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John 1:12–13
“To all who did receive [Christ], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Paul tells us in Romans 8:29–30 that those whom God foreknew, set His love upon, He also predestined unto everlasting life. These whom He predestined, He also called. This calling consists of God’s working through the outer call of the gospel to effectually call a sinner to Himself, regenerating the elect sinner and giving a new heart that is able to trust in Christ for salvation. That brings us to faith, the next link in the order of salvation that is sometimes called the golden chain of salvation.
Although the Apostle does not explicitly mention faith in Romans 8:29–30, we know that it must come after calling and before justification, which he does mention. This is because we know that justification is by faith alone (Rom. 4), so faith is a prerequisite for God’s justifying a sinner—declaring the sinner righteous in His sight.
When we speak of faith in the order of salvation, we refer specifically to what we call saving faith. Saving faith is the persevering, wholehearted trust in Jesus alone for salvation, and it must be distinguished from faith that consists of mere mental assent to the truth or the temporary appearance of faith we see in people who make a profession of trust in Christ but then finally fall away from their profession. Chapter 14 of the Westminster Confession of Faith features an excellent summary of the biblical teaching on saving faith. Importantly, it reminds us that faith is not something that we work up ourselves but is wrought in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit, ordinarily through the preaching of the Word (14.1). In other words, while faith is something that we exercise, it is ultimately a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8–10 makes this plain. Faith, grace, and salvation are not things of ourselves but are the gift of God.
Saving faith in Christ, Westminster Confession 14.2 says, leads us to believe all that God says in His Word and yields the fruit of obedience to His commands. It notes, however, that “the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.” We see this in texts such as John 1:12–13, and it is the necessary consequence of the truth that we are saved by faith and not by our works (Eph. 2:8–10). To make the principal acts of saving faith our good works or anything other than simply receiving and resting on Christ would ultimately make faith a work and not a complete dependence on Jesus alone.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Many teachers have likened saving faith to an open hand that receives Christ and all His benefits. This is a good analogy because it reminds us that we bring nothing good to God to move Him to save us. Instead, we come as beggars, receiving righteousness from Him and giving Him nothing that could make us righteous in His sight. Saving faith relies wholly on Christ. We are to exercise such trust at conversion and every day of our lives thereafter.
For further study
- Exodus 33:14
- Job 35:7
- Matthew 11:28–30
- James 1:21
The bible in a year
- Isaiah 4–6
- Galatians 4