Theological Term of the Week: Saving Faith

saving faith
The casting and resting of oneself and one’s confidence on the promises  of mercy which Christ has given to sinners and on the Christ who gave those promises;1 a certain conviction, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, as to the truth of the gospel, and a hearty reliance (trust) on the promises of God in Christ.2

• From scripture:

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… (John 1:12 ESV) 

… [W]e know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16 ESV).

• From The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 52: 

Question 21. What is true faith? 

Answer: True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghostworks by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.

Learn more:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith: Of Saving Faith
2. Ligonier Ministries: What Is Saving Faith?
3. Paul Carter: What Is (Saving) Faith?
4. J. V.  Fesko: The Doctrine of Saving Faith
5. Jared Wilson: There Is No Faith So Little That It Is Not Saving
6. Nick Batzig: What Exactly Is the Nature of True and Saving Faith?
7. J. C. Ryle: Saving Faith

Related terms:

• assurance
• conversion
• gospel, the
• repentance
• union with Christ

1 Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer, pages 70-71.aaaaaa

2 Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 503.

Filed under Salvation

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Sunday Hymn: Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals he’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Refrain

Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.

Oh! for the wonderful love he has promised
Promised for you and for me;
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

— Will L. Thomp­son

Theological Term of the Week: Salvation

salvation
The act of God’s grace in delivering his people from bondage to sin and condemnation, transferring them to the kingdom of his beloved Son, and giving them eternal life—all on the basis of what Christ accomplished in his atoning sacrifice.1 

• From scripture:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 2:3-7 ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

• From The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 52: 

Article 17: The Rescue of Fallen Man

We believe that, when he saw that man had thus plunged himself into physical and spiritual death and made himself completely miserable, our gracious God in his marvellous wisdom and goodness set out to seek man when he trembling fled from him. He comforted him with the promise that he would give him his Son, born of woman (Gal 4:4), to crush the head of the serpent and to make man blessed. 

ARTICLE 23: Our Righteousness Before God




We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins for Jesus Christ’s sake and that therein our righteousness before God consists, as David and Paul teach us. They speak of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works (Rom 4:6; Ps 32:1). The apostle also says that we are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24).

Therefore we always hold to this firm foundation. We give all the glory to God, humble ourselves before him, and acknowledge ourselves to be what we are. We do not claim anything for ourselves or our merits, but rely and rest on the only obedience of Jesus Christ crucified; his obedience is ours when we believe in him.

This is sufficient to cover all our iniquities and to give us confidence in drawing near to God, freeing our conscience of fear, terror, and dread, so that we do not follow the example of our first father, Adam, who trembling tried to hide and covered himself with fig leaves. For indeed, if we had to appear before God, relying—be it ever so little—on ourselves or some other creature, (woe be to us!) we would be consumed. Therefore everyone must say with David, O Lord, enter not into judgement with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you (Ps 143:2).

• From Salvation - I Can Write No Other Theme by Wylie Fulton:

The resurrection of Christ formed the core of the first apostolic sermons… because it represented the vindication of all that had gone before in the earthly course of our Lord. His teaching and claims, and His ‘obedience unto death’, as well as His disciples’ faith and hopes, were all vindicated by this act of the Father in which Christ was shown victorious over every hostile power, whether man or demons or death itself. 

1. First of all, then the resurrection is the vindication of God’s faithful Servant, the crucified One. as ‘Lord and Christ’, the promised Messiah of God. As such it provided attestation of His deity, and also confirmed His designation as the final Judge of all men.

2. As the mark of divine approval of the suffering Servant, the resurrection also stamped God’s imprimatur upon the service of His obedience and death, as a complete atonement for sin and as the fulfillment of the promises made to the fathers. As a result, salvation and forgiveness of sins are now proclaimed in the name of Jesus. The resurrection was thus the motive centre in the evangelization of the ancient world.

3. The resurrection confirmed believers in their faith in God and His power, and gave assurance of their ultimate full salvation. Not only does it certify the saving value of Christ’s death, it also persuades us that ‘if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life’. Christ’s risen life continues to save us, as the life of the eternal High Priest who has entered into heaven for us, ever to intercede for us and to perfect the work of redemption in us. 

4. Christ’s resurrection is the sign and pledge of the resurrection of the body for all who are in Christ, and so determines the Christian’s new attitude to death and transforms his hope.

5. Together with the ascension and exaltation, the resurrection completes the pattern of death-resurrection-exaltation which constitutes the spiritual initiation of believers in their identification with Christ. Like and with Christ, the convert becomes ‘dead to sin’ and ‘alive to God’, a passage from death to life the is sacramentally set forth in baptism. Consequently the appeal for sanctification becomes a summons to those who ‘have been raise with Christ’ to ‘set their minds on things that are above’, and dying to self and living to God form the daily experience of the Christian.

Learn more:

1. Tim Challies: The Essential: Salvation
2. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Salvation
3. Got Questions: What is the Christian doctrine of salvation?
4. Guy M. Richard: Salvation
5. Wyatt Graham: What is Salvation?
6. Nick Batzig: What Does “Salvation Mean?
7. R. C. Sproul: A Great Salvation

Related terms:

• adoption
• conversion
• election
• glorification
• gospel, the
• order of salvation
• regeneration
• repentance
• sanctification
• saving faith
• soteriology
• union with Christ

1 From Salvation at Theopedia. 

Filed under Salvation

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.