According to John 3:16, faith in Jesus Christ is the human condition of salvation. But what is faith? Where does it come from? What does it look like? What does it do? Find out in this message!
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The Duty: Our Faith
“that whoever believes in Him”
We return again to that most wonderful verse of Scripture, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life.” Here we have the gospel in a nutshell.
The Author of Salvation: God
The Motive of Salvation: loved
The Objects of Salvation: the world
The Gift of Salvation: His only begotten Son
The Condition of Salvation: faith
The Result of Salvation: should not perish, but have eternal life
Well, we have seen the Design the love of God, and the Donation – the Son of God. This morning we are going to focus our attention on the Duty – the faith of man.
In John 3:16 we are told that this great gift of Jesus Christ, flowing from the fountain of God’s love for the world, will only grant eternal life and save from perishing a particular group of people – those who believe in Him. “That whoever believes in Him” functions as a condition in this sentence. Without this condition being met, no one will receive eternal life, and all will perish.
“Faith in Christ is the human condition of salvation.”
If faith is so vital, so important, that this great work of salvation turns on its hinges, then we need to take some time this morning to try to understand it. This morning I’m going to seek to do just that. I want to give you 7 qualities of true faith.
1. Faith In Christ Is The Duty Of All Men
1 John 3:23 states, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.” Not only is it God’s command that we love one another, but also that we believe in Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought of faith being something God commands? That makes sense because just two verses after John 3:16, it states in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” According to this verse, the lost man is condemned because he has not believed in Jesus Christ. The sinner’s unbelief is the grounds of his condemnation. Every man is guilty and blameworthy for his unbelief. We normally don’t think of unbelief as being something very bad, but in God’s sight it is evil and heinous. In fact, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of sin, because they do not believe in Me” (Jn.16:9). These verses teach plainly, that faith is the duty of all men, and if they do not render it to God, they will be eternally condemned.
The reason unbelief is so evil in the sight of God is that it makes God a liar. 1 Jn. 5:10-11 says, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” God declares that eternal life is in Jesus Christ, and commands all men to come to Him to receive that life. But men refuse, and go their own way, disbelieving God’s word. When they do that, they call Him a liar.
2. Faith In Christ Is Impossible For The Unregenerate Man
Now, by “natural man”, I mean the man who does not possess the Holy Spirit. This is the unregenerate man, the lost man, the unsaved man. The second truth about faith is that even though it is the duty of all men, it is impossible for the natural man. Why do I believe this? Well, let’s consider the plain statements of Scripture:
Hebrews 11:6, “without faith it is impossible to please Him”
Romans 8:8, “and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
From these texts we learn that a person must have faith in order to please God, but that while they are in their unregenerate condition, they never can please God. The implication is that they can’t please God because they can’t exercise faith. But, let’s look at more of God’s Word.
In Mark 10, Jesus turned away the rich young ruler, because he was not willing to sell all he had and give it to the poor, and then come and follow Him. Then, Jesus told His disciples, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. At this the disciples were astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus replied, “With men it is impossible.” Salvation is impossible with men! Jesus didn’t say it was difficult, or hard, or rare. He said it was impossible. Now, since faith is the condition of salvation, and salvation is impossible with men, that means that faith is impossible. Still not convinced? Ok, let’s look at some more.
In John 6:44 Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” Now, what did Jesus mean by “come to Me”? In verse 35 we have the explanation. There Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” This verse uses a literary technique called parallelism. Jesus states two ideas that are parallel to each other and explain each other. Hunger is parallel to thirst, and coming to Him is parallel to believing in Him. Therefore, to come to Jesus is to believe in Jesus. So, let’s paraphrase John 6:44 with this in mind, “No one can believe in Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” That makes it pretty clear, doesn’t it? “No one” – that’s a universal negative. It allows of no exceptions. “Can” – that is a word of ability. All men are command, invited, and permitted to come to Jesus. But no man can come to Jesus. Now, why can’t men believe in Jesus, unaided by the Holy Spirit? Well, notice that in John 6:40, believing is linked to beholding. In John 6:45 coming to Jesus is linked with hearing from the Father. So, what’s the problem here? The problem is that the unregenerate man can’t see Christ or hear Him. He doesn’t have spiritual sight or spiritual hearing. The god of this world has blinded his mind so that He might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. In John 8:43 Jesus told the unregenerate religious leaders of Israel, “you cannot hear My word.” The unsaved man can’t hear God’s Word or see the Son. Now, I’m not saying that he can’t come to church and hear sermons, or that he can’t understand who Jesus is and what He did on the cross. He can do that, but he can’t relish, and savor, and love, and cherish Christ and His Word. 1 Cor. 2:14 says, “But a natural man (unregenerate man) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
Expecting an unregenerate man to believe and love Christ is like taking a blind man to Yosemite and saying, “Whoa! That is amazing! Would you look at that!” The blind man responds, “What? What is so amazing?!” He can’t see it. Or, it is like taking a deaf man to hear a symphony playing the great works of Bethoven. He can go to the concert, but he can’t appreciate and enjoy and delight in it, because he can’t hear it. When’s the last time you saw your dog lay down next to the speakers on your stereo so he could enjoy some good classical music? I feel this way sometimes, when Debbie and I take a walk and she sees some roses. She will stop and say, “Oooh! How beautiful!” and then smell them, and just stop there and revel in the delight they bring to her. I take one look at them, and am ready to move on. I’m blind to the glory of those roses. My friends, the unregenerate man is just blind to the glory of Jesus Christ! That’s why he can’t believe.
Now I imagine that right about now your head is spinning. You’re thinking, “OK, God commands all people to believe in Christ, but unsaved people can’t believe in Christ!” How can God hold man responsible for what he can’t do? Well, it will help if you remember that the unregenerate man’s inability is not a natural inability, but rather a moral inability. What do I mean by natural and moral ability? Natural inability would be if you didn’t have the natural faculties you need to believe. Well, what does a person need to believe? He needs a mind, a conscience, a heart, and a will. Does the natural man have all of those faculties? Of course he does! Moral inability, on the other hand, would be if you couldn’t believe because your wicked perverse heart is enslaved to sin and hates Christ. That is the kind of inability the sinner possesses. A ten day old baby has a natural inability. He can’t keep from wetting his diaper. A guy who is drunk at a party has a moral inability. He can’t keep from wetting his pants. The kind of guilt the sinner has, is not that of the baby, but that of the drunk. He is unable to believe because of his wicked heart, not because he doesn’t have the natural faculties to do so. That’s why God can and will judge him for not believing the gospel.
You say, “Brian, how can you believe both of those truths – that faith is man’s duty, but faith is impossible? It sounds like the are two opposite statements, totally contrary to each other.” I admit that those two truths do not sound like they are consistent with each other. But then, who ever said that all truths would seem consistent with each other? Does it seem consistent to say that God is three, and God is one, at the same time? Does it seem consistent to say that Jesus is 100% God, and He is 100% man at the same time? Charles Haddon Spurgeon put it like this, “My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God. I never thought it to be any very great crime to seem to be inconsistent with myself; for who am I that I should everlastingly be consistent? But I do think it a great crime to be so inconsistent with the word of God that I should want to lop away a bough or even a twig from so much as a single tree of the forest of Scripture. God forbid that I should cut or shape, even in the least degree, any divine expression.” Folks, I would rather be comfortable with my Bible, and uncomfortable with my theology any day, than to be comfortable with my theology, and uncomfortable with my Bible!
3. Faith In Christ Is The Gift Of God
Now, that makes sense, doesn’t it, if saving faith is impossible for a natural man? If lost men can’t believe, then of course God is going to have to do something to enable them to believe. And that’s exactly what Scripture teaches. Let turn to our Bibles to see this great truth.
John 6:65, “no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father”
Acts 18:27 refers to “those who had believed through grace”
Phil. 1:29 “to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”
Eph.1:19 “what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.”
Heb. 12:2 refers to Jesus as “the author and perfecter of faith”
Let’s say Isaac comes over to our house on a hot 100 degree July day, in order to mow our lawn. After he has been working out there for about 30 minutes, he comes into the house drenched with sweat and says, “Pastor Brian, can I have some water? I’m so thirsty!” I say, “Sure, Isaac, come and get some.” Then I hold a pitcher of water and say, “Hold out your hands to get it!” Well, it would do no good to promise him the water without him having any way to actually drink and enjoy it. And so, of course, I get a glass down from the cabinet, pour the water into the glass, and hand it to him. Friends, the water is salvation, and the glass is faith. Although salvation is offered to the world, nobody can enjoy it or savor it, or appropriate it without faith. And not only does give salvation, but He also even gives the faith to be able to enjoy that salvation.
Have you ever thanked God for the gift of faith? Have you ever really seen how indebted you are to your sovereign God who enabled you to lay hold of Jesus Christ in saving faith? I urge you to begin thanking God for granting faith today!
4. Faith In Christ Receives And Rests Upon Him Alone
True Faith is the Receiving of Christ. John 1:12 says, “but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” Did you notice that receiving Jesus is parallel to believing in His name? In other words receiving Jesus is how we believe in Jesus. So, what does it mean to receive Jesus? It simply means that we accept and welcome Christ into our lives for who He is. Now, it’s right at this point that so many people make a fatal mistake. They think they can divide Jesus up like a pie, and take the parts of Him that they like and leave the rest. “I want to take Jesus as my personal Savior, but I don’t want to take Him as the Lord of my life.” In other words, they want Jesus to escape hell, but they don’t want to surrender their lives to Him and live a holy life. My friends, that is impossible. Why? Because when you receive Jesus, you receive a whole Jesus. You receive Him for who He is. Who is he? He’s Prophet, Priest, and King. We need Jesus to be our Prophet, so that He will instruct and teach us the truth of God. We need Jesus to be our Priest, so that He will offer Himself as an atonement for our sins, and wash us in His blood. We need Jesus to be our King, so that He will rule and reign over us, and present us to Himself holy and blameless. True faith is receiving Jesus Christ in all His offices.
True Faith Is Resting On Christ Alone. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question, “What is faith?” The answer is, “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.” What a great definition of saving faith! Faith consists of three elements: knowledge, assent, and trust. No man can exercise faith without knowledge. We must know the doctrines concerning Jesus Christ. We must know He is fully God and fully man. We must know of His sinless life. We must know that He died as the sinner’s substitute. We must know that He rose from the dead, and is coming back one day. Faith also includes assent. It is one thing to know the truth, and it is another to assent, or agree to it. No man can be saved, simply by knowing the truths of Jesus Christ. He must agree that those doctrines are right and true. However, even then, a man has not reached saving faith. The final step, is that He must trust in Christ. He must commit his soul to Jesus Christ to actually save him.
Recently I found a you tube video of Nik Wallenda walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope. While I was watching him doing that I felt my heart going up into my throat. I thought, “What would ever possess a man to do that?!” Later I watched him walk across a tightrope from one Chicago skyscraper to another one, up hill! Now, when Nik ventured out onto that tightrope, He was putting all of his trust and confidence in His belief and hope that that rope would hold his weight. If that rope snapped while he was walking on it, he was a dead man. Folks, Jesus Christ is our tightrope. In order to be saved, you have to venture out and trust Him to hold your weight as you travel from here to heaven.
Imagine that you are flying in a plane at 30,000 feet above sea level over the state of Kansas, and all of a sudden both engines go out and the plane begins to take a nose dive. The pilot comes over the loudspeaker and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, both engines on this plane have died, and we are going to crash in a couple of minutes. The only hope you have of surviving is to strap on a parachute and jump out of the plane!” Now, when the stewardess brought you a parachute, you could admire it, and say, “That is such a beautiful and well-built parachute. I know that it will hold my weight.” He may know many important things about the parachute, and even agree that those facts are true. However, until he actually straps it on, and jumps out of the plane, he’s not trusting the parachute. Friends, until you strap on Jesus Christ, and jump, you are not exercising faith in Him. Have you entrusted your never-dying soul to the person and work of Jesus Christ?!
5. Faith In Christ Links Us To God’s Rescuing Love
Listen to the words of John 3:16 again, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” At the beginning of that verse we are told of God’s rescuing love. However, the verse doesn’t say, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone would not perish but have eternal life.” No, only some of the human race will escape perishing and obtain eternal life. So, what is the link between God’s rescuing love and our soul? This verse says it is “believing in Him.” Yes, it is true that Christ died for sinners. However, that truth won’t do you a bit of good unless you trust Him.
Many years ago 2 people fell overboard in the Niagara River. They were floating quickly and helplessly toward the Niagara Falls, when someone saw their plight, and threw them a rope. One of those men seized the rope, while the other one grabbed a hold of a large log that was floating by. Well, the man who seized the rope was pulled safely to shore, while the man who seized the log went over the Falls and perished. My friends, unless your faith is in Jesus Christ, and in Him crucified, you will perish. You must be clutching something that links you safely to the heavenly shore. Trusting in your good works, or your religion, is like clutching a log as you sail down the Niagara River. My friends, abandon any and every hope in anything but the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can save your soul!
6. Faith In Christ Endures Through All Difficulties to the End
Now, what are we to think about the nature of saving faith? Is it a flighty, temporary thing that can come and go? Is it something a person possesses for a year or two, and then it disappears? Can someone have faith in Jesus Christ as a boy or girl, and then go on to practice sin? I have met dozens of people who have told me that they were saved when they were 8 or 10 or 12 years old, and then they fell away and lived in sin for 10 or 15 or 20 years, and finally came back to the Lord. My friends, they never possessed saving faith, because saving faith doesn’t come and go like the fickle wind, but is a strong and sure and steady possession of every child of God. Saving faith, when it has been exercised by a true believer, will remain and abide and grow. It will endure trials and temptations and sorrows and losses and struggles, until it finally brings the child of God home to heaven. True saving faith is indestructible, because it is the imperishable gift of God.
In 1 Peter 1:7, Peter compares the faith of the Christian to gold. He says that our faith is not like gold which is perishable. Rather it results in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, saving faith is victorious. It will endure to the end.
In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is called not only the author, but also the perfecter of faith. Not only does he give faith, but He sustains faith and causes it to endure.
Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
In Jesus’ parable of the four soils, He said that the stony ground hearer “believes for a while, and in time of temptation fall away” (Lk.8:13). This person’s faith is not the real deal. It is a false, fake, phony faith. It is not the faith of God’s elect.
Last summer we went to Sequoia National Park with some friends of ours, and there is a section of the park where you can see the Giant Sequoias. Believe me, those trees are spectacular. The largest of the trees is called “General Sherman.” It is the largest living organism in the world. It is 2,100 years old, 275’ tall, 100’ wide at its trunk, and weights 2.7 million pounds. We saw some of those giant sequoias that had survived a fire. A large portion of the trunk had been burned away, but the tree had still survived. Imagine a tree which existed on this earth before Jesus Christ was born! These trees have withstood fire, drought, and great winds, and they are still with us to this day. To the observer, these trees appear to be indestructible. My friend, saving faith is like that. It will outlast trials, sufferings, losses, temptations of every kind and bring us safely home to glory.
7. Faith In Christ Brings Us Soul Satisfaction
In John 6:35, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” The one who believes in Christ will not hunger or thirst. In other words, his soul will find satisfaction in Christ.
In John 4:13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
That which satisfies the believer is Jesus Himself. He is our joy and delight and treasure and satisfaction. However, we can’t get at Jesus without faith. Faith is that which links us to Christ so that we experience soul satisfaction.
Debbie and I have a precious friend named Edie who lost her sense of taste. As a result she doesn’t eat very much any more. All food is tasteless. Unregenerate people are kind of like that. They don’t have any spiritual taste buds. But when a person is born again, God gives them spiritual taste buds. They begin to taste the soul satisfying person of Jesus Christ. Now, a person could have the ability to taste food, but they would never be satisfied unless they actually ate. So too, once a person is born again, they must believe on Christ to find soul satisfaction. If you want more happiness and joy and pleasure and delight and satisfaction in your spiritual life, you need to exercise faith in Christ. Faith is the hand that brings the delicious spiritual food and brings it to your mouth so that you can savor and enjoy it. That is why faith is such a precious possession of the believer.
Conclusion
I want you to see two different aspects of salvation.
1) There is an aspect of salvation which is exclusive. It excludes everyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ. Our text tells us that only those who believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. We are not universalists here at The Bridge. We believe that some will be saved and spend eternity with God, and others will be lost and spend eternity in hell. All who will not trust their soul to Christ will be excluded from the blessings of eternal salvation. My friend, make sure you are not of that number!
2) There is an aspect of salvation which is inclusive. Our text says, “that whoever believes in Him.” Don’t you love that word “whoever”?! It means anyone! If it said “that Brian Anderson would not perish but have eternal life” I would still be fearful, because I would conclude it meant a different Brian Anderson than me. But the word “whoever” casts out all fear. My friend, you will not be excluded from the kingdom of heaven unless you exclude yourself through unbelief. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are. It doesn’t matter what skin color you have. It doesn’t matter how intelligent or ignorant you are. It doesn’t matter what kind of life you have lived. The only thing that matters is whether you come to Christ and trust Him as your Prophet, Priest, and King to save your soul. My friend venture out on Him as your tightrope. Strap him on your back like a parachute and jump! Come to Him and drink deeply like a man dying of thirst. Oh come to Jesus Christ this morning! I don’t care who you are, you need Him. Come! What prevents you?! Turn from every thing in your life that would hold you back! Will you go to hell, rather than to have Him as your joy, and life, and peace, and delight? Oh, what madness sin brings. There is life in a look at the Crucified! Look to Him right now, immediately, by faith, and you will be saved!
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