Saving Faith

“If we go wrong on the nature of faith, everything in the Christian life will go wrong.” [1]

I. Banking all of our hope on Christ for the satisfaction of our hearts and forgiveness of our sins (so that we may be satisfied in Him) is the essence of faith.

A. Read Matthew 19:16-30, the story of the rich young ruler.

Why does Jesus tell him to keep the commandments to enter life (v. 17)?
Why does Jesus tell him to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor to enter life (v. 21)?
Do Jesus' words only apply to the rich young ruler and not the rest of us?
1. To answer this, take note of Jesus' reaction (vv. 23-24) and then especially the disciples' reaction to Jesus' reaction (v. 25).
Does this mean that we must sell all of our possessions and give them to the poor in order to be saved?
1. This question can be best answered by gaining the necessary background information from Paul, which we will now cover in section B.

B. Read 1 Timothy 6:17-19, where Paul teaches about wealth.

Does Paul command rich Christians to sell all they have and give to the poor (v. 17)?
What does Paul command rich Christians to do?
How can we reconcile this with what Jesus said to the rich young ruler?
1. To answer this, ask yourself “In verse 17, what does Paul say we should not set our hope on? What does Paul say that we should set our hope on?”
Could it be that the issue is not how much money you have, but where your hope is?
Could it be that the rich young ruler was setting his hope--his trust for a happy future -- on his money instead of on God?
Therefore, could it be that Jesus gave him such a stern command in order to expose the essence of his unbelief in order to bring him to stop hoping in his riches and start hoping in God?
1. Section C will confirm from Jesus' own teaching that the issue is where your hope is.

C. Read Matthew 6:24.

What does it mean to serve money?
Therefore, what does it mean to serve God (which is set parallel to serving money in this passage)?
Could it be that when Jesus says “You cannot serve God and money” He means that we cannot have our hope for security and a happy future set on both God and our money? Isn't this what He was getting at with the rich young ruler?

D. This seems to be confirmed by the context. Read verses 19-23.

Notice that according to verse 21, our heart is set upon what we value.
How does this relate to what Jesus tells us in verse 19? Verse 20?
1. Compare Matthew 19:21. What parallel do you see with the rich young ruler?
2. Compare 1 Timothy 6:17. What phrase in Paul corresponds to verse 19?
Verses 22-23 reiterate this point. “Eye” in verse 22 seems to be the focus of our heart--what we set our hope on (cf. its use in Ephesians 1:18). So if our heart is set on a good hope, we are spiritually alive (v. 22). But, according to verse 23, if our heart is set on a bad hope, we may think that we are alive because we have a purpose to our lives (that is, a “light”), but this life is really death because it is not from a hope that is set on God.
Thus, when Jesus says you cannot serve both God and money, He means that you cannot have both as your ultimate value and you cannot trust both to provide for you.

E. Therefore, one need not take a vow of poverty to be saved. But one must place all of their hope on Christ to be their treasure and to be the one who provides for him, and this necessarily involves that we stop valuing money and stop trusting it for our security. Read Matthew 6:431- 33.

Does Jesus expect his followers to live lives of starvation and homelessness because they have no money (see verses 31-33)?
1. Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, especially verses 7-8, 10, and 12. Will God provide these things for us miraculously or apart from our own efforts as we live nomads, or through our own efforts and work? What do you think Paul means when he says we should eat our own bread in verse 12?
So Matthew 31-33 and 1 Timothy 6:17-19 show that one need not take a vow of poverty to be saved. Thus, Jesus didn't tell the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and give to the poor because such an act is required for eternal life, but because this was Jesus' way of making him transfer his treasure and hope from money to God.

F. In light of all of this, in what sense to Jesus' words to the rich young ruler apply to all people? In what way do they apply only to the rich young ruler?

In answering the second question, keep in mind that Jesus' command that the ruler follow him was a command to literally follow him while he was on earth.

II. Collecting it all together.

The story of the rich young ruler doesn't teach that we must take a vow of poverty to be saved and live a life of hunger and homelessness. If the rich young ruler would have obeyed, he would not have gone hungry but would have been fed by Christ (just as the disciples were). Likewise, Jesus promises to all Christians in Matthew 6:25-34, whether they are alive during or after His stay on earth, that God will provide our bodily needs. This promise does not mean that we should wonder around like nomads with no possessions or money of our own because Paul teaches in 2 Thessalonians by his example (verses 7-9) and command (verses 10-12) that we are to work for our own food, clothing, and shelter. In 1 Timothy 5:8 he even goes so far as to say that those who do not provide for the members of their household have denied the faith and are worse than unbelievers.

The issue that is taught in the episode of the rich young ruler is that in order to be saved, we must trust God to provide for us (rather than money or, by implication, anything else) and we must treasure God above all things (rather than money or, by implication, anything else). This is demonstrated from the fact that in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul does not command rich Christians to sell all that they have and give to the poor. Rather, he commands them not to fix their hope on riches, but instead to fix their hope on God. This is also confirmed in Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:19-24, where Jesus says that earthly riches are uncertain (verse 19) but heavenly riches are secure (verse 20) and that we always give our heart to what we value most (verse 20). Therefore, if we lay up treasures on earth--that is, set our hope on the uncertainty of riches--our heart is on earth, not God. But if we lay up treasures in heaven--that is, set our hope on God--our heart is set on God. Since the rich young ruler episode is teaching that this kind of hope is necessary to be saved, and the Scriptures are clear that salvation is by faith alone, we must conclude that a treasuring of God is a necessary ingredient of saving faith.

In sum, with this background from Paul and other teachings of Jesus, we see that there is a sense in which Jesus' words to the rich young ruler do apply to us, and a sense in which they do not apply to us.

They do not apply to us in the sense that we must literally sell everything. The rich young ruler could do that because he would have then been right there with Jesus and the disciples to be provided for by Jesus. But Jesus is not on the earth physically now, and so if we would sell all we have we would be disobeying Paul's command to purchase our food with our own money (the exception to this, of course, being those who are in full time ministry. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:6-14 that they may, but don't have to, raise support and be provided for by other Christians so that they can devote full time to the word).

But Jesus' words to the rich young ruler do apply to us in the sense that our ultimate treasure must be God and not money (or, by implication, anything else) if we are to be saved (yes, if we are to be saved-- Matthew 19:23-26) and that our security must be in God to provide for us, not the uncertainty of our money to provide for us. This does not mean that we must have a flawless faith, but a general disposition towards Christ as the greatest treasure in our lives.

With this background and framework established, let us now take a closer look at sin, faith, and repentance.

III. Sin

A. Sin is, at its core, the pursuit of satisfaction outside of God.

Jeremiah 2:13.

IV. Repentance

A. To repent is to turn from sin. Or, in other words, to stop seeking satisfaction outside of God.

1 Thessalonians 1:9.

B. Wayne Grudem expands on this very well: “Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.” [2]

IV. Faith.

A. Means turning to God. Or, in other words, to come to Christ for the satisfaction of your heart.

This is what we saw above in points I and II.
John 6:35; 3:19-21.
Thus, there is both a past, present, and future element to faith.
1. The future aspect is trusting Christ for a happy future of knowing Him, of knowing God, for all eternity.
2. The past aspect is the finished work of Christ on the cross and in rising from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins and securing of our eternal life.
3. The present aspect is treasuring the person of Christ Himself for all of His greatness, having a great expectation of the future He promises (compare 1 Thessalonians 1:9 again), and trusting Him for forgiveness and the certainty of this glorious future.
Wayne Grudem summarizes this well: “Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.” [3]
Likewise, Piper writes, “Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction that Christ is both solidly reliable and supremely desirable.” [4]

V. The relationship between faith and repentance.

A. What we have seen from the rich young ruler episode reveals that both are necessary.

B. Other Scriptures which teach the necessity of repentance.

Matthew 11:28-29.
Isaiah 55:6-7.
Luke 24:46-47.
Acts 3:19.

C. This isn't a salvation by works because repentance is faith's attitude toward sin (as Edwards said). Or, in other words, placing superior worth on Christ (faith) necessarily implies removing our superior worth from things of lesser value (repentance). One doesn't repent because its something good they have to do to make themselves acceptable to God, but because that is what is involved in having God the treasure of our hearts. As C.S. Lewis has said, repentance is just a description of what its like to come home to God.

Grudem writes, “Scripture puts repentance and faith together as different aspects of the one act of coming to Christ for salvation. It is not that a person first turns form sin and next trusts in Christ, or first trusts in Christ and then turns from sin, but rather that both occur at the same time. When we turn to Christ for salvation from our sins, we are simultaneously turning away fro the sins that we are asking Christ to save us from. If that were not true our turning to Christ for salvation from sin could hardly be a genuine turning to him or trusting in him.” [5]
Piper writes, “You can't have the one without the other any more than you can face two ways at once, or serve two masters.” [6]

D. Genuine faith and repentance continue throughout life. They begin at conversion, but continue for our whole lives.

Repentance: Revelation 3:19, etc.
Faith: Galatians 2:20 and many others.

E. Again, the issue is not whether our faith is perfectly satisfied in Christ or perfectly trusting Him. The issue is whether or not we have a general disposition of trust in Christ and a general disposition of treasuring Him above all things.

VI. Christ as Savior but not Lord?

A. Many claim that saving faith only involves trusting Christ as Savior, but not submitting to him as Lord. Thus, one could be saved by accepting Christ as Savior while totally rejecting Christ as Lord.

In light of what we have seen, how would you respond to this?
Why does this view seem to miss the boat on the nature of faith?
According to Romans 14:7-8, do all Christians live for the Lord (and thus submit to Him as Lord)?
How does this view square with Matthew 13:44?
Could the “Savior but not Lord” teaching be the reason there are people who keep “receiving” Christ again and again, but nothing ever happens?

“And when the disciples heard this, they were astonished and said, `Then who can be saved?' And looking upon them Jesus said to them, `With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'” (Matthew 19:25-26).

Notes

Footnotes

[1] John Piper, The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace, p. 209.

[2] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, p. 713.

[3] Grudem, p. 710.

[4] Piper Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, p. 66.

[5] Grudem, p. 713.

[6] Piper, Desiring God, p. 61.

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