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1 Corinthians 15:1–8
“I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (vv. 3–5).
Saving faith in the order of salvation is the fruit of divine foreknowledge, predestination unto life, and regeneration. It logically precedes the benefits of redemption, including justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. We have seen that the principal acts of saving faith are receiving and resting on Christ alone for salvation (John 1:12), yet there is more to be said about the nature of saving faith.
During the Protestant Reformation, the Magisterial Reformers sought to recover a biblical understanding of the whole of the Christian life that had been obscured by the medieval papacy. This meant expounding a scriptural view of faith against the teachings of Rome. The medieval Western church had embraced an understanding of faith known as implicit faith. Essentially, the bishops taught that the only thing really required of the laity for salvation is an assent to whatever the church taught. The people did not really even have to know much about what the church taught, at least not in any meaningful detail. They just had to profess acceptance of the church’s teaching. Although instruction in the faith has improved somewhat in the Roman Catholic Church since then, this understanding of implicit faith in whatever the church teaches continues to be taught. Converts to Roman Catholicism must profess when they are received into the church, “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.”
Now, there is a sense in which we can affirm implicit faith, but not in the church itself. We are to believe whatever God has said simply because He has said it. Nevertheless, even this kind of “implicit faith” is not saving if we know nothing of divine revelation. That is why the Protestant Reformers taught that the first component of saving faith is notitia, or knowledge. We must know the basic gospel, the essential facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, to exercise saving faith. This makes good sense, for how can one trust a person—the Lord Jesus Christ—if one knows nothing about Him? Furthermore, Paul tells us that the things of first importance for salvation consist of truths such as Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1–8). Clearly, God does not approve of a contentless faith. We do not have to know everything about Jesus to have saving faith, but we must know the basics.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Francis Turretin writes that “faith has its degrees by which it increases and grows, both as to knowledge and as to trust.” The knowledge component of saving faith can and must grow, but it will never be perfect in this life. That means that we do not need extensive knowledge of Christ to be saved, though some knowledge is required. Still, we should never be content with what we know but should strive to increase our knowledge of Christ.
For further study
- Hosea 6:3
- John 17:3
The bible in a year
- Isaiah 7–9
- Galatians 5
- Isaiah 10–15
- Gal. 6–Ephesians 1