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.

Introduction

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 Importance of Saving Faith

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.

Refuting False Definitions of Faith

First off, briefly doing away with bad general definitions. At large, what are some of the definitions of faith that are put out there?

Faith Is Not Trust Without Evidence

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.

Faith Is Not Against Reason

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,

Faith Is Not Uncertain Optimism

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.

Faith Is Not Less Than Knowledge

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.

Faith Is Not Merely Encounter or Feeling

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.

Two Types of Faith in Scripture

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 Objective Faith

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 Subjective Faith

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.

Foundational Principles of Saving Faith

Important undergirding principles with regards to faith, saving faith, or believing.

First Principle: Regeneration Precedes Faith

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

Third Principle: Christ as Central Content

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,

Fourth Principle: Faith Comes by the Word

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Luke 1:1-4
• John 1:1-13; 1:17; 3:1-8; 3:16; 3:36; 8:24; 8:30; 8:31-32; 8:40; 14:6; 15:26; 16:13; 17:17; 19:35; 20:30-31
• Acts 1:1-3; 4:12; 16:25-31; 26:23-24
• Romans 1:16-17; 5:1; 10:14-17
• Ephesians 2:1-5; 4:11-13
• Philippians 1:27
• 1 Timothy 1:18-19; 2:1-4
• 2 Timothy 3:16
• James 1:18
• 1 Peter 1:22-23
• Jude 3