If you would, open your Bibles
to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1. From our scripture reading, you've
probably concluded, rightfully so, that our subject tonight
is faith. The title of the message is this. Do I have saving faith? Now, that's an important question.
Do I have saving faith? We know this, without faith,
it's impossible to please God. The just, scripture says, should
live by faith. They're not going to live any
other way than by faith. We read you a couple of scriptures.
Mark 2, verse 5. When Jesus saw their faith, this
is when those men let the impotent man, the sick man, down through
the roof. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven The
forgiveness of sins is through faith. Luke 18.42, Our Lord told
blind Bartimaeus, Thy faith hath saved thee. Ephesians 2.8, For
by grace are you saved through faith. Salvation comes through
faith. There is such a thing as saving
faith. Romans 3.28, Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Justification comes by faith. Galatians 3.26, For ye are all
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. We are adopted
into God's family, become children of God by faith in Christ. Hebrews
4.2, For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them,
but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed
with faith in them that heard it. There is no profit in hearing
preaching. I'm talking about preaching,
preaching of the gospel, unless we have faith. We must hear with
the ear of faith. So this is an important subject,
isn't it? An important question. Do I have saving faith? Now,
faith is an important topic. The word is used over 300 times
in the Bible. And even though it's used that
many times, faith is very misunderstood in our day. Paul wrote to Timothy. Talk to Timothy about the mystery
of faith. Faith is mysterious to the natural
man, isn't it? Well, what is saving faith in?
I'd like to answer and solve this mystery. What is saving
faith? And more importantly, do I have
it? Do I have saving faith? I don't
want to be just like the fellow that knows the definition and
doesn't have it. I want to know, do I have saving faith? Now,
saving faith is not Just a belief in a historical figure, a man
Jesus of Nazareth lived and died. That's not saving faith. That's
just being able to read a history book. Saving faith is not believing
some truths that you find in the Bible or some truths that
the preacher told you. Saving faith is a belief in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is complete and
utter dependence upon Christ to save your soul. And saving
faith is confidence that Christ will do what he said he'd do.
That he will save his people from their sin. The Apostle Paul
said, I know whom I believe. I'm persuaded. I'm confident
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. That's saving faith. Only saving faith can say that.
So our text this evening, 2 Peter 1, just one verse. In this one
verse, we see the definition of saving faith. First, we see
this. Saving faith is the gift of God. See that? Simon Peter, a servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us. Saving faith is obtained. Saving faith isn't earned. It's
not deserved. It's not attained after years
of study or years of asking for it. Faith is not attained. Faith is obtained. Faith is obtained
when God gives this gift of faith to His elect. Look over Ephesians
chapter 2. You know it well, but let's look
at it and read it again. Saving faith is a gift that God
gives to His elect. Ephesians 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved. through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the what? Gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast. Saving faith is a gift
that couldn't be more clear. Well, now, why must I be given
saving faith? Because I'm a dead sinner by
nature, that's why. If faith is obtained, that must
mean I don't have any. I didn't come with any. I didn't
come that way. Somebody's got to give it to me. And I can't
get any faith on my own, of my own works, of my own merit. So
if a sinner like me is going to have saving faith, God must
give it to me as a free gift. That's what that means. Now,
all of us are sinners and sinners are completely dependent upon
God in every way. And in this way, too, we're dependent
upon him to give us the gift of faith. Now, faith is a gift
that God gives. He gives it sovereignly. He gives
it to whom he will. The word that Peter uses here
means by lot. Now, that doesn't mean by chance.
It means by the choice of God when he decides to give the free
gift of grace. Now, I'll illustrate this point
with something that's on everybody's mind. I'm sure all of you all
are like us. We've got a Christmas tree in
our living room. There are presents under it. You know, I don't decide. to accept one of those presents.
I walk past it every day. There's presents, wrapped presents
under it. I don't decide to accept one
of those presents. I don't see one of those presents and say,
I'm a swell guy. I'm going to let Jan give me
that present. I've decided to accept that present. You know
what? That gift may not be for me. As a matter of fact, if you look
under our tree, more than likely it's not. More than likely it's
for Holly and Savannah. I can only receive the gift that's
given to me. Now, saving faith is given the
exact same way. I don't just up and decide one
day to accept saving faith. Faith is a gift of God that God
gives to His elect. He gives it to whom He will.
Now, if you need faith, and every one of us do, I hope you realize
you need faith. If you need faith and you don't
have it and you want it, remember this, faith's a gift to God.
Faith is God's to give and God's to withhold. It's His gift. Well,
if you need faith, you know what I'd do? Oh, I'd ask God for it,
wouldn't you? Because that's the only way we're
going to have it, is if He gives it. Saving faith is a gift of
God. Second, saving faith is all the
same faith. Peter says here, he's writing
to those who have obtained like precious faith with us. Saving
faith is all the same faith. It's all alike. All true faith
is exactly the same faith, exactly. Now, there are different degrees
of it, different degrees of faith, different strengths of faith,
but saving faith always has the same nature. It doesn't vary
a bit. It all has the same DNA. Saving faith is like faith in
three ways. Saving faith is always the same
because saving faith always has the same source. It always comes
from God. It's a gift of God. Second, saving
faith is always the same because saving faith always has the same
object. Saving faith always looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is faith in a person. You know how you hear people
say, well, they go through this hard time and their faith saved
them. Their faith pulled them through it. No, it didn't. No,
it did not. Christ saved. Christ, see the
difference? Christ is the object of faith.
Saving faith didn't believe in the right doctrine. Now, if you
know Christ, you know the right doctrine, but saving faith is
not knowing the right doctrine. Saving faith is not having a
bunch of scripture memorized. Saving faith is knowing a person. And if you know that person,
if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, this is what you must do. You'll
put all your trust in Him. You will if you know Him. Saving
faith is knowing a person. Every believer has the same object
of their faith. Third, saving faith is always
the same faith, because saving faith always has the same end
result. Saving faith always results in
eternal life and perfect righteousness. Every believer has the same faith.
I want you to look at a couple of scriptures, back in Ephesians
again, chapter 4. Every believer has the exact
same faith. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 4. Now there's one body and one
spirit, even as you're called, and one hope of your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all. There's
one faith of all believers. Look over at verse 12. Here's
why God's given us pastors and teachers. For the perfecting
of the saints. For the work of the ministry.
For the edifying of the body of Christ. Till all come in the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
That's why God's given us preachers, so we come in the unity of faith.
We all believe in one person. We all know one person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now look over in Titus chapter
1. There's one faith. Look how Paul refers
to it here in Titus 1, verse 1. Paul, servant of God and apostle
of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect. All
God's elect have the same faith. All of them do. Look at verse
4. He says to Titus, my own son, after the common faith. Now,
when Paul calls faith common faith, he's not saying it's common
like it's a cheap thing everybody has. It's common to all of God's
elect. Faith is the faith of God's elect. Now get a hold of your seats.
If every believer has the same faith, you know what that means?
If you are a believer, you have the exact same faith as everybody
we read about Hebrews chapter 11. That's right. You got the
faith of Abraham, the faith of Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and
Moses. You have the exact same faith.
You say, wait a minute, Frank. I don't know about that. I read
about those things. Those people did. The same faith. The exact same faith. The same
faith as the Apostles. The same faith as Peter and Paul.
What does Peter say here? Obtained like precious faith
with us. Had the exact same faith as the
Apostle Peter if you believe in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. One more scripture. Romans chapter 11. If you have saving faith, have
the same faith as Abraham, same faith as Isaac, same faith as
Jacob. Romans 1, verse 11. Do peons like us have the same
faith as the Apostle Paul? Look what he says here. For I
long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift,
to the end that you may be established. that I may be comforted together
with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me." Every believer
has the same faith. Saving faith is the faith of
Abraham. That's why all believers are
called children of Abraham. You have the same faith Abraham
had. And so a weak believer is just
as saved and just as secure as a believer who has strong faith.
Because we're not saved by the strength of our faith, are we?
We're saved by the object of our faith. The strength of our
faith doesn't keep us. The strength of our faith doesn't
save us. Christ, the object of our faith, keeps us and saves
us. So the strength of our faith is not nearly as important as
the strength of the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is always the same. Same source, same object, same
results. Saving faith is precious. Oh, this is a precious gift. Peter says he's writing to those
who have obtained like precious faith. Now, earlier in our study
of 1 Peter, we looked at this. Peter called faith more precious
than gold. Faith is precious because there's
no salvation without faith. What will a man give for a soul?
I mean, his soul Well, the salvation of the soul must be precious.
Well, it comes through faith. There's no salvation apart from
faith. There's no justification without faith. There's no being
made without sin without faith, without faith in Christ. There's
no pleasing God other than through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Saving faith is precious because you have access to all these
precious gifts through faith. Now, something that's rare is
precious. You know, I thought about weeds.
Weeds are cheap because they grow everywhere. I mean, you
can't stop them from going. Get a crack in the concrete and
they grow. I mean, you just can't stop the things. They're so cheap,
you can't give them away. But brother, you pay good money
to florists to buy a dozen roses because everybody can't grow
one of them. They're rare. Bathe is precious. because not
everybody has saving faith. Now, everybody believes in something. Everybody does. But everybody
does not have saving faith. Now, I don't think any of y'all
would say that. Somebody would tell me, Frank, that's pretty
narrow. Now, that's just too narrow to say everybody's not
saved. Well, look at 2 Thessalonians
chapter 3. Believe me when I tell you It
gives me no joy to tell this truth. Everybody doesn't have
saving faith, but it's so. I wish more people did, but everyone
does not have saving faith. 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you. and that we may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men." Why do we have to pray
that way? For all men have not faith. All men have not faith. But here's our confidence, the
Lord's faithful. He'll establish you, keep you from evil. But
all men have not faith. Faith is precious because you
can't find it everywhere. But mostly, saving faith is precious
because Christ is precious. And we only receive Him by faith. Let's look over at 1 Peter chapter
2. We looked at this a few weeks
ago. Saving faith is precious because Christ is precious and
He's the object of our faith. 1 Peter 2 verse 6, Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. He's precious first. to the Father,
and then unto you therefore which believe, he is precious." Saving
faith is precious because saving faith believes in a precious
person. Saving faith is precious because
saving faith trusts in precious blood to atone for sin. Saving
faith is precious because saving faith believes precious promises. And all those who have precious
faith are going to die a precious death. The death of a believer
is precious only for this reason. He's going to be with Christ
who is precious. That's why saving faith is precious. It's so precious that a believer
would not trade saving faith for any amount of gold or silver. Wouldn't do it. Saving faith
is so precious, really, it's not worthy to be compared to
silver and gold. It's not worthy. So let's compare
saving faith to this. Let's compare saving faith to
my works. I'm telling you the truth, I would rather, I wouldn't
trade saving faith to be saved by my own works. Even if I could,
I would not trade it. I wouldn't trade saving faith
to be saved by my own obedience to the law, even if I could keep
it. Saving faith is so precious. I would rather be saved through
faith in Christ. I'd rather be saved by Christ's
obedience and Christ's righteousness than my own righteousness. I
really would. That's how precious saving faith
is. I love salvation by grace through
faith. Because if that's so, salvation
by grace through faith, that means my sins, no matter how
bad they are, cannot cause me to lose my salvation. And my
good deeds, no matter how good I might think they are, can't
make me more saved. Because salvation is accomplished
by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's received
by a sinner like me through faith in Him. Through the gift of God's
free grace. God-given faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, that's precious. That's
precious. And fourthly, saving faith is
received through the righteousness of Christ. Look back at 2 Peter. 1, verse 1, Simon Peter, the
servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained,
been given like precious faith with us through the righteousness
of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Now, you're not righteous because
you have faith. You have faith because God made
you righteous. You see that? It's through the
righteousness of God. Don't get this thing backwards
now. Through the righteousness of Christ, that's what that means.
You don't get faith by being good. You don't get faith by
being righteous. The gift of righteousness and
the gift of faith are received at the same time, simultaneously. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. Now, if you look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, here's how a believer is made righteous. given faith
through the righteousness of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
to be sin for his people. It wasn't like he was made sin. It wasn't like he was guilty.
He was actually, literally made to be sin. Now, I can't explain
that, but that's so. The Holy One of Israel was made
to be sin, yet he never committed a sin, yet he was never a sinner.
But God, doing what only God could do, made Christ our holy
sacrifice to be sin. for His people. And God's elect
are made righteous the exact same way. The flip side of that
is God made His people righteous. Now, you and I are nothing but
sin. That's all we are. That's all we'll ever do is sin.
But God, doing what only God can do, made His people the righteousness
of God in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, a believer is not
made like we're righteous. We're made righteous, actually
and literally righteous before God. And not someday. It's not like, well, yeah, I'll
be righteous someday when I awake in His presence. No, sir. If
you're awake in His presence righteous, it's because you're
righteous right now. Not someday, now. God has made
His people the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now hold your finger there and
look over at Psalm 71. Come back to 2 Corinthians 5
in a second. Look over at Psalm 71. Because righteousness, where
faith comes through the righteousness of Christ. Righteousness is imputed. It's given as a gift to every
one of God's elect. The only righteousness saving
faith will claim is the righteousness of Christ. Jehovah Siddhendu,
the Lord our righteousness. Psalm 71, verse 15. My mouth
shall show forth thy righteousness. and thy salvation all the day. For I know not the numbers thereof.
I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention
of thy righteousness, even of thine only." Why? Why will he
make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only? Because faith
came through righteousness. Saving faith will only ever claim
the righteousness of Christ. Now, no one can receive saving
faith until somebody tells them about Christ. Isn't that right? If Christ is the object of our
faith, no one can have saving faith until somebody tells them
about Christ. And that's what Paul says in
2 Corinthians 5.20. Now then, we're ambassadors for Christ.
As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. This is why we preach Christ.
We preach Christ and Him crucified. And that's our only message.
Christ and Him crucified. Because we know this. How should
they believe on Him in whom they've not heard? And how should they
hear? Without a preacher. And how should
they preach except they be sinned? God's going to send a preacher
to tell people, to tell His people about His Son. That's how saving
faith is going to come. You have to hear about Him before
you can believe Him. And because of this righteousness,
saving faith is confident. I mean absolutely confident.
Since saving faith comes through righteousness, God's never going
to take it back, is he? If he takes it back, that's unrighteous. He won't do that. Saving faith
is confident because God will never take it back. God's righteousness,
God making his people righteous, guarantees the fulfillment of
everything saving faith believes. Everything. Because you've been
made the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
no reason for God to take it back. You're righteous if you
have saving faith. Now, that's what saving faith
is from this verse. Now, here's the question. Do
I have saving faith? How can I know? I want us to
leave here tonight knowing this. Is Peter writing to me? He says
he's writing to them that have obtained like precious faith
with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
It's Peter writing to me. Like I told you, everybody believes
something. Everybody's got some sort of
a faith. Well, is my faith saving faith? Well, I answer that question
by asking you four questions. You answer these questions and
you can know whether or not you have saving faith. Question number
one. Is your faith something you came
up with? Or is it a gift of God? Is your saving faith something
you conjured up one day? You're just praying hard and
feeling really spiritual, and you conjured up this faith? Is
it something that you earned? You know, you did something,
so then God gave you the gift? Or is your faith a free gift
of God's grace? Just a gift that He gave you
just because He would. If your faith is a gift of God,
you have saving faith. Question number two, does your
faith believe in and look to and trust in the same Savior
that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Peter and Paul, all the apostles,
does your faith look to the same Christ, the same Savior theirs
did? You say, well, that's kind of hard to tell. How do I know
that? I can tell you. When they describe their Savior
in God's Word, does that just thrill your soul? Do you read
that and say, oh, that's a blessing? That's describing my Savior.
Then you have saving faith because your faith looks to the same
Savior, glorifies the same Savior theirs did. Question number three. Is Christ precious to you? Would
you trade faith in Christ for anything you can think of? Now,
no one really has the option. to trade faith in Christ for
anything. I mean, you don't have that option,
do you? Somebody's never going to come tell you, well, you can
trade saving faith for this whatever, you know. You're not going to
have that option. So let's see if we can explain
it this way. Can Christ be preached too high and too glorious for
your taste? Can He? If so, if He can be preached
too glorious, too high, your faith cannot be saving faith.
But if you can't hear Christ glorified too much, if you can't
get too much credit, if you can't hear of His glory too often,
then you have saving faith. Because only saving faith knows
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then can you be preached too
far down in the dust? I mean, can the preacher offend
you when he calls you a sinner? Can the preacher offend you when
he says you're dead? stinking in your sins and in
your unrighteousness by nature. Can the preacher really offend
you to tell you you've got Adam's nature? If not, if that doesn't
offend you, then you have saving faith. Because the more believer
hears the truth about how sinful we are, how wretched we are,
the more we are forced to depend upon and rely upon and trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The more God's Word cuts out
all the hope, any hope we have, just cuts it off at the knees,
the more we're forced to depend upon and trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And saving faith loves that. Just loves it. I love it. I like
it. I love it. I want some more of
it. Tell me about who I am. Tell me who He is. He's my hope.
He's all my hope. If you love hearing that you're
nothing and Christ is everything, you've got saving faith. Question
number four, does your faith claim any righteousness other
than the righteousness of Christ? Do you think you can do something
to save yourself? Do you think you can do something
to keep yourself saved? Do you think you can do something
to make yourself more savable? If not, if you know there's nothing
you can do to please God, you know there's nothing you can
do to save yourself or keep yourself saved, then you have saving faith. Because saving faith comes through
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And saving faith
knows the only way, the one and only way, the exclusive way,
a sinner like me can be made righteous is in the righteousness
of Christ. Being put in Christ and having
his righteousness imputed to me. If that's your hope, you
have saving faith. Because saving faith will look
nowhere, trust nowhere, no righteousness other than the righteousness
of Christ. Do I have saving faith? I pray
God will give it, don't you? Let's bow and pray. Our Father, how we thank You
for this, Your Word. How we thank You for the precious
gift of faith in Your dear Son. We know we can earn it through
no goodness of our own, through no merit of our own, but it's
a gift of thy free grace. And how we thank you. Father,
how I thank you for those here that you've given this precious
gift of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, for those
who don't know you as of yet, we beg of thee you give this
gift. Saving faith is a gift of God, not something that we
can talk one another into or talk one another out of. It's
a gift of God. And how we beg of thee, you'd
show yourself merciful and give this gift to your people. And
we will be eternally grateful. It's in the precious name of
our Lord Jesus Christ we give