A Careful Look at Saving Faith

I've been bringing some messages
lately at our church on the subject, a careful look at certain doctrines. I spoke recently on a careful
look at predestination, a careful look at election, a careful look
at the gospel. Well today I want to speak to
you on this subject, a careful look at saving faith. Now, in 1 John 5, 13, this is
the scripture that I've selected for my text. 1 John 5, 13. These
things have I written unto you, that believe on the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may
believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, my friends, the
soul is the life of the body. You know that, don't you? You
know that if the soul is not here, that my body is lifeless
and dead. If I have a heart attack right
now and drop dead in front of this camera, my soul will leave
my body, but my body will still be here. But it'll be lifeless. It'll be dead. The soul's gone.
The soul is the life of the body. Now the body may be present,
and the body may be visible, but without the soul, the body's
dead. Now you know that. All right?
Faith is the life of the soul. Now this is important. Just as
the soul is the life of the body, faith is the life of the soul.
Now according to the scriptures, if I don't have faith, I'm spiritually
dead. I may have a living soul, it
lives physically, but it's dead spiritually if I don't have faith. If I don't have faith, I'm without
God, I'm without hope, I'm without Christ, I'm without life. For
the just live by faith. You see, the just live by faith. Christ dwells in us by faith.
And without faith, we're spiritually dead. All right, now watch this. And not only is faith the life
of the soul, but Christ is the life of faith. Now, there's several
kinds of faith. The Bible talks about mental
faith. James says, you believe there's
one God, you do well. The devil believes in trembles.
That kind of faith can't save you. And then there's what we
call miracle faith. There were some people following
Christ and they saw the miracles which he performed and said many
believed on him, but he didn't commit himself to them because
he knew what was in their hearts. He knew that it was, they were
just attracted by those miracles, by those powerful signs. And
then some more folks followed him because he fed them. And
he turned and said to them, I know why you're following me. You're
following me because you ate of the loaves and the fishes.
So there's several kinds of faith. But saving faith has Christ as
its life. Christ is the life of saving
faith. To as many as receive, not his
miracles, him. To as many as receive, not his
law, him. To as many as receive, not his
doctrine, his church, him. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the power, the right to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name. So the soul is the life of the
body. If I have a body without a soul,
I've got a worthless dead object. Faith is the life of the soul,
and without faith my soul's dead. But Christ is the life of faith.
And if I have not Christ, I have not saving faith. I have not
the faith with which God is pleased at all if I have not Christ.
Now Christ the Lord and all of his blessings and benefits are
available to those who seek him, to those who want him. He says
in Psalms 145, verse 18 and 19, you say, well, preacher, I'd
like to have Christ. All right, listen to the scripture.
All who want him may have him. All who seek him shall find him.
The scripture says, seek the Lord, he'll be found, seek him
with all your heart, he'll be found. And Psalm 145 says, the
Lord is known to them that call upon him, to all that call upon
him in truth, he'll fulfill the desire of their hearts, he will
also hear their cry and save them. Yes, Christ is preached
in the gospel, he is offered in the gospel, he is presented
in the gospel. Now, there are five things that
I want you to see, and I wish you'd listen carefully to these.
They're careful. Don't leave me. Stay with me
for the next few moments. Christ is available to all who
come to Him, to all who seek Him, to all who desire Him, because
Christ is presented in the gospel sincerely. Sincerely. The Scripture says this is a
faithful saving, and it's worthy of all acceptation. This is a
true saving. This is the word of God. This
is the promise of God. Hath he spoken, shall he not
fulfill it? Hath he said, shall he not bring
it to pass? This is God's word. It's a faithful
saying. It's a sincere saying. That Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Oh, he said, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water. Come unto me. Buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Come, let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them as white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Come unto
me, Christ said, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I'll
give you rest. So Christ is presented sincerely, faithfully, in the
gospel. God Almighty will keep His word. He will keep His promise. Alright,
secondly, in the gospel, Christ is not only presented sincerely,
But Christ is presented, and this is important, undivided. Undivided. He's clothed with
all of his offices. He's prophet, priest, and king.
Have you noticed through the scriptures that he's referred
to as the Lord Jesus Christ? When Paul said to the Philippian
jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in that phrase are all
of his offices. Lord, king, Jesus, priest. Christ's prophet, the prophet,
priest, and king. In all of his offices, he's undivided. God will not suffer his son's
offices to be divided. He says, this is my beloved son.
You hear him. He's our prophet who reveals
God. He is that prophet of whom Moses
wrote. He said, there is one God and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He
is our high priest. Seeing we have a high priest
over the house of God, let us come bolder. And then he said,
God hath given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should
confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now
listen to me. Our Lord is presented sincerely
in the gospel. It is a fateful word, a fateful
saying. But he's presented in an undivided
fashion. And God will not suffer the offices
of his son to be divided, and he will not suffer you to divide
them either. Now I know there's some people
who want his pardon, but who reject his government. And there's
some people who want his teachings, and who refuse his atonement.
And there's some people who want his crown, but not his cross. And there's some people who want
his sacrifice, but not his sovereignty. But you cannot have a divided
Christ. He is preached in the gospel
in all of his offices. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you cannot have his teachings.
Some might say, well, Jesus Christ was a good man. Jesus Christ
was a good preacher. Jesus Christ's principles and
rules and laws are good. But I don't believe in the cross.
I don't believe in substitution. I don't believe in the blood
atonement. Can't have it. He's Lord Jesus Christ. He's
not just Jesus. He's not Jesus only. He's not
just the Christ. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the prophet who came in the flesh to reveal God. He is the
priest who went to the cross and not only presented the atonement,
but was the atonement. And he is the Lord who rose triumphantly,
victoriously over all his enemies, and now reigns and rules, who
said, All authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
I have all power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given me. And you cannot divide it. And you cannot have his saviorhood
without his sovereignty, and you cannot have his pardon without
his government, and you cannot have his teachings without his
atonement. He will not be divided. He said, You call me Lord with
your lips, but your hearts are far from me. And God looketh
not on the outward countenance, God looks on the heart. All right,
thirdly, now listen. In the gospel, Christ, the saving
Redeemer, the sinner's friend, The only hope that we have is
presented sincerely and faithfully. God does not offer Christ with
his hand behind his back. It's a generous, gracious, merciful
presentation and invitation. But he presents the whole Christ,
the complete Christ, the undivided Christ, the prophet, priest,
and king, and he presents him exclusively. What do you mean
by that, Preacher? I mean this. Christ is the only
Savior. He's not one of many saviors.
We're not all going to the same place traveling different roads.
I'm sorry. The scripture says Christ himself
declared, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No
man cometh to the Father but by me. The roads to heaven are
not the roads of the cross and works and the church and something
else and something else. It's Christ. He said, I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and go
in and out, and find pasture." I am the water of life. I am
the bread of life. It is the gospel of Christ that
we preach, not a gospel of Christ. He's the only Savior. To depend
on Christ, partly on Christ, if this preacher today is resting
for salvation partly on Christ, and partly on my own works, I
got one foot on a rock, and one foot in quicksand. And you know
what that means. That means I'll be destroyed.
I've got one foot on Christ, I've got another foot in the
quicksand. My only righteousness is Christ. Wisdom, redemption,
eternal life. Listen to Acts 4.12. Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Listen
to 1 Peter 1.18-20. Brethren, you know you're not
redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Christ is presented in the gospel
exclusively. He's the only Savior. He's the
only foundation. He's the only refuge. He's the
only hope. All right, fourthly, this is
good news. It's good news for the guilty.
In the gospel, Christ is presented freely. Freely. Listen to Romans
6, 23. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God. You know
what a gift is? Now, if you pay for something,
you buy it, don't you? If you work for something, you
earn it. But if someone, out of his own good pleasure, out
of his own grace, out of his own love for you, comes to you
and hands you a gift and says this is yours, that's not a wage,
that's a gift. And that's what salvation in
Christ is, it's free. When they had nothing to pay,
the scripture says, he freely forgave them. Listen to Romans
4 and 5, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. The believer, the true believer,
receives Christ with an empty hand. When somebody brings you
a gift, say, for Christmas or birthday, and hands you the gift,
you don't insult that person by reaching in your pocket and
pulling out money and handing it to him in return. Here, let
me help you a little bit on that. Why, you'd insult that person.
That's a gift. And salvation's a gift. In my
hands, no price I bring, simply to the cross of Christ I cling.
Could my tears forever flow? These for sin could never atone. Christ was saved and Christ alone. The believer receives Christ
as a gift. He receives Christ with an empty
hand and he receives Christ as a bankrupt sinner. You know how
that old prodigal came home? That boy had been down there
and wasted his substance and he was He was without any funds,
he was without any possessions, he was without any food, he was
without any friends, and he said, I'm going home. Even the servants
in my father's house fare better than I do. And he came home,
and you know how he came? He came broke, hungry, bankrupt,
and homesick. And everything his father gave
him was a gift. And that's the way the sinner
comes to Christ. It's freely given. All right, in the fifth
place, Christ is presented in the gospel personally. Now, this
is an important point, and I want you to listen carefully. I'm
trying to communicate with you. I'm not trying to entertain you.
I'm trying to teach you. I want you to know Christ. I
want you to know the Word of God. I want you to know the promises
which God has for you. We're not counting noses or numbers
or heads. We're not counting decisions.
We're not saying how many decisions we'll get. we can get, we're
trying to bring men to a knowledge of Christ in their hearts. Now
listen to me. Christ is presented in the gospel.
Personally. Personally. Now this is where
most folks miss the gospel. This is where most people today
miss the gospel. They want to get a feeling. They
want to get an experience. But they miss the gospel. They
want to get a blessing, but they miss the gospel because they
miss this point right here. First, it's the person. and then
it's the provision. First it's the person, and then
it's the privilege. First it's the person, and then
it's the blessing. God gave his Son for us, and
to us. And then with his Son, or as
a consequence of the gift of his Son, he gives us all things
in Christ. He that spared not his own Son,
how shall he not with him freely give us all things. The blessing
comes with the person. The blessing doesn't precede
the person, it comes with the person. You receive Christ, and
when you receive Him, you receive the blessing. See if I can illustrate
that. Somebody says, well, show me,
Lord, and I'll believe. You've got it backwards. You
believe, God says, and I'll show you. You've got to have Christ
before you can have the blessing. The blessing doesn't come before
Christ, it comes with Christ. For example, listen to this.
A woman does not marry an inheritance, she marries a man. And when she
marries him, and takes his name, and has him as her husband, she
gets the inheritance, you see? She marries the man, she receives
him, she becomes one with him, she takes his name, and whatever
he is, rich or poor, whatever he is, she has, whatever he owns,
she's a part of it, she's an heir of his. And that's the way
it is with Christ. You don't get the blessing and
then get the Son. You get the Son, with Him comes
the blessing. I am in Christ, a joint heir
with Christ. But I've got to have Him first.
Got to believe on Him first. First it's the Redeemer, and
then it's the redemption. First it's the Son, and then
the inheritance. First it's the cross, and then
the crown. First it's the grace, and then
the glory. Let's don't be mistaken on this.
Don't miss the gospel hanging on to religious tradition and
religious custom. Saving faith is always a person. And when you have that person,
you have all that he brings with him. You have acceptance, you
have forgiveness, you have pardon. That's what the scripture says.
But you know these people are going about in Romans chapter
10 to establish their own righteousness and would not submit to the righteousness
of Christ. Would not submit. Now I want
to present to you in closing today five characteristics of
saving faith. Now we've been talking about
faith in Christ. Christ is presented in the gospel.
He's presented to us in the word freely, personally, exclusively. He's presented sincerely. All
right, what is this saving faith that lays hold upon this Christ
of the gospel? All right, preacher, I've heard
you. And I believe it's all in Christ, but how do I lay hold
on Christ? What is saving faith? Well, let me give you five characteristics.
First of all, saving faith knows who Christ is. That's right. Listen to Paul as he gives his
testimony. I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know
what I believe. Too many of us are wrapped up
in that today. Well, I'll tell you, Purchase,
what I believe. Well, now, does it really matter? It does matter. whom you believe. Salvation is
a person. It's not a what. It's a he. It's
in a person, Christ. Well, I'll tell you, I know when
I believe. Now, I'm not interested a great deal in when you believe.
I'm interested in whom you believe. You see what I'm saying? That's
what Paul's saying. I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded he is able
to keep me. Oh, I may have had a religious
experience years ago, and I know when I did this, and I know when
I did that, and I know when I did the other, and not have salvation.
But I know what I believe. Some of the meanest people in
the world are religious people. They got all the orthodoxies,
all the fundamentalism, and all the prejudice along with it,
and all the tradition. But I'll tell you the sweetest
people in the world are those who know a person, Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is to know God. and Jesus Christ whom he had
sent. Do you know who he is? He's the
Son of God. He's very God of very God. He's
God who came down here in human flesh to represent you and me
in the flesh and to obey the law and go to the cross and die
for our sins. Have you seen him? Oh, I'm not
talking about with these eyes. A blind person couldn't be saved
if you had to see Christ with these eyes. I'm talking about
seeing him with a heart of faith. A lot of folks saw him when he
was here on the earth who didn't believe on him. But we see him
with eyes of faith. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him. And seeing is inseparably connected
with believing. Did you know that? It's inseparably
connected. You cannot trust an unrevealed
Savior. You cannot depend upon an unknown
Christ. You cannot find refuge in an
unknown hiding place. You've got to know him. know
Him. And that's the first thing about faith, is to know Christ.
And our Lord said, everyone that's taught of God and learned of
the Father, cometh to me. What does God teach us? Who Christ
is, and what He came to do, and why He did it, that God might
be just and justifier. And where is He now? At the right
hand of God. And He's coming back again. He's the triumphant
Savior who reigns in the hearts of His people. The second evidence
of faith. knows Christ, and faith rests
completely on the Word of God. Now, you've got to hear me now.
This is important. It's impossible for the soul
and the heart to receive and embrace what the mind does not
know and understand to be sure and certain. That's right. True
faith rests upon a confidence in the Word of God. Abraham believed
God. that he was able to do all that
he said. That's what scripture says. Abraham
believed God. What did he believe? The Word
of God. He had confidence in the Word of God. And when the
Word of God is questioned, when you put a question mark on the
Word of God, there goes your faith. Your faith is shipwrecked. Your faith is destroyed. This
is the way Satan came to Adam and Eve in the garden. He put
a question mark on God's And when you put a question mark
on God's Word, good by faith. Because the foundation of faith
is the Word of God. When our Lord, when our Lord
was on the Mount of Temptation, Satan came to Him. And Satan
tried Him and tempted Him. And Satan said he was hungry
forty days without food. And Satan said, make these stones
into bread. How did Christ deal with Satan's
trial on Temptation? Quoted the Scriptures. Our Lord
Himself depended on the Word of God. He said to Satan, it
is written, man shall not live by bread alone. It is written.
And then Satan said to him, see the kingdoms of this world out
there? I'll give them to you if you'll worship me. How did
Christ reply to that? He said, it is written. It is
written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. And then Satan
said, well, cast yourself off this pinnacle and people will
believe on you. Cast yourself down. He'll give
his angels charge over you. And Christ answered, it's written.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And my friend, I tell
you this, if the Son of God himself found as the foundation to deal
with trial and temptation and with the prince of the darkness
himself, if he found the Word of God to be a sufficient weapon,
it'd be a good thing for you to get hold of it too. God's
Word. Not your tradition. God's Word. Not your religious
custom. God's Word. God's Word. Saving faith embraces Christ
with a sincere love. In 1 Peter 2, 7, the scripture
says, To you that believe, he is precious. Precious. Christ
is precious. Now, to some of you, the walls
of your church building are precious. Well, they're going to come down
someday. To some of you, your denominations are precious. Well,
they're going to go the route of all other denominations and
to Harris in apostasy someday, if they haven't already. To some
of you, all your little ritualism and works are precious. To the
believer, he is precious. And I'll tell you, when Christ
becomes precious, his word becomes precious, his people become precious,
his will becomes precious, his purpose becomes precious. When
Christ becomes precious, we're willing to forsake all and follow
him, a person. When Christ becomes precious,
he's embraced with a sincere love, and he becomes the altogether
lovely one, the fairest among ten thousand, the rose of Sharon,
the lily of the valley, and we'll never leave him. And we give
up everything for him. And we say, blessed Lord, all
that I am and have and ever shall be is thine. Take what you will.
Use me for thy glory. And then saving faith is a choice
of the will. That's right. God makes his people
willing. Oh, Noah built that ark, and one day God said to
him, Noah, come into the ark. And Noah willingly went in. I
know our Lord said to the unbelieving world, you will not come to me
that you might have life. And he said, Jerusalem, how oft
would I have gathered you to myself, and you would not. And
he came unto his own, and they would not have him. But believers
have him because he's made them willing. He's made them willing. He wooed them and drawn them.
Tis done, the great transaction's done. I am my Lord's and He is
mine. He drew me and I followed on,
charmed to confess His voice divine. We want Christ, but we
give Him the praise for making us want Christ and giving us
the will and the desire, but we want Him. You confess Him
with your mouth and believe on Him with your heart and follow
Him with your will and then praise Him for making you willing. He
gave us faith and then rewarded us for having it. And last of
all, faith sees in the gospel the wisdom of God. Knowing my
sin, I see wisdom in God's covenant. Knowing His holiness, I see wisdom
in Christ's life. Knowing the justice of God, I
see wisdom in the cross. And knowing my bent toward sin,
I see wisdom in effectual grace. The preaching of the cross is
to them that are perishing, foolishness. Oh, I know that. But to you who
are being saved, It's the wisdom and power of God. You see in
it wisdom. Now these messages are available
on cassette tape. If you'd like to have them, you
write to me. We'll send them to you. There'll
be a small charge. Until next week at the same time,
Henry Mahan bidding you a very pleasant good day.

A Careful Look at Saving Faith

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A Careful Look at Saving Faith

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