What Is Saving Faith?

I want you to open your Bibles
today to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 1. I'm going to be speaking
on the subject, what is saving faith? What is saving faith? When Paul wrote this book to
Timothy, the book of 2 Timothy, he was chained in prison, in
danger any moment of execution. And besides all this, he had
been forsaken and deserted by many whom he thought were his
friends. He wrote in verse 15, This thou
knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from
me. And then he wrote in this same
book, chapter 4, verse 10, Demas hath forsaken me. Demas was his
companion and his friend, and he declares that Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. Only Luke is with me."
And then in the sixteenth verse of that fourth chapter of 2 Timothy,
he said, "...at my first answer no man stood with me, but all
forsook me." He was in prison, he was chained to a soldier,
he was awaiting execution, he had been forsaken by his friends,
and so at the beginning of chapter one, he exhorts Timothy to never
be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He says, do not be ashamed of
the testimony of our Lord. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then
twice in the book of Romans he said, whosoever believeth shall
not be ashamed. Do not be ashamed of the gospel,
Timothy. And then he said, do not be ashamed
of those who preach the gospel. If you look there at verse 8,
you'll see that. He said, don't be ashamed of
the gospel and don't be ashamed of me, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ. And then in the latter part of
verse 8, he said, be ready yourself to share in the afflictions of
the gospel and in the persecutions which will come to those who
believe it and who dare to preach it. The Bible tells us it is
given unto us not only to suffer for Christ's sake, but to believe,
and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So there in 2 Timothy 1, verse
8, the Apostle Paul begins this letter to young Timothy, whom
he called his son in the ministry, this old man of God awaiting
execution, chained in prison, and he said, Don't be ashamed
of the gospel, and don't be ashamed of those who preach the gospel,
who are even prisoners for the sake of the gospel. And you be
ready yourself to suffer persecution and affliction, which will come
to you if you believe and preach the gospel. And then in verse
9 and 10, now this is very important. I want you to take your Bible,
and while I'm speaking to you, you look down and read these
verses. that I'm going to quote to you. Now in verses 9 and 10
of 2 Timothy 1, Paul identifies this gospel for which he was
in prison, for which he was persecuted, for which he had been forsaken
by his friends, and of which he was not ashamed. He identifies
this gospel. Now look at verse 9 carefully.
He says, and called us with an holy calling. The first identifying mark of
the gospel of God is this. It's the work of God for us,
and not our work for God. He had saved us. We didn't save
ourselves, and we didn't contribute to our redemption. He saved us,
and he called us with a holy calling. Paul wrote in Ephesians,
we are God's workmanship. created in Christ Jesus, John
wrote, herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved
us and gave himself for us. That's the first identifying
mark of the gospel of God's grace. It is God's work for us. He saved us, and he called us,
and he redeemed us. Now look at the second mark of
this gospel, this gospel of which Paul says, I'm not ashamed, and
this gospel which he exhorts Timothy to preach. and to teach,
and not to be ashamed of it. And he said this gospel is not
according to our works. Look at it there in verse 9.
He saved us not according to our works. He called us not according
to our works, but according to his purpose and his grace. It is not because of our works
that God saves us, or in return for our works. The scripture
says when we have done everything required of us, we are stale,
unprofitable servants. The scripture says it's not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy, his mercy he hath saved. Our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. They're nothing. They do not
commend us to God. We are saved not according to
our works. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in God's presence. Now what's the third
mark? of this gospel. The first mark is this. It is
a work of God for us. And it's not in return for our
works, nor because of our works, but according to his grace, what's
the third thing? Which was given to us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. This gospel is an eternal gift. It's an eternal gift. Never has
been but one gospel. from before the foundation of
the world, there was one Savior, Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. God decreed before all eternity
to have a people. He wrote, Paul wrote in Ephesians
1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us, he blessed us, with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, according as he
chose us in Christ before the world began. He said, I've drawn
you with an everlasting love. God loved us and chose us and
gave us to Christ before the world began. It's an eternal
gift. That's what it says. He saved
us and he called us, not according to our works, not because of
our works, but according to his purpose and his grace, which
was given to us when? Before the foundation of the
world. which was given us in Christ before the world began."
Now, what's verse 10? 2 Timothy 1.10. It is the gospel
of divine visitation. Look at verse 10. It says there
in verse 10, it is now manifest. This gospel is the work of God
for us. It's not because of our works.
It was given us in Christ before the world began. And it is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. If you look at the Old Testament,
you'll find in the Old Testament many prophecies about the Messiah.
Those prophecies are about Christ. If you look in the Old Testament,
you'll find many sacrifices. There's the turtledoves, and
the lambs, and the sheep, and the goats, and the bullocks,
and all these different sacrifices. These are all pictures of Christ.
You'll find feast days, you'll find a priesthood, you'll find
a tabernacle, you'll find furniture in that tabernacle, you'll find
a brazen serpent, you'll find a smitten rock, you'll find all
of these things in the Old Testament, and every one of them are types
of Christ, and pictures of Christ, and promises of Christ, and prophecies
of Christ. To him give all the prophets
witness. And now he has come into this
world. To fulfill all of these sacrifices and all of these sin
offerings and all of these types, Christ has come, the one to whom
they pointed. He has been manifest in the flesh. He has appeared and he has performed
and perfected all that these things pictured. In the fulness
of time, God sent his Son into the world to redeem those that
were born under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons, the righteousness of God. The word of God was made
flesh and dwelt among us. Now here's the fifth mark of
this gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
it. I boldly and courageously preach it. And if I'm sent to
prison, if I lose my friends, if it costs me my life, I am
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. I'm going to preach this gospel.
And Timothy, I exhort you, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Don't
be ashamed of those that preach it. And Timothy dared to bear
the afflictions and the persecutions for preaching the gospel. And
here's the fifth identifying mark. It is the gospel of a completed
work. It's the gospel of an effectual
work. He says, Christ our Lord hath
appeared and he hath abolished death. He hath destroyed the
power of sin. He hath conquered the great serpent.
He hath conquered sin, and death, and hell. He hath appeared, and
he hath destroyed death, abolished death, and brought life and immortality
to light. When our Lord was on the cross,
he said, It's finished. The work is done. The great transaction
is done. I am my Lord's, and he is mine. He drew me, and I followed on,
charmed to confess his voice divine. He bore my sins in his
body on the tree, and I bear them not. He performed before
the law a perfect righteousness for every believer, and that
is not required of me. God doesn't demand that I bring
a righteousness, but that I receive one. God doesn't demand that
I bring before him a justification, but that I receive one. It's
a finished work. Christ had finished it. After
identifying this gospel, he said, I preach this gospel, and I teach
this gospel, and now in spite of the persecution and the prison
and the forsaking of my friends, I am not ashamed. And here is
our text, verse 12. For I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed to him against that day. The three things I want
you to see here, the definition of saving faith, I think it will
help you. It's helped me. I've looked through the years.
I've been preaching now 29 years, and I've looked through the years
to find what we could call a definition of saving faith. I have people
say, well, what is saving faith? There are all kinds of faith.
There's mental faith, and there's material faith, and miracle faith,
and all these different faiths. James says the devil believes
and trembles. Well, I don't want that kind
of faith. I don't want a presumptuous faith. I want saving faith. I want the kind of faith that
would lead a man in prison, awaiting execution, forsaken by his friends,
determined to know nothing but Christ. I want the kind of faith
that man's got. And he gives us here the definition
of his faith. What Paul knew. Now, here's the
first thing. What Paul knew. He said, I know
whom I have believed. Now here's a key word, W-H-O-M,
I know whom I have believed. He did not say, I know what I
believe. You can get people to talk and
debate and argue about what they believe. Their doctrines and
their laws and their rules and their regulation and their peculiarities
of their particular religious denomination, but Paul doesn't
say, I'm willing to suffer these things, and I'm willing to endure
these things, because I know what I believe." Nelson, he said,
I know whom I have believed. There's a lot of difference.
Paul didn't say, I know when I believed. You can get some
people to tell you about their experience, about all the hope
they have is an experience they had many, many years ago. And
they'll be glad to take you back to the old country church, or
take you back to the place behind the barn or out in the field
when they had an experience, but Paul didn't say, I know when
I have believed. That's not nearly so important
as I know whom I have believed. And then Paul did not say, I
know how much I believe. Paul wasn't boasting about his
piety and his righteousness and his spirituality. He's talking
about a person with whom he was acquainted and with whom he had
been brought into a living, vital union. I know whom I have believed."
The gospel, my friend, is concerning a person. If you take your Bible
and turn to Romans 1, verses 1, 2, and 3, the scripture says
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, called him an apostle separated
to the gospel of God. In verse 2 there is a parenthesis. It says, which he promised before
by the holy prophets in the scriptures, but verse 3 says, concerning
his son. Now the gospel of God is concerning
his son. That's what it's all about. And
Paul said, I know not what I believe, or when I believe, or how much
I believe, but I know whom I have believed. This is what he's saying.
I know him who is very God of very God. You know who Jesus
Christ is? The Bible says God was in Christ. reconciling the
world unto himself. God was in Christ. The scripture
says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us. When the Father spoke of the
Son, he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Unto the Son, he
saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever. And when Paul was speaking
to those elders at Antioch, he exhorted them in this way. He
said, you feed the church of God, which God purchased with
his own blood. Who was that that came from Mary's
womb in Bethlehem? That was God in human flesh.
Who was that walking the dusty streets of Jerusalem and Judea
and the shores of Galilee? That was God in the flesh. Who
is that hanging on Calvary's cross, pouring out his soul unto
death? That's God in the flesh. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed. I know him who is their God of
their God. And I know him who came to save
sinners. He said, I came to seek and to
save the lost. This is a faithful saying. It's
a certain saying. It's worthy of acceptation by
all men, that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners.
I know him who's the friend of sinners. And he says, I know
him who was numbered with the transgressors. I know him who
bared the sin of many. I know him who made his soul
an offering for sin. I know him who died on the cross
for my sins. The sinless was made sinful,
that the sinful might become sinless. He bare our sins in
his body on the tree. I know him. And I know him who
was buried and rose again, and who ascended to the right hand
of the Father where he ever lives. to make intercession for me.
I know him who will come again and receive me into glory. He
said, If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am there ye may be also. He's not a myth. He's not just a historical character.
He's not a doormat named Jesus. He's not a fire escape from hell.
He's a living Lord. He's a living Lord. Do you know
him? Do you know him? Eternal life is to know God and
Jesus Christ, whom he had sent. Saving faith, first of all, is
the knowledge of God. Timothy, not ashamed of this
gospel. For I know whom I have believed. We don't talk that way today,
do we? I know what I believe. Well, I know when I saved Isaiah,
when it happened. But I know how much faith I've
got. I know whom I have believed. It all hinges on him. because of him, it's for his
glory, it's for his sake. He is salvation, he is the Bible,
he is eternal life, he is heaven, he is glory, it's Christ. Then
what's the second mark of saving faith? What Paul was persuaded
of. He said, I know whom I have believed
and I am persuaded that he is able. Now my friends, there are
two requirements of one who would redeem sinners. He must not only
be willing, he must be able. If I could, I'd save my children,
but I'm not able. I'm willing, but I'm not able.
If I could, I'd save your soul, but I would. I'd be willing,
but I'm not able. So the one who saves a sinner
from his sins, who pays the debt of sin and counsels that great,
enormous debt, must be able. Not only willing, but able. And
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded,
I'm confident, he's able. Able to do what, Paul? Well,
he wrote in Hebrews 7.25, wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. Somebody said he's able to save
to the guttermost. Well, that's all right. To the
uttermost extent of sin, to the uttermost extent of failure,
to the uttermost extent of infirmity, to the uttermost extent, he's
able to save. He's the father's choice. He's
the father's anointed. He's the father's elect. He is
the father's sent one. He's the father's Messiah. This
is my son, hear ye him. He's able to save because he,
as God, can satisfy the law, and as God can satisfy justice,
and as man can suffer. He is able to save because he
paid the debt in full. He is able to save because now
he has wounds to plead. By his stripes we're healed.
Paul said, I'm persuaded he's able. Able to do what? Save me. And then secondly, he's able
to do everything he promised to do. Paul wrote in Romans 4.21
about Abraham being fully persuaded that what he had promised he
was able to perform. And Jude said this, he is able
to keep me saved. He is able to keep me saved,
now unto him who is able to keep you from falling. I need that. If one sheep of Christ could
fall away, I'd fall a thousand times a day. How about you? But
he's able to save, and he's able to fulfill every promise, and
he's able to keep us, and to present us faultless before the
throne of glory with exceeding joy and exceeding glory. And
then, watch this. I'm going to die someday, I'm
getting older, and someday I'm going to die and they're going
to bury my body. And my Redeemer is going to have to raise it.
And no one can raise the dead but Jesus Christ. He proved it
at the tomb of Lazarus. He proved it at the widow's son's
coffin there. He proved it there at Jairus'
daughter's place. He is able. He shall change my
vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. for he is able to subdue all
things unto himself. That's Philippians 3.21. He is
able to save to the uttermost. He is able to fulfill all that
he promised. He is able to keep you from falling. He is able to change your vile
body, that it may be just like his risen body, his glorified
because he's able to subdue all things to himself. And what's
this? Paul says, I'm persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me
from the love of God which is in Christ my Lord. You're safe
in Christ. You're not safe in your experience.
You're not safe in the church, you're not safe in your own holiness,
you're safe in Christ. Under the blood of Jesus, under
the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold, under the blood
of Jesus, safe while the ages roll, safe though the worlds
may crumble, safe though the stars grow dim, under the blood
of Jesus, I'm secure, because he's not only able, not only
willing to save me, he's able to save them. All right, now
the third point, and this will close the message, the definition
of saving faith. It's a knowledge of Christ. It
is a trust or a persuasion of his willingness and his ability.
And then last of all, what had Paul done? What Paul knew was
Christ. What Paul was persuaded of, that
Christ was able. Now if Paul tells us something
that he's done intelligently, and willingly and lovingly, he
said, I have committed it unto him against that day. I know
whom I have believed. I am persuaded he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him, sitting there in prison,
chained to a soldier, weak in body, awaiting death, forsaken
by Believed to be crazy by the multitude, ridiculed by the leaders
of religion, Paul confronts the whole world with a holy boldness,
and he says, I've committed it all to Christ against that day. That day is the day of death.
That day is the day of resurrection. That day is the day of judgment.
That day is the day of life and death, eternal life or eternal
death. How will your religion fare in
that day? How will your experience fare
in that day? Everything we believe and everything
we hope and everything we cling to ought to be measured and considered
in the light of death, in the light of judgment, in the light
of God's holy presence. Christ will stand up in those
things. He'll be with you in death. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll
fear no evil, for he is with me. In the judgment he'll be
my advocate, my mediator. I don't want some ecclesiastical
ruler pleading for me. He can't help himself in that
day. I don't want some friendly pastor to pray for me in that
day. I want Christ to plead for me. And Paul had committed his
soul to Christ. I like this hymn. My sins, O
the bliss of that glorious thought, my sins not in part but the whole,
are nailed to the cross, and I bathe in no more. It is well,
it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that
Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and he hath shed his
own blood for my soul. It is well, it is well, it is
well with my soul. because Christ is the Redeemer
of my soul. I've committed it to him. Now,
Paul had committed not only his soul to Christ, but he had committed
his possessions to Christ. His family, his health, his friends,
his ambitions, he committed it all to Christ. Like Job, who
said the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away, blessed be the
name of the Lord. Or like Eli, when Samuel said,
God's going to kill your sons, Eli said, well, it's the Let
him do what he will. It all belongs to him anyway.
I've committed it to him. I've given it to him. Not a part
of it, not even a tenth of it. All of it. It's his. And then
he committed his body to Christ. He said, one of these days, I'm
going to be buried in corruption. The worms will destroy this flesh.
It'll go back to the dust from whence it came. But my Lord's
going to raise it some day. He's going to speak and the graves
will open. And I'm coming forth, not in
corruption, but I'll come forth in incorruption. I'm so, I'm
buried in weakness, I'll be raised in strength. I'm buried in shame,
I'll be raised in glory. I'm buried in weakness, I'll
be raised in power. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but when he
shall appear, we're going to see him and be just like him
in that day, in that day. I've committed it unto him against
that day. If you'd like to have these sermons
that are preached on this television program on cassette tapes, there's
a small charge. We'll be glad to send them to
you. If you'll write to me, the announcer will give you the address
at the close of this program. We'd be happy to mail you a brochure,
a list of the tapes that are available. Until next Lord's
Day at the same time, Henry Mahan bidding you a very pleasant good
day.

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