“But I Don’t Have Enough Faith”
I often hear people say, “I am
afraid I don’t know if I have enough faith.” How
much faith do you need in order to be saved?
The Bible does not teach that
you are justified because of your faith. Faith is
not works.
Faith is nothing more than the
instrument to receive our salvation. Nowhere in
Scripture will you find that we are justified on
account of our faith. The Scripture says that we are
justified by faith or through faith. Faith is
nothing but the channel by which this righteousness
of God in Christ becomes ours. It is not our faith
that saves us.
What saves us is the Lord Jesus
Christ and His perfect saving work. It is the death
of Christ upon Calvary’s Cross that saves us. It is
God putting Christ’s righteousness to our account
that saves. Faith is only the channel and the
instrument by which His righteousness becomes mine
(2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:24). The righteousness that
saves is entirely Christ’s. My
faith is not my righteousness and I must never
define or think of faith as righteousness. Faith is
nothing but that which connects us to the Lord Jesus
Christ and His righteousness.
The whole emphasis on salvation
by faith is clearly on the object of our faith:
Jesus Christ. Jesus saves! Faith does not save us.
Jesus alone does that.
If we are saved at all it must
be through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of
Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
Spurgeon once said, “It does
not take a strong faith to save you, just faith. The
weakness of your faith will not destroy you. A
trembling hand may receive a golden gift.”
The object of our faith is the
all-important thing (Acts 16:31). Our faith must be
focused on Christ Jesus and His saving work on the
cross. He died as our
substitute. We must trust in Christ to save us.
The righteousness that God has
graciously provided becomes ours through simple
faith. Ponder over Romans 3:22, 24-25, 26, 28, 30
and observe the emphasis the apostle Paul is making
in these verses. Faith will not earn your salvation.
If it did then faith would be works and God would
owe you something. Faith is essential because only
those individuals who put their trust in Christ will
be saved.
The apostle Paul wrote, “The
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for all those who believe” (v. 22). Sinners are
“justified as a gift by His grace through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God
displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood
through faith” (vv. 24-25a). God did it this way as
a demonstration “that He might be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (v.
26). You cannot boast if you are saved by grace
through faith in Christ, “For we maintain that a man
is justified by faith apart from the works of the
Law” (v. 28). Moreover, “He will justify the
circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised through
faith” (v. 30).
If you have never done so, will
you believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved today?
“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.
5:1).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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