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The Gospel of John, chapter 1, 
beginning in verse 1. In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the 
beginning with God. All things were made through 
Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him 
was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines 
in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There 
was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came 
for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through 
him might believe. He was not that light, but was 
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light 
which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was 
in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world 
did not know him. He came to his own, and his own 
did not receive him. But as many as received him, 
to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those 
who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Amen. So what we have here in 
the beginning verses of the Gospel of John really is an introduction 
to Jesus Christ. And it comes in a very powerful 
way, and in a different way than the other three Gospels that 
preceded it. In the other three Gospels, we 
have usually a more pointed introduction in the sense that it's in clear 
narrative language. We have, for example, the Gospel 
of Matthew, where it begins with the genealogy, or an introduction, 
first off, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then it identifies 
Jesus Christ as the son of Abraham, the son of David, and goes through 
a genealogical ancestry leading to Jesus Christ, that sort of 
thing. Here in the Gospel of John, we have the author going 
back to creation and speaking to the fact that Jesus, the word, 
the one whom this gospel account is about, was God. In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We have then the account progressing. Well, first off, it identifies 
Jesus Christ as the one in whom is life and light. And it introduces 
John the Baptist. There was a man sent from God 
whose name was John. The man this man came for a witness 
to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe 
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
light Then we have the fact of Christ's involvement in creation 
set forth in verse 10 He was in the world and the world was 
made through him and the world did not know him now This is 
a reiteration of course of what? has already been said in verse 
2 and 3. But as the account progresses, 
it gets to the subject matter of which we're going to cover 
tonight, at least some of which we're going to cover tonight, 
beginning at verse 12. But as many as received Him, 
to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those 
who believe in His name. who were born not of blood, nor 
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
These two verses contain what the Bible is all about. It's 
about Jesus, those who believe in His name, the name of Jesus 
Christ, And it discloses something of divine grace and the exclusivity 
of it to the exclusion of man's power and man's sovereignty and 
man's autonomy in the salvation of sinners. So we have Jesus 
set forth, we have divine grace set forth, and we have the fact 
that those who have a right to eternal life are those who believe 
in his name. The subject of tonight's study 
will be believing. A number of Sundays ago, it was 
recommended to me to do a larger study on the doctrine of saving 
faith. What is saving faith? And so 
I'm not going to be doing all of the content tonight, but perhaps 
span it over a number of studies, the next of which might be in 
2014, we don't know. But tonight, we're going to start the study 
on what is saving faith. Saving faith, and more specifically, 
a definition of what saving faith is, and an elaboration upon what 
the Bible says concerning it, is very important. If we take 
the central tenet, or at least one of the central tenets, of 
the Protestant Reformation, justification by faith alone, We see there 
or in a study of that doctrine and of that primary tenet of 
Protestant Christianity, a lot of importance is always put on 
justification, and rightfully so. How is a sinner justified? That is, how is a sinner declared 
righteous before a holy God? What is justification is a very 
important question, but it should be the case that what is faith 
is an important question as well, because We have the biblical 
witness, for example, in Romans 5.1, therefore being justified 
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It's important to know what justification means and it's important to know 
what faith means since we are justified by or through faith. So it is an important subject 
to be sure. It's important because the Bible 
speaks a lot of faith and believing. It's important also because there 
is a lot of confusion, first off, in the secular arena. You see, Christians are often 
mocked and ridiculed because we have faith and we believe. And this whole idea of faith 
is sort of set off to the side and lower than knowledge or reason 
or rationality. The Bible, though, at all points 
holds faith and belief equal to and on the same level with 
reason, rationality, intelligence, and knowledge. And so we're going 
to talk about that. Another thing, another reason 
why this is so important because there are a lot of fuzzy and 
weird and poetic and romantic definitions of what faith is. 
Like anything else, we cannot allow unbiblical conceptions 
or flowery rhetoric or, you know, poetic or romantic statements 
about faith dictate or color our understanding of what faith 
is. Here are some of those before we get into the meat of the study. 
Some quotes on what faith is. And I'll just say right now, 
all of these are bad. Just in case you're wondering, 
oh, well, these aren't good quotes about what faith. But some people 
might say, even Christians, hey, that sounds great. Faith is taking 
the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. 
Martin Luther King Jr. Faith is a knowledge within the 
heart beyond the reach of proof. Kahlil Gibran, whoever that is. 
Anybody know? I don't. This is the worst one, 
of course, a negative one. Faith. Not wanting to know what 
is true. Friedrich Nietzsche, of course. 
Faith is a passionate intuition. William Wordsworth. Faith means 
belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically 
possible. William James. Faith is believing 
in something when common sense tells you not to. from Miracle 
on 34th Street, Santa Claus. Faith is believing when it is 
beyond the power of reason to believe, Voltaire. Faith is the 
strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light, 
Helen Keller. Now, we don't wanna put down 
Helen Keller, but this is an example of flowery, poetic, romantic 
words that people might splash on their Facebook page. doesn't 
help us at all to understand anything. Faith is the strength 
by which a shattered world can emerge into the light. Faith 
is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. 
Rabindranath Tagore. And the only reason I bring these 
up, now you see people can get poetic and they can get romantic 
and they can, you know, feel warm about faith. But to define 
faith in certain ways and to describe faith in certain ways 
can not be very beneficial, especially when we're commanded, biblically 
speaking, to defend the faith which was once for all delivered 
to the saints, to be clear in our understanding, to grow in 
the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We're going 
to do three things tonight. We're going to briefly do away 
with some bad general definitions of faith, not the Christian definitions of 
faith yet. We'll get to those next time. But we're going to 
briefly do away with some bad definitions. Second, we're going 
to narrow the scope of the faith that we're talking about. And 
then thirdly, we're going to look at some important undergirding 
principles, and we're going to go to our Bibles as we do this, 
because that's the only place we should go. First off, briefly 
doing away with bad general definitions. At large, what are some of the 
definitions of faith that are put out there? Trust without 
evidence is one of them. Trust without evidence. You see, 
people will say, you know, you have faith, but you're just trusting 
in something where there is no evidence. Well, the Bible disagrees. 
And the Bible disagrees in many places. But let's look at two 
of them. First, Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 
1. And these two places are both 
in Lucan books. Lucan means of or pertaining 
to Luke. So both of these are in Luke's 
books. First off Luke and then the book 
of Acts. Okay, but Luke chapter one, verse one. Notice the language 
here as we consider faith and belief in the Christian worldview. In as much as many have taken 
in hand, to set in order a narrative of those things which have been 
fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses 
and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to 
me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, 
to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that 
you may know the certainty of those things in which you were 
instructed. So you see, Luke would certainly 
disagree that faith is trust without evidence. Exactly the 
opposite. Faith is trust in certain things, 
in things that are infallible. In the christian world you notice 
the language here things that have been fulfilled among us 
Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers 
of the word Luke has perfect understanding of all things he 
is writing so that theophilus and by virtue us may know The 
certainty of those things in which he was and we are instructed. So Luke, contrary to the secular 
opponents of faith, says no, faith is a most certain thing. It is not trust without evidence. Acts chapter 1 verse 1. Acts chapter 1, verse 1, the 
former account, which was the gospel of Luke, I made, O Theophilus, 
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day 
in which he was taken up after he, through the Holy Spirit, 
had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, 
to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by 
many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and 
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So you 
see, Luke is writing his gospel and he is disclosing a narrative 
concerning infallible proofs. That is, truths, facts, things 
that certainly happened and such that are infallible, that is 
impossible to fail. In other words, Jesus presented 
himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs. That 
means that Jesus clearly disclosed himself and the reality of his 
crucifixion and victorious resurrection such to the point that any contestation 
is invalid because the proof is infallible. And so Luke gives 
an orderly account in this book of the ongoing ministry of the 
now risen and exalted Christ building his church throughout 
history. So we have trust without evidence, 
most certainly not, Luke 1, 1-4, Acts 1, 1-3, and of course the 
Bible as a whole saying much to the contrary, faith is not 
that. another bad definition, trusting 
in something in the face of evidence to the contrary. So if a bad 
definition is trust without evidence, at least there, that definition 
is saying, well, there may be evidence and, you know, you may 
be trusting in something that is true, but there's just no 
evidence. This one is saying trusting in 
something in the face of evidence to the contrary. In other words, 
the dichotomy that is the in a false dichotomy that is setting 
two things in opposition. The false dichotomy that is often 
argued is faith versus reason. You have faith and I have reason, 
or faith versus science, which is a false dichotomy. And we'll 
elaborate on this, but trusting in something in the face of evidence 
to the contrary is not biblical faith. Acts 20, or not, sorry, 
not Acts 20, John 20, John 20 and verse 31. I mean, in fact, we piggyback on 
the other verses that we already read, we have the reality that 
Luke has already set forth the fact that the things that have 
happened with regards to Jesus Christ and everything that he 
is writing with regards to Jesus in the gospel is true. Infallible proves, certainty, 
understanding of all things. So we already have that reality. 
But notice what the things are, things that are written in the 
Bible are written for a specific purpose to declare truths and 
to declare things that are incontrovertible. Verse 30 actually backing up, 
and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His 
disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written 
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and that believing you may have life in His name. In addition 
to this text, which we have just the clear reality of really what 
the Bible is given for. The Bible is written that you 
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that 
believing you may have life in his name. The disclosure of God's 
will and knowledge in the Bible, special revelation in the scriptures, 
is unto that particular end for his people. These things are 
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Turn to the book of Acts for 
a moment, because here we have a text that speaks, that doesn't 
set faith and reason in opposition, but rather argues for the fact 
that Christianity, in Christianity we have exclusive rights to proper 
reason and truth. Remember, Paul is brought before 
Festus, and he's rendering an apologetic for Christianity before 
Agrippa, but here we have Festus that he's speaking before. And 
in verse 24 of Acts 26, we read this. Now, as he thus made his 
defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you 
mad. You're unreasonable. You're irrational, 
Paul. But he said, I am not mad, most 
noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. So you see, we don't have, you 
know, science and reason and the brilliance of secular knowledge 
on this side. the madness of Christian faith 
on this side just willy-nilly believing in pie-in-the-sky religiosity. No, we have clear testimony that 
the Christian religion, the Christian truth, the declaration of salvation 
by Jesus Christ and the veracity that is the certain truthfulness 
of his death and resurrection for sinners, it is declared as 
truth and reason. I am not mad, most noble Festus, 
but speak the words of truth and reason. And in the context, 
Paul is recounting his conversion. He's recounting who he was, what 
happened to him, what happened after his conversion. He's giving 
a defense in the context of the gospel. For example, verse 23, 
that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to 
rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish 
people and to the Gentiles. Festus says that's madness. that 
a hero would suffer to be victorious, that one who died can rise again 
from the dead, and that he would, this risen one, proclaim light 
to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. That's mad, Paul. And 
Paul says, no, this is the manifestation of and the clear disclosure of 
both truth and reason. Christianity is not an unreasonable 
religion. It sets forth truth. and reason. Another definition, a third bad 
definition, believing strongly that something will occur even 
though the possibility exists that it will not occur. I'll 
read that again. Believing strongly that something 
will occur even though the possibility exists that it will not occur. An example of this might be Well, I've used this before with 
a different word, hope, but we'll use the same analogy with the 
word faith. You're a Canucks fan. You've seen the Canucks play. 
They're winning games. They're playing great. They win 
the President's Trophy. I have faith that the Canucks 
will win the first round of the NHL playoffs. Well, we all know 
what happened there. A lot of people had faith. belief 
strongly that something would occur, knowing that, yeah, the 
possibility exists that they might not, but they had this 
strong belief. And of course. It turned out 
that, you know, the object of their faith was a failure. Well, 
in Christianity, we don't have that reality. We don't believe 
strongly in something that, you know, has been disclosed to us 
while the possibility exists that it, you know, it could not 
be true. You know, there's a lot of evidence. There's, you know, 
the scale is tipped with a lot of evidence with regards to God 
and Jesus and that sort of thing, but there's a possibility that 
it might not be true. We've already read from Luke 
1 and Acts 1 where Luke isn't purporting or Luke isn't arguing 
for the almost truthfulness of his account. He's not arguing 
for the maybe-ness or the perhaps-ness, those aren't real words, but 
he's not arguing for the maybe-ness or the perhaps-ness of the account 
of Jesus Christ and salvation by him. He's arguing for the 
certainty of these things that have occurred among us, and he's 
disclosing them to his audience. We have that declaration of excuse 
me, Paul to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 3 16. What does he say? All scripture 
is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
teaching, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of 
God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work that the 
man of God actually may be complete. That is perfect for every good 
work. So in the scriptures we have 
God breathed revelation. We have Not in the scriptures, 
but the scriptures are. You see, that's a careful distinction 
that we have to make. A lot of heretics will say that 
in the Bible, there is God-breathed truth. No, the Bible is God-breathed 
truth. The entirety of it is inspired, 
infallible, and inerrant. But suffice it to say, we don't 
believe strongly that something will occur even though the possibility 
exists that it might not. But rather we have belief in 
the certainty of things that have occurred and in the certainty 
of truths declared by God. Two more before we move on. Something, 
this is the fourth bad definition. I'm sure there's 38,000 others. 
we don't have until 2017. Something greater than opinion 
but less than knowledge. Something greater than opinion 
but less than knowledge. That's a definition that some 
people will give to faith. You see, you know, faith isn't 
as, you know, bad as or as unstable as opinion. You know, I can tell 
my daughter, you know, my opinion that I like broccoli. She's got 
a different opinion. See, faith is a little bit stronger 
than that. It's not quite knowledge, but you see, it's not as fallible 
and as unwavering and as subjective as opinion, some might say. Well, 
that's a bad definition. To say faith is a little stronger 
than opinion or greater than opinion but less than knowledge 
is to say, then, that we can have faith in things that cannot 
be truly known and that are not certain fact. Contrary to this, 
John Gill, for example, and hopefully every Christian ever, argues 
that faith is the same as knowledge. Now, when we take a word, like 
knowledge, it sometimes can hold different meanings. If you look 
at any noun in the dictionary, you're going to see, you know, 
four different meanings at least sometimes. With the exception 
of some scientific terms, most nouns have multiple meanings 
to them. Satisfaction or, you know, satisfactory, 
for example, which isn't a noun, but let's just use it as an example. 
Satisfactory can mean Not, you know, not bad, but not really 
good. If you remember a report card, 
you know, satisfactory. I never liked getting satisfactory 
because it, you know, it wasn't good or excellent. It was just 
satisfactory. Well, satisfactory can also mean 
to completion or perfect. For example, Christ satisfied 
the demands of the law. Well, that doesn't mean that 
Christ, you know, sort of did enough to be kind of good, but 
not excellent. No, it means that Christ performed 
all that was necessary. So satisfactory, all that is 
necessary. Sometimes, and a lot of the time, 
that is perfection. But suffice it to say, words 
can have a lot of different meanings. But, biblically speaking, when 
we talk about knowledge and faith, they are the same thing. For 
example, 1 Timothy 2.4. 1 Timothy 2.4. And I'll read a Gill quote after 
I read this text from the Bible. 1 Timothy 2.4. You may recognize this text. 
So we'll back up and read the context so that we can properly 
understand that Paul means here that God wills that all types 
of men will be saved from every tribe and tongue and people and 
nation, from every demographical station, not all men without 
exception, otherwise everybody ever would be in heaven. 1 Timothy 
2, beginning at verse 1, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, 
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 
for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a 
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For 
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 
who desires all men to be saved." And note, to come to the knowledge 
of the truth. To come to the knowledge of the 
truth. Gil, John Gil on this particular 
text. with regards to knowledge, which 
is but another phrase for faith in Christ. For faith is a spiritual 
knowledge of Christ. It is that grace by which a soul 
beholds his glory and fullness, approves of him, trusts in him. 
So again, with regards to the word knowledge used in this context, 
and if we can define it, knowing something. Wasn't that marvelous? 
Wasn't that... didn't I dazzle you there? Knowing something. 
You see, remember what the definition is that we're dealing with. Something 
greater than opinion, but less than knowledge. That is, less 
than knowing something. The Bible disagrees. Paul says 
to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is what God desires 
for not just the Jew, but also the Gentile. For not just the 
woman, but also the man. For not just the bond, but also 
the free. That Many would come to the knowledge 
of the truth. Ephesians 4.13. Ephesians 4.13, 
we have the same language. In Ephesians 4.13, we read this, but we're not going to read it 
yet because we're going to start at verse 11. Speaking of Jesus, and he 
himself gave some to the apostles some prophets, some evangelists, 
and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, 
for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge 
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, etc. That's the text, actually, 
where Gil says, knowledge there is but another phrase for faith 
in Christ. So, faith equals knowledge. It is not less than knowledge, 
it's not greater than opinion, because faith is believing in 
the propositions or the truths of Holy Scripture. If you do 
not believe that I am, Jesus said, you will die in your sins. 
Well, I'm even better than that, Jesus, because I know that you 
are. No, it's the same thing as believe. If you do not believe 
that I am, you will die in your sins. Don't believe anyone who 
says knowledge is greater than faith. They are the same thing. And lastly, and sort of a summary 
of some other bad definitions of faith, and more religiously 
speaking, faith is an encounter with a divine person. Faith is 
trust in a person, not belief in a creed. Well, maybe let's 
back up to faith. Well, actually, we're going to 
get to that in a bit. Faith is an encounter with a divine person. 
No, it's not. Faith is believing. Faith is 
believing in truths that scriptures declare and that Jesus commands 
that we are to believe lest we perish. So faith is not an encounter 
with a divine person. Some people say faith is trust 
in a person, not belief in a creed. It's another one of those things 
that are called false dichotomies. You either trust in a person 
or you believe in a creed. How can we trust in a person 
if we do not believe things regarding that person? For example, oh, 
I believe in Jesus. I just trust in Jesus, but I 
don't believe in anything about him. That doesn't make any sense. You see what I'm saying? Trust 
in a person recognizes or assumes that there are certain things 
about that person that need to be believed in order to trust, 
which is the same as belief. For example, if we're to say, 
I trust in Jesus, we ask a necessary question, which Jesus? The Jesus 
of the heretic that says he was a created angel or the Jesus 
of the Bible that says he is verily God, he is deity. Is it the Jesus who came into 
this world but was not born of a virgin? Is it the Jesus that 
did not actually come in a true and divine incarnation that you're 
trusting in? Well, no. Well then, you're not 
trusting in a person unless you mean you're believing in a creed, 
you're believing things about that particular person. A person 
is a collection of propositions. For example, when we say believe 
in Jesus Christ, we need to mean something. There needs to be 
a collection of data that defines who Jesus is. He is God. He is 
the second of the triune God. He came into this world born 
of a virgin, born under the law that he might redeem those who 
are under the law. perfectly fulfilled the law of 
his father. He was crucified upon Calvary's 
tree. He rose again the third day in 
great power and glory. He ascended to the right hand 
of the majesty on high." So to trust in a person isn't different 
than to believe in a creed. It's the same thing worded differently, 
and they shouldn't be opposed to each other. It will get to 
it in one of our future studies, but a lot of people say, you 
know, I don't believe I don't believe that Jesus did so. And so I believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. They said believing on is better 
than believing in and believing that. is just intellectual, but 
it's just madness what some people will say, and it just confuses 
things. The Bible presents the simplicity of belief. If you 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. What does 
that mean? The propositions, the truths 
that the Bible says concerning Jesus, he brings them up. If 
you do not believe that I am, that is that I am God, you will 
die in your sins. And others that we'll touch on 
later, there are truths revealed that are the objective content 
of our believing. Faith is more than just belief, 
which is a silly statement. Faith is belief. And we'll get 
to this again in another session, but the same word translated 
belief in our Bibles is used when it's translated as faith. 
So you can't say faith is better than belief or else you've got 
a problem, because every time that you see the word faith, 
that same word is translated belief elsewhere. What's the 
most famous Christian verse ever? If you could pick one, what's 
the most famous recognizable Christian Bible verse in the 
history of Bible verses? John 3.16. That's right. John 
3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
son that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have 
everlasting life. No, Jesus, don't you know that 
faith is more than just belief? So why would you say such a thing? 
Jesus knows believing is having faith. Faith is believing. So 
to say faith is more than just belief is silly nonsense and 
doesn't help anyone. Belief is not enough. One must 
commit, surrender, trust, encounter, relate, or emote. Believe it 
or not, people say that. Belief is enough, though. That's 
what Jesus says, right? For God so loved the world. that 
whoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting 
life. So we think of other examples. Let's see, the Philippian jailer, 
Acts 16. Remember what happened there. 
And Paul and Silas, if these guys had their way, Paul and 
Silas didn't go far enough. Remember what's going on. The 
Philippian jailer had had, you know, basically everybody was 
in jail. The Apostle Paul and Silas were 
in prison. The earthquake comes and, you 
know, basically all of the prison doors are, you know, opened and 
the prisoners can escape. The Philippian jailer is beside 
himself and in, you know, Roman honors, about to impale himself 
on his own sword. So what's going on? He thinks 
he's a failure to the Roman Empire and all the prisoners are going 
to escape, so I'm going to kill myself so I can have honor as 
a retired Roman, you know, soldier. Well, luckily, not luckily, providentially 
and by God's grace and mercy, Paul announces that everyone 
in the prison is still there. And then the Philippian Jailer 
asks that question, what must I do to be saved? And the answer 
that they give them is, well, Philippian Jailer, belief isn't 
enough. You must commit, surrender, trust, 
encounter, relate, and emote before you can enter the kingdom 
of God. No. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and you shall be saved. You see, we add too much to faith 
when we try and elaborate and say, no, you see, Philippian 
jailer, you didn't quite make it because commitment, surrendering, 
trusting, encountering, relating, and emoting are necessary. No, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. And what 
does that mean again, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but 
to believe biblical truths concerning Jesus? Okay, moving on then to 
narrowing the scope. And at the end, you can ask questions 
and I can hopefully clarify. Isn't that kind of ironic? I 
was trying to say clarify, but instead I say clarify, which 
is confusing. I clarify, trying to reduce confusion, 
but I say the wrong word. Okay, anyway. At the end, I'll 
clarify certain things, and you can ask questions, and we can 
hopefully elaborate on what we've covered. Narrowing the scope 
now, there are two types of faith in the Bible. And what I mean 
by that is two types of faith. There are subsets of one of these, 
unbelief and belief. But there are two types of faith 
in the Bible. The first is the faith that is 
objective. The faith that is objective. 
What does objective mean? Does anybody want to give me 
a quick answer? Because we're recording this right now and 
big pauses aren't good. Objective. What does objective 
mean? Okay, fine. Objective means a fact or truth 
known. A fact or truth known or existing 
independent of the one knowing. The faith that is objective we 
have, for example, in Jude 3. And when I say Jude 3, I don't 
mean Jude chapter 3 because there's only one chapter in Jude. I mean 
Jude verse 3. Jude verse 3. Beloved, while I was very diligent 
to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it 
necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for 
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
There we have the objective faith. When we see that, it is very 
often translated, the faith. So here it's not referring to 
the act of believing, but it's referring to the objective content 
of Christian truths, or what Gordon Clark says, the faith 
is the propositions revealed by God in Scripture. The truths, 
the facts, the indicatives, the truths revealed in Holy Scripture, 
that's what the faith means. So Jude wants his recipients 
to defend that. God has revealed certain truths 
in the Holy Scripture that are unto the end of his glorification, 
and are unto the end of honoring Christ, and are unto the end 
of being believed on by his saints. So those truths, that body of 
doctrine, we could say, is to be defended with apologetic vigor. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 
chapter 1 not Philippines but Philippians Chapter 1 there in 
verse 27 We have Paul exhorting the Philippian 
church to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel 
of Christ So that whether he comes to see them or he's absent 
that he may hear that they're standing fast in one spirit and 
with one mind, notice at the end of verse 27, striving together 
for the faith of the gospel. So in Jude 3 and in Philippians 
127, we have the first type of faith. It is the object of content 
which is to be believed. The truths of Holy Scripture, 
the truths concerning who God is, who man is, who the Savior 
of men is, what salvation is, and those sorts of things. The 
faith means the object of content of Christianity or as Gordon 
Clark says the propositions that is true statements revealed by 
God in Scripture actually Why did I put Gary Crampton? Oh, 
I deleted his quote, which is too bad. Ah, no, this is what 
I did. I Gordon Clark said the doctrinal 
content of Christianity, that's this faith that is objective 
when we see the faith of the gospel, the doctrinal content 
of Christianity, that's Gordon Clark. Gary Crampton said the 
faith, as here, is the propositions revealed by God in scripture. 
One other place before we move on, 1 Timothy 1.19. 1 Timothy 
1.19, here it's a negative statement. that is referring to unbelief 
or apostasy, which is defection from the faith. 1 Timothy 1.19, 
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, this is 18, just 
backing up for context, according to the prophecies previously 
made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 
having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected concerning 
the faith, have suffered shipwreck." So there it's concerning the 
faith again in that objective type, the content of Christianity, 
the doctrinal content of our belief system. So if that is 
the first type of faith, then the second type of faith is the 
one we're studying and working through. The faith which is subjective. The faith which is subjective, 
that is existing in the mind, knowing as distinct from the 
thing known. That should be very clear. Knowing is the believing. So that subjective faith, knowing, 
as distinguished from the thing known. The thing known is the 
objective, the faith of the gospel, and the knowing is the faith 
that we're concerned with. Faith, or believing, or trusting, 
is, in its subjective sense, knowing, as distinct from the 
thing known. And where do we see this? Everywhere 
in the Bible. a couple places in the book of 
Romans and then we move on. A couple places in the book of 
Romans where here we see faith in its subjective meaning, in 
its subjective disclosure in the scriptures, Romans chapter 
1 and then Romans chapter 10. But first, in Romans 1, We find 
this at verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel 
of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone 
who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in 
it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall 
live by faith. There we have its subjective 
use. The just shall live by faith. by the act of believing, by that 
divine gift whereby we are enabled to know, to understand and to 
know the truths of Holy Scripture. Romans 10, Romans 10 and verse 
17. So then, faith comes by hearing 
and hearing by the word of God. There again, faith in its subjective 
sense. So then, faith comes by hearing 
and hearing by the word of God, a verse that we're going to return 
to in a little bit as we now move to the third aspect of the 
study, which is important undergirding principles. What does undergirding 
mean? Something that girds underneath, right? Undergirding means foundational, 
so important foundational principles with regards to faith in its 
subjective sense. Important undergirding principles 
with regards to faith, saving faith, or believing. First off, 
you must be born again. This is the first undergirding 
or foundational principle. You must be born again. there 
must be a divine supernatural change before one can believe. John chapter 3. John, the gospel 
of John has been called a super intellectual book. And don't 
let that scare you off. A super intellectual book. Why? Because throughout the Gospel 
of John, we have the primacy of truth and knowledge and words. In fact, in just in the first 
sentence, we have the word Logos used three times translated word. The word logos doesn't strictly 
mean word. It can carry the sense of an 
expression of reason or an expression of rationality. For example, 
it can be a word. It can be a saying. It can be 
a mathematical formula written down on paper. Logos or logon 
or variations of the word it means an expression of reason. And so the Gospel of John has 
rightfully been called a super intellectual book because it 
argues for, quite clearly, knowledge, reason, rationality as being 
manifest in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. It's not 
madness, it's not confusion, it's not an irrational disclosure 
of God's plan to save sinners by Jesus, but rather it is a 
clear, a wise, a reasonable, a rational disclosure of God's 
divine plan to save sinners by the perfect saving work of Jesus 
Christ. After that point, on the Gospel 
of John or in the Gospel of John, in John chapter 3, we have that 
language of our first undergirding principle, you must be born again. 
John chapter 3 at verse 3. Well, backing up to verse 1 because 
context is king. There was a man of the Pharisees 
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus 
by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher 
come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless 
God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, 
most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. And so Nicodemus answers with 
ridiculousness, Nicodemus said to him, verse four, how can a 
man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into 
his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answers him by elaborating 
a little bit, but by stressing the same point. Jesus answered, 
most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and 
the spirit, He cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is 
born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is 
spirit. Do not marvel that I said to 
you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, 
and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes 
from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of 
the Spirit." So, the point is, Jesus repeats three times this 
statement. Assuredly, I say to you, unless 
one is born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God. This 
is summed up in the statement, there must be a divine supernatural 
change before one can believe. What word in this statement by 
Jesus means believing? Assuredly, I say to you, unless 
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. See, 
exactly. Jesus isn't, as some might suppose, 
saying that one must be born again before they can enter and 
have an eyewitness account of heaven as they enter into glory. 
Jesus is not using see in the sense of using our ocular organs 
connected to our brain in order to behold things visually. Jesus 
is using the word to mean understand, know, believe savingly, have 
faith savingly. We use this idiomatically in 
English, don't we, that sort of thing. If you were to say 
to me, if you were to give me some sort of explanation of something, 
and I said, I don't understand, could you please elaborate? And 
you elaborate to the point where it's just fantastic, and I say, 
oh, I see. It's a way, it's a synonym for 
understand. It means that the scales of you 
know, imperception have been removed so that I can now see 
or behold a certain truth. Again, not with eyes, but with 
the mind. So something needs to happen 
before a sinner can understand, believe, know, have faith. He must be born again. That language 
is used by the Apostle Paul, but it's used a little bit differently. 
He calls it being made alive in Christ Jesus. You were dead 
in your trespasses and sins, he says in Ephesians 2. Walking 
according to the course of the world, according to the prince 
of the power of the air. They were children of wrath, 
just as the others. But God, in his eternal loving 
kindness and mercy, even though you were dead in trespasses and 
sins, made you alive in Christ Jesus. By grace you have been 
saved. That's the same, that's just a synonym for being born 
again. So the first undergirding principle 
is you must be born again. There must be a supernatural 
change wrought by amazing grace. And that's what John Newton was 
writing about when he wrote, Amazing Grace, how sweet the 
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now 
I'm found, was blind, but now I what? See. He's writing about 
being born again by divine grace. God's grace comes. It's amazing 
and victorious and strong. It reaches the worst of sinners 
and it causes them to see. No longer are they blind, but 
they can see. That is, understand the things 
of the kingdom of God and salvation by Jesus Christ. The second undergirding 
principle is the truth. will make you free. What do we 
mean by that? Faith or belief has, as its instrumental 
cause and as the target of its activity, truth. The truth will 
make you free. Not experience, not a warm burning 
in your bosom, not, you know, some emotive effect of a music 
song or a a mime, you know, up on a stage. What is it that faith 
rests on? What is it that is the instrumental 
cause and the target of faith? It is truth. John 3, excuse me, 
John 8, 32. We're in the Gospel of John a 
lot because there's a lot of faith and believing and knowledge 
and truth in the Gospel of John. It is everywhere in the Bible. 
Hopefully, you know, you know that I believe all 66 books are 
inspired, but we're just going to spend a lot of time in John, 
because, again, there's a lot of this in it. John 8, beginning 
at verse 31, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, 
If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, and 
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Never, never, never, ever, minimize the importance of truth. Jesus Christ identifies himself 
in that threefold self-identification as the truth. Remember? John 
14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to 
the Father but by me. But the importance of truth, 
that is the importance of incontrovertible fact disclosed in the Bible by 
God, not disclosed by the scientists who say that we, you know, developed 
from primordial sludge billions of years ago. That isn't incontrovertible 
fact. That's mythical nonsense. What 
the Bible discloses is incontrovertible truth. It is the truth that believers 
will know, and it is the truth that shall make them free. Some 
other places in scripture where we have this, that faith or belief 
has as its instrumental cause and as the target of its activity, 
truth. We see this also in, for example, 
the Gospel of John at John 117. And this is just to sort of drive 
home the reality that Christianity is a religion of truth. Christ has just said there that 
you will know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It's 
not, you know, encounter with a divine person that saves us. It is the truth that sets us 
free. That is Jesus Christ and the 
propositions concerning him. The truth shall make you free. 
John 1.17. John 1.17, we read this. For the law was given through 
Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. As we navigate through the Gospel 
of John, we already looked at 8.32. If you can flip with me, 
8.40. 8.40. Jesus said to them, if you were 
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. Now 
here's verse 40. but now you seek to kill me, 
a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God." A little 
side note, men hate the truth. Sinners don't like it because 
it rubs against the delicate sensitivities of their depravity. 
They love darkness rather than light because their deeds are 
evil. The unbelieving Jews did not want to hear the truth of 
a sovereign God, of their sinfulness and their self-righteousness, 
and of the fact that there is only one way through Jesus Christ, 
and so they thought to kill him. Someone who was only telling 
them the truth which he heard from God. Abraham did not do 
this you do the deeds of your father John 14 6. We already 
noted that I am the way the truth and the life now notice in John 
15 26 Jesus is leaving that is he is going to the crucifixion. 
He's going to rise again. He's going to ascend to his father 
on high but he's going to send a helper in verse 26 of John 
15 and We see, but when the helper comes, 
whom I shall send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth 
who proceeds from the Father. Now, don't you know, preacher, 
that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of encounter, of emotion, of 
stirring up heart warmedness, of, you know, getting us to fall, 
you know, on our backs into a, you know, Polynesian man who 
throws his jacket at our chest what what the spirit is the spirit 
of truth The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. What does that 
mean? Jesus Christ is the truth. As the one who sends forth the 
promised Holy Spirit, he is also sending forth the third of the 
triune God, a divine agent who is the truth. And what does that, 
how does that flesh out, or how does that manifest? John 16, 
13. Just a little bit to the right, 
or down, depending on your Bible. However, when He, the Spirit 
of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will 
not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will 
speak, and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, 
for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." You see, 
the importance of truth declared. The importance of truth declared. That is Christianity. We're not 
calling on people to feel fuzzy. We're calling on... I mean, you 
can feel fuzzy if you want, if you define that by, you know, 
I'm happy about Jesus. Great. Bless the Lord. But first and foremost, Christianity 
is a religion of truth declared. And Christ promises here that 
he will send his spirit of truth to do that very thing, to declare 
the truth. John 17, 17. John 17, 17. In Christ's high priestly prayer, 
one of his petitions to the Father is, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Sanctify 
them by your truth. Your word is truth. The very 
act of the divine God had to set aside his people and to grow 
them in their faith is such that it is by truth. He takes his 
word. truths concerning himself, ourselves, 
salvation in Christ, and he grows us in the faith and sanctifies 
us by that truth. And one more in John is John 
19.35. One more, John 19.35. Of course, in the context, not 
in the context, well, yeah, in the context, but a commentary 
on the truthfulness of the events of the crucifixion of Jesus, 
the author, John, writes in John 1935, and he who has seen has 
testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he 
is telling the truth so that you may believe. You see, the 
whole point of apostolic attestation and testifying in the scriptures 
is so that the recipients may believe. And it is that they, 
the apostolic witnesses, are telling the truth. The importance 
of truth in the Christian religion cannot be driven home with more 
exhaustion. He who believes in the son, this 
is the third undergirding principle as promised, I promise you we 
look to close here soon and afterwards again, any question. But the 
third undergoing principle is he who believes in the son. has everlasting life. In other 
words, the central and vital content, the center of believing 
is Jesus Christ. So we have, you must be born 
again. We have the truth will make you 
free. And now we have The center of 
that truth or the declaration of it is Jesus Christ. So the 
truth that sets us free has as the main content of its disclosure, 
Jesus Christ. And maybe more pointedly, Jesus 
Christ and his perfect saving work. You see, many people will 
seek to declare a Jesus to people. and he will say Jesus is the 
center of my true statement to you but it'll be a Jesus that 
is that is devoid of any saving efficacy it'll just be a prophet 
speaking nice soothing words or a social activist who came 
to put down the self-righteous Jews and be all about you know 
socialism and communism which is nonsense but it's all about 
you know this Jesus of the social agenda or this Jesus of you know, 
skipping through the tulips. No, it's the Jesus who is the 
God-man who came in time and in history to save sinners from 
their sins, to rise again that we might with Him on that great 
day likewise be risen and enter into eternal life with Him. So, He who believes in the Son 
has everlasting life. Believing in the truth has as 
the primary object of believing the Lord Jesus Christ John 336 
John 336 here we have what we just talked about the central 
and vital content of believing being Jesus we also have which 
should be obvious the exclusivity of Jesus Christ for salvation 
there is no other way to heaven but through belief in the sun. Notice in John 3, 36, we have 
these words. He who believes in the sun has 
everlasting life. And he who does not believe the 
sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Isn't 
Christianity a nice religion? What I mean by that is it's clear. You see, we don't string people 
along in some sort of weird Gnostic way, saying you must enter the 
oneness of the light and find your path to the eternal glory, 
or some weird nonsense. The Bible is clear and is strikingly 
merciful in its disclosure of the only way of salvation. We're 
not mean, we're not bigots. Listen, if someone came to me 
and asked me directions from my house to the park, I would 
say you need to travel down this road, go through the catwalk, 
hang a right, and there's the park. I wouldn't say you need 
to find your inner being and dwell and walk along the path 
of righteousness before you reach. No, with great clarity and with 
hopefully mercy, I would tell him, hang a left, turn a right, 
there's the park. Christianity comes and is very 
clear in its declaration of the truth and the only way of salvation 
and how to get to heaven. He who believes in the Son has 
everlasting life. Contrarily, he who does not believe 
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." 
Oh, you horrible Christians, what do you mean? We're giving 
you with great clarity the disclosure of God and the promise that he 
who believes in the Son has everlasting life. There's no disparity or 
bigotry or, you know, meanness in that. great clarity, striking 
clearness with that, that the Bible discloses the only way 
of salvation. Just a couple other texts to 
name, John 8.24, John 14.6, and Acts 4.12. Remember Acts 4.12? There, Peter is preaching Jesus. He gets accosted by the unbelieving 
Jews, arrested, and he's eventually beaten. But you see, the unbelieving 
Jews are commanding him that he cannot preach in the name 
of Jesus Christ. You know, we'll let you go, just 
don't preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I 
am to obey God rather than man. You can tell me, you know, that 
I can't, you know, throw paper on the sidewalk, but don't tell 
me that I can't preach Jesus Christ, because according to 
God's command, that is what I am commissioned to do. No government, 
we are to obey the government in those things lawful for us 
to obey. But once they command unlawfulness, 
which would be, you cannot preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, we 
must, according to God's authorization, reject and disobey that command, 
because we are to obey God rather than men. Now, in things indifferent, 
like drive 50 kilometers an hour, we don't say, no, I'm to obey 
God rather than men. You know, God says the, you know, 
the truth shall set me free so I'm free to do whatever I want 
or something stupid like that. No. In things indifferent that 
don't infringe upon biblical law and what God commands us 
to do, we obey the authorities because actually the Bible tells 
us to. Obey those who rule over you. But if we, if they command 
us to violate God's law or tell us that we can't preach Jesus, 
disobey. Point being, in the context there, 
Peter says there is one name given. under heaven among men 
by which we might be saved." And that's Jesus Christ. The 
last undergirding principle is, as he spoke these words, many 
believed in him. In other words, the way by which 
faith comes is through the preached word. So we have, you must be 
born again. We have truth as the instrumental 
cause and the target of faith's activity. We have Jesus Christ 
as the central content of believing or faith. And lastly, we have 
the way by which faith comes is through the preached word. 
In that text, in John 830, Jesus says, or John says concerning 
Jesus, as he spoke these words, many believed in him. Our confession 
says that the that faith is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the 
word. What that means is, is that the normative way of God 
causing one to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ is through 
the preached word. And why do I say normative? Because 
a sinner who has never heard preaching can sit down with a 
Bible. You know, someone on their deathbed 
has never been in a church and someone gives them a Bible. and 
points them to John chapter 1. They can read of Jesus. They 
can read of sin. They can read of Jesus being 
the savior for sin, and they can believe the gospel. But normatively, 
the ordinary way that faith is wrought by God is through the 
proclamation of the word. A few texts, and then we'll close 
in prayer. Romans 10. Romans 10. beginning at verse 14. You can 
all read while you navigate there. Verse 14 of Romans 10, how then 
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how 
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And 
how shall they hear without a preacher? You see the progression there. 
Someone needs to call on someone that they have not believed, 
but how can they believe on one on whom they're supposed to call 
unless they've heard about him. And how can they hear about him 
unless someone preaches it to them? The necessity of preaching 
the word of Jesus Christ comes in to clear vision. As he spoke 
these words, many believed in him. You can make a note of James 
1.18. What do we read there in James 1.18? Of his own will, 
he brought us forth by the word of truth. We can only hear about 
Jesus Christ and we can only believe upon hearing if Jesus 
Christ is proclaimed to us. Of his own will, he brought us 
forth by the word of truth. 1 Peter 1, 22 and 23. You've 
been born again, Peter says, not of corruptible seed, but 
incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides 
forever. It is the word of God proclaimed. It is the truth of Jesus Christ 
preached. It is the propositions concerning 
salvation by a perfect savior proclaimed to individuals that 
God uses to bring them from deadness to life. Well, why don't we close 
in prayer and then if there's any questions, please feel free 
to ask. God, we thank you for this time together in your word. 
We bless your name that we can read your scriptures. We thank 
you that we can read and we can discover Jesus Christ our blessed 
Redeemer displayed before us in his glory and in the perfection 
of his character in the completeness of his work and we just thank 
you so much that by your grace we can be found in Christ Jesus 
that in your appointed and accepted time by sovereign grace you caused 
us to be born again in great power to behold Jesus Christ 
in saving faith and We just pray that you'd help us daily to grow 
in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus, that we would hold 
the truth as glorious and primary, truth concerning Jesus, that 
we would never seek to depart from the words and the sayings 
that we have in the Bible that disclose our precious Savior. We pray that we would hold your 
word in high esteem, that we would daily avail of it, and 
that we would seek to order and live our lives in accordance 
with the holy scriptures. And we just pray that you'd be 
with us now, help us to bring honor to you in all that we do 
and say, and we pray in Christ's name, amen.