotent. The faithful still go to church, sing their hymns and listen to sermons. They accept intellectually what they hear, they consider they are ‘believers’ and because they know John 3:16 they think they are saved.
“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
They are members of a group they feel comfortable with and who believe as they do. The group may be Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or even reformed evangelical, each believing they are the saved ones. The question that needs to be asked is ‘What does the Bible mean by belief?’
When visiting a shopping mall in Bandung, Indonesia, I met an eighteen year old young Muslim man who was out on a shopping spree with his four sisters who wore hijabs. We began to discuss ‘How can anyone be right in God’s eyes’. The man explained that they were right in God’s eyes because they were Muslims. When I asked what he thought of ISIS and their activities he replied significantly,
“There are seventy-two groups in Islam and only one of those will be saved.”
When I asked him which group he was in he confidently replied,
“We are in the group that will be saved.”
Evangelicals can so easily fall into this error. We belong to those who believe in Jesus so we are confident that we have eternal life. Doesn’t John 3:16 teach this?
What is Christian belief?
The apostles teach us that Christian ‘belief’, such as that described in this verse, is much more than an acceptance of Biblical doctrine; saving belief is faith put into practice. Many Christians seem content to be ‘doctrinal Christians’ but, other than going to church, their lives seem little different to other pleasant people in the world around them. Few remember that this famous passage continues:
“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:21
Saving faith involves living by what God’s Word teaches us and this will have an obvious effect that makes Christiansclearly different to unbelievers. True Christians live knowing that all they do is seen by their heavenly Father.
Certainty depends on us
Many who call themselves Christians lack a deep sense of certainty that Jesus is God incarnate and that what the Bible teaches has God’s authority. Jesus explains that anyone can be certain about these things but this will only happen if they are committed to living as Jesus has taught.
“Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17
We know the will of God by knowing the Word of God but intellectual knowledge alone is not enough – we must obey what God tells us. Jesus says ‘follow me’ which means ‘follow what I teach.’ This is much more than living a good ethical life. Without Christ in the driving seat of our lives there is no salvation.
The evidence that we are God’s chosen people is that we want to obey Jesus. Peter opened his first letter with this thought:
“To God’s elect . . . chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.” 1 Peter 1:2
If Jesus is not our Lord whom we love to obey he is not our Saviour. The Father chose us to be his representatives, the Spirit of God sets us apart to be a holy people which means obeying Jesus in all he says.
Paul starts, centres and ends his book to the Romans with this reminder:
“ . . . to the obedience that comes from faith.” Romans 1:5
Paul ends his letter with this reminder what the apostolic gospel is:
“. . . but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.” Romans 16:26
The German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged under Hitler, was concerned about pseudo-faith. He coined the phrase ‘cheap grace’ which is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus being Lord.
Christianity can become a form of escapism
Some preachers present a very man-centred faith. ‘Come to Jesus and have your sins forgiven’. ‘Believe in Jesus and you will be given eternal life’. Jesus and his apostles insist that repentance, a commitment to live in a new direction is essential if the genuine benefits are to be received. J.B. Phillips, well known for the fresh translation ‘The New Testament in Modern English,’ also wrote a famous book ‘Your God is Too Small’. He is concerned at the way so many have a wrong view of God and that results in a counterfeit Christian faith. In this book he writes:
“Original Christianity had certainly no taint of escapism . . . So long as they imagine that God is saying ‘Come unto Me’ when he is really saying ‘Go out in my name,’ they are preventing themselves from putting on spiritual muscle. . . By infecting others with the ‘To-thy-bosom-fly’ type of piety they may easily encourage those with a tendency that way to remain childish and avoid responsibility.”1
Religion is never the answer
In the early days of the church there were many sincerely religious people around who felt secure because of their religious commitment. In the following passage Paul is talking about Jews but today the word “Jew’ could be replaced by ‘Christian’ as it applies to many of us so-called Christians today who say we respect the Word of God but have missed what it is saying:
“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth” Romans 2:17-20
This could apply to any religious people who feel confident in their understanding, who want to teach others the right way to live and are morally decency behave well outwardly. It is so easy for us Christians to feel morally superior and look down on others, yet forget how sinful we are and how dependent on christ we remain.
Paul then asks his readers to consider three ways in which such people may not be practising what they preach:
“You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? Romans 2:21-23
Are we who call ourselves Christians applying what the Bible teaches to the way we ourselves live? Have we ever takenwhat is not rightfully ours? Do we allow our thoughts about sex to wander, do we watch salacious films or pornography?
What is the third example about - when did Jews ever take idols from pagan temples? Isn’t Paul saying that those who outwardly are religious can so easily worship the same idols as the heathen do? Roman and Greek idols were the embodiment of mankind’s worldly desires. They had god’s of victory in war, of success in love, for success in agriculture and fishing. Living for this world can so easily become our idol whereas the true God wants us to be ambitious for the next world. The religious Jews did little to bring honour God. Could this be why churches are making so little impact in our society today?
“As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’” Romans 2:24
Those who claim to be God’s people must genuinely follow God’s ways. Outward religion does not impress God.
“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a law-breaker.” Romans 2:25-27
Just as the Jews could not rely on their circumcision and religious involvement, so Christians cannot rely on our baptism and church membership. No religious ceremony can put us right with God. Living with and for Jesus Christ will involve much more than that. Paul continues:
“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” Romans 2:28-29
Calling ourselves Christians does not make us right with God. Saving faith is much deeper than this. We can be just ‘doctrinal Christians’ who accept the teachings but fail to follow those parts we find difficult or dislike. For example, Jesus said:
“I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.o and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” John 1516
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
The Scriptures teach us that all Christians must learn to speak about their Saviour:
“It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,” 2 Corinthians 4:13
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though Christ is making his appeal through us.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
It is all to easy for us to be Christians because it benefits me and gives me confidence and fail to grasp that the rebirth is into a new life living for the glory of the Lord Jesus. The normal Christian life is to be set apart to live for God, whether at work, in the home or when relaxing with others:
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15-16
Jesus had told the Jewish leader Nicodemus that he had to be ‘born again’ (John 3:3). He had to begin again with a genuine commitment to Jesus himself. It is only Jesus who can forgive our sin as he alone has paid the price to achieve this. Peter and John robustly said to the Sanhedrin when they were on trial for their lives:
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Where is this conviction today? Christian belief is a radical new way of thinking. This is why repentance is vital. To ‘repent’ literally means to ‘think again’ about the direction of my life, just as the word ‘pensive’ means to think. My life, if I am Christ’s man or woman, is not longer to be lived for myself but for Jesus Christ. This is the only form of Christianity Jesus and his apostles recognise.
BVP
June 2024
1J.B.Phillips, ‘Your God is Too Small’, Touchstone, 2004, p. 35-36
