What is Faith in Jesus Christ? (NCC Q30)

• What is Faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.
• It is not the strength of our faith that saves us; it is the object of our faith that saves us. We do not put our confidence in how strong or smart our faith is, but on what Jesus has done for us by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Recommended Resources

• New City Catechism Commentary: “The only thing I can contribute to my salvation is my own sinful nature. It’s about coming to God with an awareness of our humble need—coming in faith, repenting of my sins, and laying out before God my sense that I need him. That’s the beginning of salvation.”
• There is No Faith So Little That it Is Not Saving (The Gospel Coalition): “There is no faith so little that it can’t be saving. Faith does not have to be strong to be saving, it just has to be real. The smallest faith, if it is real, receives the same strength of Christ in salvation as the strongest faith.”
• What Saving Faith Sees in Christ (DesiringGod): “Saving faith glorifies Christ by looking away from self to Christ alone — to his all-sufficiency, including his blood and righteousness, without which we could have no right standing with God. To which I say, with all my heart, Amen! Let us be willing to die for this. As many have.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Good evening, Redeemer Youth. My name is Mark. If you don't know me, I'm uh one of the leaders here at Redeemer Youth for a while now. And before we get started, I kind of want to ask you all guys a favor um as we split into groups later on tonight that to just pray for Austin and Mel uh for them to just undergo like a very successful and very safe uh labor and delivery. And um they need all the prayers that they need as of right now, uh this season basically. So, with that being said, um throughout the whole semester, we've been going through a series about Christ, redemption, and grace in the gospel. It's the nuts and bolts of how Jesus saves us. And this basically is we're using a tool that um that's been familiar with some of y'all. It's the New City Catechism. A catechism is a tool that helps us understand what we believe by questions and answers. Um you can find this resource online, it's for free. Um, if you have a smartphone, there's also an app that's available for free. Uh you can download that in the App Store or whatever your uh App Store device is. Um if you've missed actually uh um a week uh this past few weeks with Redeemer Youth, we have a Redeemer Youth podcast that you guys can always go back to. And also, if you guys have any questions regarding the lesson for tonight, um Q ⁇ A still happening, and so send your questions to the number here, and we'll try our very best to answer them. And if your question does not get answered tonight, then we'll get back with you later on during the week. So, with that being said, let's talk about what is our destination for tonight. The destination is what is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed, revealed in his word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. It is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of our faith that saves us. We do not put our confidence in how strong or harsh or smart our faith is, but on what Jesus has done for us by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And so, when we talk about faith, basically there's this objection of what faith is. And that is, isn't faith basically just believing really hard without any evidence? Like, why would God want that instead of us using our brains? Now, one of our anchor texts for tonight is John chapter 20, verse 30 to 31. That is page 853 in your black Bibles. So I would ask you guys to just kind of bookmark it for uh for a while, uh, and then we're gonna go over some scriptures regarding what faith really is. So, as you go, as you as you turn to that passage, I kind of want us to turn to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, that says, Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Now, the most straightforward definition of faith uh in the Bible is based on confidence in things hoped for. Now, the question is, do we have good reasons to hope for these things? And that uh and that question is answered by Luke chapter 1, verse 1 to 4, where it says, Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who have who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the world have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most ex most excellent Theophilus. Oh my gosh, hold on, give me just one second, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Now, the gospel writers wrote about the life of Jesus in such a way that we could base our hope on accurate and detailed information about Jesus' life. They tell us about what Jesus is all about, they tell us who Jesus is, what he has done, what he's all about. But it doesn't really tell a whole lot of things about Jesus. And that's what this uh next uh passage is about in John chapter 20 that we're in. John chapter 20, verse 30 to 31. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have you may have life in his name. Now, having an accurate information about uh Jesus' life is actually meant to lead us to believe in him. It is meant for us to know him, it is meant for our confidence in the things we hope for to be well founded, not on blind, wishful thinking. What I mean by that is like the gospels lay the foundation for us of who we believe in as Christians. It tells us what Jesus is all about, why Jesus is here, and who he is as the Son of God. Now, this objection was asked last week as well. If I just believe Jesus existed and did miracles, is that the same as faith in Jesus? Or do I have to feel something special to? Our anchored text for this is in John chapter 11, verse 25 to 26. That's page 844 in your black Bibles. And as you guys turn there, uh we'll go over some passages before we read John chapter 11. So, James chapter 2, verse 19, it says that you believe that God is one. You do well, even the demons believe and shudder. So just believing that Jesus existed or that there was something special about him is not the same thing as having saving faith. Even demons believe these things are true, and they're demons. They believe that Jesus existed. So, what is this saving faith here that we are talking about? We see that what looks like on Romans chapter 10, verse 9 to 13, where it says, Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the one for with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, Every one who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there's no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Now, saving faith is both an internal, heart-level trust that God raised Jesus from the dead for your salvation. And it also it's an external profession that Jesus is Lord and appeal to him for your salvation. It means that saving faith basically is having the heart that you believe about who Jesus is and who he says that he was. And out of that belief comes out of your profession that, yeah, I believe in Christ. I believe in this truth. I believe that Jesus raised him from the dead. That means that you believe with every fiber of your being that what Jesus said about himself is true, that what Jesus said that he will do is true. And so we go back to our anchor text for tonight. It's in John chapter 11, verse 25 to 26, where it says, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? A saving faith in Jesus involves believing things about Jesus that he believed about himself. If Jesus is truly the sinless Son of God, you cannot have a better opinion of him, his life, and his work than what he had. Saving faith involves believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that what Jesus says about himself is true. It is believing that what Jesus says about sin is true. It is about what Jesus says about himself to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is true. It is about believing in those things. Now, another objection to this is that if faith is just resting on Jesus and not about what I do, doesn't that mean Christians can just say they believe and then live however they want? Our anchored text for tonight for that is Romans chapter 6, verse 1 to 4, and that's page 886 in your black Bibles. Yet again, we'll go back to that. So I would say just bookmark it for now, but let's go over some passages. James chapter chapter 2, verse 17 to 18. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Now, scripture is clear that a guaranteed byproduct of saving faith is godly works. Faith that does not result in good works is a dead faith. Hold on, give me just one sec. So say basically saying that if you say that you believe in Christ, if you say that you have faith, and your works does not support that belief, James is saying that that faith and that belief is dead. You're familiar with this next passage. It's in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 to 10, where it says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Now, it is crucial to remember and to know that yes, God saves us by grace through faith, but it's also too important to remember that he saved us explicitly for the reason of us living godly lives that bears good works. God saved you from himself, by himself, for himself. It's in verse 10 where he said that for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Our primary goals as people that live here on earth is to glorify God with every fiber of our being. What Jesus did in saving us is restoring that primary purpose that we are intended to uh to do as people that made that are made in the image of God. Now, we go to our anchor text for tonight, uh for this one specifically, it's in Romans chapter 6, verse 1 to 4, where it says, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. A saving faith in Christ will result in a desire to live like Jesus. If we have placed our faith in Christ, we will want to live a new life that reflects the life we now have in Him. When the Bible talks about that in Christ you have now become the citizens of heaven, that means that your intended purpose right now as Christians is to live for God. Now, there's another objection to this that is very popular in our Christian walk, and that is also familiar uh very popular with me as someone who is walking in Christ, where the objection is my faith doesn't always feel strong. Sometimes I doubt or get scared. If I'm supposed to rest on Jesus alone, what happens when I don't feel very rested or confident? Our anchor text for this is in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 to 2, and that is page 948 in your black Bibles. Like I said earlier, we'll we'll go back to that later on, and we're gonna go over some more passages because it is amazing to me how the Bible knows us, and the Bible knows the reality of our faith and the reality of our condition, that it doesn't excuse and it doesn't really uh shun upon the truth of what we will experience as Christians who go through faith. There's examples of that in the Gospels, which an example in Mark chapter 9, verse 24, uh where it says here, um actually verse 23 to 24, where it says, Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. Now, the context of this passage that is being used is actually pertaining to a kid who has an unclean spirit in him. And the disciples, they tried their very best to cast it out of him. And then Jesus confronted the father of the child and was asking the father with questions, and the father was saying, like, like, Jesus, like this, my this kid of mine, like he's been experiencing this, he's he's experiencing this uh since childhood, ever since he was a kid. Um, and then Jesus um is astonished by this, and even to the fact that the the dad asked him, if you can, can you heal this kid? And Jesus was astonished, like, if I can, well, and that's what our pastor says, like, if with me, every anything is possible. And I can imagine what this father is going through. That he he saw this kid that that that his uh that that is his own, and he doesn't even see what that breakthrough looks like throughout his whole life. And right now, like he's having these doubts. Can actually Jesus heal my child in exchange where he actually said, like, I believe. Help my unbelief. Saving faith does not mean a faith that does not struggle, it does not mean that you don't doubt or ask questions. We emphasize honest answers to honest questions here at Redeemer Youth because it is a necessary aspect of our faith. Now, if you've never prayed, I believe, help my unbelief as a Christian. I'm trying not to scare you here, but one day you will. Because we live in a broken world where you will see some things that you're like, God, this is so difficult to believe in. This is God, this is so difficult to believe in your goodness right now. And that's okay. The Bible here, what was said here in Matthew is like, Jesus is saying that it's gonna happen. It's gonna we're gonna ask these questions. This is why I love the Bible so much because it doesn't shun away from that reality. We actually have another example of this. It's in Matthew chapter 14, verse 28 to 31. And this is one of my favorite passages, one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Uh, if you're not familiar with Peter walking on water during the storm, this is what it is. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? As Christians, as someone who will walk this walk of life with Jesus, you will have the same instance the way that Peter did. You will be looking to Jesus, you'll be walking towards Jesus. But very much like Peter, who saw the wind, who saw the great waves, you will see some stuff in your life where you're like, it's gonna bother you. It might take your gaze away from Christ for a momentary. But here is what I want you to look at and to focus on in this passage. In spite of Peter's inadequacy, in spite of him doubting Christ, in spite of him sinking down and him crying out to the Lord, Jesus grabbed him and saved him. Not it's not because Peter has some sort of like a very charismatic way of pleading to God. That is not it. It's because of the character of Jesus. It is about who Jesus is and what he does for you. The fact that Peter's faith was weak didn't stop Jesus from rescuing him. And my encouragement for you is that you'll experience the same thing. Jesus is not surprised by Peter's by Peter's uh incident that he's sinking on water, he's not surprised by it. Just as Jesus is not surprised by your doubts and by your questions in the future. So, going back to our anchored text that I said that you guys turn to, it's in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 to 2. It says here, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. And I want you to remember this too, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus is the founder and the perfecter of our faith. It is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of our faith. It does not matter if you have little faith, small faith, weak faith, the fact that you have faith in Christ is enough. There's an analogy that is very close to this, where um I was told that if you are to board on a plane, it doesn't matter if you're scared of the plane crashing or not. The fact that you get on that plane, the plane boards and it flies and it lands. It doesn't matter. If you're scared or you don't trust the pilot or whatsoever. What matters is you got on board in the plane because you trusted the pilot. I was like, man, I'm gonna trust the pilot that the pilot is gonna fly this plane, it's gonna land safely. It's the same thing with Christ. Believing, having faith in Christ is not about how much do you believe in him. It's about who you believe in. Because Christ being the object and the perfecter of our faith is enough for us. Believing that Christ will carry you through and through in your entire life is enough. And so he's not surprised by your questions, by your doubts, or whatsoever. Because it is not you who who you it is not you that are carrying yourself in this walk of faith. It is Christ who is carrying you. So our destination from tonight: what is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his word, trusting in him and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. It is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of our faith that saves us. We do not put our confidence in how strong or smart our faith is, but what on Jesus has done for us by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.