Is Your Faith Saving Faith?

7/30/2019 Is Your Faith Saving Faith?

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IS YOURFAITH SAVING FAITH?

(Luke 2:15-20)

Intro A fellow being interviewed for church membership was asked,What do you believe? He replied, Well, I believe the same as the church

believes. They pressed a bit harder, Well, what does the church believe.Well, the church believes the same as me. By now the elders were prettyexercised so they asked, Well, what exactly do you and the church believe?The guy replied, The church and me we believe the same thing.Beloved, if you cannot articulate your faith any better than that, it is likelyyou lacksaving faith the kind that turns a life from darkness to light. Formany, faith means, Just believe! All will be well if we just have faith!

But, did you know that there is a faith which is not a saving faith? There is and the Bible talks about it. In Greek the word believe is the verb form offaith. Faith ispistis. Believe ispisteuo. Same word. Now, turn to John 2:23-25, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed inhis name when they saw the signs that he was doing. (They loved themiracles, and they believed --pisteuo. So, isnt that all thats required to besaved believe? Watch.) 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself tothem, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness aboutman, for he himself knew what was in man. See that word entrust? Guesswhat it is in Greek? Pisteuo. They believed in Him, but He did not believein them. They had faith, but not savingfaith. They loved miracles, butlacked commitment! They were fairweather believers. They thought Jesuswas cool. But there was no relationship there no commitment. And itmatters eternally whether we just see Jesus as a good guy orknow Him.

Last week we saw God bypass all the splendor of earth to go straight to thehearts of faith that He found in those humble shepherds for the first gospelpresentation. Their response showed them to be men to true faith. So ourquestion today is what characterized theirsavingfaith?

I. Compelled by the Word

True faith is always a response to the Word of God. V. 15, When the angelswent away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let usgo over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lordhas made known to us. You know, for a lot of people, the departure of theangels would have been the end of faith. The show is over. The circus has

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left town. Close it down. But not for these guys. They were headed toBethlehem to see this thing that has happened. Notice they were not headedto Bethlehem to see ifit had happened. They fully expected to find it hadhappened. They werent going to testGod; they were going to affirm God.They werent going to create faith; they were going to confirm faith. They

didnt go with doubt; they went with dead certainty.

But why? Why were they so certain? Because the Lord told them. True, themessage came from angels. But they recognized them as messengers fromGod. The angels brought the Word of God, and their hearts responded YES! This is why we love the Word. Not because its magic. But becausewe see it for what it is the livingWord of God. The Bible is God speaking!It sparks faith in responsive hearts. Saving faith respects mens opinions, butunderstands the answers to lifes most perplexing questions cannot be foundin any human philosophy, religion or system of psychology. They can onlybe revealedby an infinitely wise and loving Creator.In His Word!

God says in Romans 10:17,So faith comes from hearing, and hearingthrough the wordof Christ. How could God be more clear? Only the Wordcan stimulate a cold, dead heart and shock it into life. Saving faith bypasseshuman wisdom to find its source of wisdom in the fear of the Lord revealedin the Bible. When it comes to questions of eternal destiny, no fallen, limitedhuman is capable of helping another. We need Gods revelation.

Bertrand Russell was perhaps the foremost philosopher of the 20th century.He was also an atheist. But when asked whether he would be prepared to diefor his beliefs, he replied, Of course not. After all I may be wrong. The

sad fact is, of course, that he diddie for his beliefs. We all do. What webelieve is what we take with us into eternity. There is no escaping that fact.We all die for our beliefs We cant afford to be wrong. Since we haventbeen there, our only hope is revelation from someone who has. Its all in theWord. Saving faith is a positive response to the pull of Gods Word. Hasyour heart said Yes to the pull of truth from God?

II. Corroborated by Facts

Faith is often depicted as a leap in the dark. Just believe. Most religions arelike that. Just believe. Everything will work out. Just have faith. Faith inwhat? Well, faith in faith. But saving faith is not faith in faith. It is faith ina God who given evidence of Himself through Creation, the written Word,

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and the living Word, Jesus. Christianity is verifiable. Vv. 15-16, When theangels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which theLord has made known to us. 16 And they went with haste and found Maryand Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. These men already had

responsive hearts. But their faith rested on verifiablefacts. Saving faith is nota blind leap in the dark; its based on verifiable historical events.

The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century, elevated human reason overrevelation as ultimate authority. The credibility of Scripture was drasticallyundermined where it did not align with scientific theory. Interestingly, aboutthat same time, the science of archaeology came into prominence. Manyassumed it would sound the death knell of the Bible the final nail in thecoffin. Instead, the absolute opposite happened. Men who set out todisprove the Bible ended up demonstrating its precision over and over again.For example, the Bible was mocked for referencing an unknown peoplecalled Hittites. Archaeology soon uncovered a thriving civilization ofHittites. Skeptics questioned the Bibles reference to a Babylonian kingnamed Belshazzar. Archeology uncovered multiple references to Belshazzaras the last king of Babylon, and co-ruler with his father, Nabonidus, sheddinglight on his offering 1/3 rather than his kingdom to Daniel in exchange forthe interpretation of the writing on the wall Daniel 5. Let me summarize bysaying that while archaeology has never once disproved the Bible in the last150 years, it has confirmed and further enlightened the biblical textthousands and thousands of times. Saving faith is rooted in historical fact.

Fulfilled prophecy also demonstrates the credibility of Scripture. God sets

this bar high! In Moses farewell address to Israel, Deuteronomy, he warnedagainst false prophets quick buck shysters. People using religion to get intoyour pocketbook. These were to be put to death. God anticipates the logicalquestion in Deut 18:21: And if you say in your heart, How may we knowthe word that the LORD has not spoken?22 when a prophet speaks in thename of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is aword that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it

presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. The prophetic bar is set at100% accuracy. God doesnt make mistakes. And literally hundreds of OTprophecies have been fulfilled to the letter.

In Isaiah 39, around 690 BC a small, insignificant country named Babylonsent envoys to Judah. In his pride, Hezekiah showed them every treasure in

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the kingdom, including the fantastic temple vessels. God prompted Isaiah toprophesy that the Babylonians would return one day, take Judah captive andremove all the treasures. A ludicrous idea at the time, but 90 years later, thatis exactly what happened, and 150 years later, those were the vessels thatBelshazzar used in his great feast, mocking God on the very night he saw the

handwriting on the wall and his kingdom was lost to the Persians fulfillingother 100 year-old prophecies. Jeremiah prophesied a 70-year captivity inBabylon years in advance of it happening. Isaiah prophesied (44:28; 45:1)150 years in advance that a king named Cyrus will release the people fromcaptivity fulfilled to the letter when Cyrus the Great issued the edictallowing captive Israelites to return and rebuild Jerusalem.

Hundreds of OT prophecies relate to Christ hundreds of years before hisbirth. His birth in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2); betrayal for 30 pieces of silver (Zech11:12-13), refusal to answer his accusers (Isa 53:7), death by crucifixion, anunknown means of execution when David prophesied it 1,000 years inadvance (Psa 22:16), gambling for his clothing (Psa 22:18), no broken bones,though that was the established policy for crucifixions (Psa 34:20), theresurrection (Psa 16:8-11; Isa 53:10). The list goes on. Psalm 22 and Isaiah53 practically read like eyewitness accounts to the crucifixion though writtenhundreds of years ahead of time. What is the point? Saving faith is rooted inhistory, corroborated by facts. Credible, reasonable, eyewitness accounts ofthe life, death and the resurrection of Christ support our faith.

These shepherds did not see the full outworking of redemption in the life ofChrist. But they saw enough. Thats like us. The credibility of Scripturescreams that we must trust its gospel message. Thomas would not believe

until he saw for himself the prints in Jesuss hands? Jesus called his bluff. Hesaid, See my hands and touch my side, Thomas. You need corroboration?Here it is. John 20:28-29 then tells us: Thomas answered him, My Lordand my God! 29 Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you haveseen me?Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.Thats us, Beloved. We dont see all the apostles saw, but ours is not a blindfaith. It is rooted in the verifiable facts of archaeology and prophecy.

III.Centered in Christ

It is not affirming a creed or performing a ritual. Saving faith is a heartreaching out in surrenderto Jesus Christ. Its a relationship. V. 16 says,And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in

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a manger. Saving faith brought these men to the feet of Jesus. That is whatsaving faith always does. It results in keeping Gods law and doing goodthings and appreciating the creeds and following the rituals that Christ haslaid out like baptism and the Lords Supper. But those are not what save us.We are saved by ourrelationship with Him. Jesus prayed the night before He

died in John 17:3)

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only trueGod, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. To know Him is to submit ourlife to Him lock, stock and barrel. Saving faith centers in one thing Jesus.

It grieves me that salvation is so often presented as thegifts rather thanperson of Christ. People are told, Come to Christ and He will heal yourmarriage, or solve your financial problems, or give you business success or

straighten out the mess you have made of your life. And He may do anyor all of those things. But that is not saving faith. Saving faith says, I wantChrist alone! To come to Him for His gifts is an insult. That would be likethe man who confronted his wife after weeks of getting the cold shoulder bysaying, Admit it, Linda. The only reason you married me is because mygrandfather left me $10 million.She replied, Dont be ridiculous.I dontcare who left it to you. Beloved, saving faith receives Christfor Hisperson

, not His gifts! We promise a lot in Christs name, but whatHepromises is in John 15:20, A servant is not greater than his master. If theypersecuted me, they will also persecute you. Saving faith wantsJesusalone, and takes whatever else comes with Him. The only faith that savesbows humbly at His feet, for forgiveness and refuses to leave without Him.That is saving faith. It throws out every human advantage and clings to Jesusas Lord. Paul said in Phil 3:7-8, But whatever gain I had, I counted as lossfor the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the

surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He got that eternal lifewas to know Jesus and Paul desperately gave up everything to have Him. Doyou have Jesus?

IV. Co-Mingled With Nothing

These shepherds had nothing outward to commend them. They were

outcasts who came to Christ just as they were. That is the way we must allcome. Any effort to offer Christ anything kills the deal. Paul said inPhilippians 3:6 that he was as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Ifanyone could have been saved by works it was Paul. He was circumcised,educated, a radical Pharisee, keeping the law in every detail. But he says,whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. To gain

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Christ, he threw self overboard, realizing that to offer anything would be theultimate insult to Christ would suggest that He need not have died for thesins of the world. Saving faith is in the words of the Reformerssola fide faith alone. All our good intentions, the money we give, our churchmembership, confirmation, baptism great as expressions of faith

meaningless as the contentof faith. It is critical we get this. Faith must be co-mingled with nothing. So many teach it is faithplus something usuallybaptism. The Bible teaches differently in Eph 2:8-9, For by grace you havebeen saved through faith (period!). And this is not your own doing; it is thegift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Saving faith isby grace through faith alone. Nothing added. Good works are critical aftercoming to Christ. But they are worse than useless before we accept Christbecause they mistakenly imply we have something to contribute. We havenothing but our sin.

A young lady was joining the church. As part of the process, she was askedto give her testimony. Well, she said, I can make it pretty short andsimple. I did my part and God did his. The pastor pressed her regardingwhat exactly she meant that she did her part. She answered, Well, I sinnedand he saved me. She had it exactly right, Beloved. It is all by gracethrough faith. So I ask this morning, are you counting on anything you havedone to save you? Anything at all? Then you are discounting the death ofChrist itself. Saving faith must be co-mingled with nothing. If you areoffering anything to Him, you must renounce it and throw yourself on Hismercy. Salvation consists of faith plus nothing. The old hymn says:

Nothing in my hands I bring,Simply to the thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to thee for dress,Helpless, look to thee for grace.

V. Confirmed by Commitment

Verses 18-19 present a suggestive contrast, And all who heard it wonderedat what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things,

pondering them in her heart. Those who heard the report of the shepherdswere intrigued. What a story! But for them it was mere intellectual curiosity;for Mary and the shepherds it was a life-changing event. The book of Lukewill show us many who are amazed at Christ throughout His lifetime. Butfew of those ever come to saving faith. They find Him an interestingdiversion and a curious specimen. Some were even willing to acknowledge

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Him as the Messiah. But saving faith is about accepting Him not as the Lordbut as my Lord. There is an eternal difference in those positions. God says inRom 10:9, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord andbelieve inyour heartthat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.He must be more than the Lord. He must beyourLord. The great preacher

Charles Spurgeon said concerning Christ, I surrendered myself to mySaviour, I gave him my body, my soul, my spirit . . . for eternity! I gavehim my talents, my powers, my eyes, my ears . . . my whole manhood! So

far from regretting what I then did, I would gladly renew my vows and

make them over again!That is saving faith. Is that your faith? You say,Thats kind of radical. Listen to Jesus: in Luke 9: 23)If anyone wouldcome after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and followme. Are you on the fence, or all the way in?

VI. Characterized by praise

We do not have time to develop this point this morning, but suffice to saysaving faith longs to share and it longs to glorify God. End of Lu 2:17, theymade known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. Theycould not wait to share their faith. Is that the desire of our heart as well? It isa telling test of faith. Then look at Lu 2:20: And the shepherds returned,glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had beentold them. True faith longs to praise and glorify God as well. And why notsince He has accomplished our salvation from start to finish through thework of Christ on the cross, and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.Ultimately, even our individual salvation is not so much about getting us toheaven as it is toglorify the great God who made it all happen.

So, I ask this morning are you saved? Do you know Him personally? Haveyou committed your very being to Him for eternity? If youve missed Christand His cross, youve missed saving faith. If you are trusting in any worksyou have done or any ritual you have been through, your faith is worthless.Jesus does not believe in you just like he did not believe in those followers inJudah who only wanted His gifts. George Bernard Shaw, the famous writer,

once went to church service where the gospel message that Jesus died for oursins was made very clear. But Shaw stormed out of the meeting saying,Thank you very much. Ill pay my own debts. He went on to write ascathing attack on what he called crosstianity. But Shaw was wrong,Beloved. Our debt is far too much for us to pay. The price is too high, and sowe must throw ourselves on the mercy of God which never fails. Remember

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we all die for our beliefs. Have you made the commitment? Is HeyourLord? Why not this morning? Lets pray.

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Is Your Faith Saving Faith?