Section 14: Faith, Salvation & Repentance
• Faith
From The GCI Statement of Beliefs:
- Faith in God is a gift of God, rooted in Jesus Christ and enlightened by the witness of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.
- Through faith, God prepares and enables our minds to participate in Jesus Christ’s communion with the Father by the Spirit.
- Jesus Christ is the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
14.1 What is faith in God?
- Faith in God is a gift of God, rooted in Jesus and enlightened by the witness of the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures.
- Through faith, God prepares and enables our minds to share in Christ’s knowledge and trust in God the Father by the Spirit.
- Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.
- To have faith is to respond with trust and love to who Jesus is revealed to be according to the gospel.
- Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
- Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the [a]substance[realization] of things hoped for, the [b]evidence[confidence] of things not seen.
- Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have[let us have] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
- Romans 3:21-28 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [a]
and on allwho believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified [b]freely[without any cost] by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a [c]propitiation [mercy seat] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is [d]justified[declared righteous] by faith apart from the deeds of the law. - Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. [a]
But if it isof works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.[NU omits the rest of v.6] - Ephesians 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
- 1 Corinthians 2:5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
- Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author[originator] and [b]finisher [perfecter] of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
14.2 Is Christian faith irrational?
- No.
- Faith is the kind of knowledge that results from the open and personal consideration of the revelation of God given through the Person of Jesus and the testimony to that revelation in the Holy Scriptures.
- Faith has an object that can be known and understood, namely the objective revelation that culminates in the Person and teaching of Jesus Christ.
- Faith is the personal knowledge of God based on God’s own achievement of self-revelation. As such it is public knowledge.
14.3 Is Christian faith purely subjective?
- No.
- Christian faith is not the result of an act of will or the decision of an individual to affirm or assume something.
- Faith is a response to the object of revelation, conveyed primarily through hearing, not seeing.
- Faith has a subjective aspect that is required for all knowledge.
- Faith involves the humility and at least a mustard seed of trust that corresponds to hearing the truth of what is revealed in God’s Word, both living and written.
- That mustard seed of trust and humility is a gift of the Holy Spirit who works in our subjectivity, but is not our subjectivity or subjective states.
14.4 Is there any mystery to Christian faith?
- Yes.
- In the New Testament, a “mystery” refers to what human beings can come to know only by God’s gracious act of revelation. In that sense, mystery does not mean what cannot be known but what must be revealed by God.
- Though there are things God has not revealed, God is faithful and wants to be known. What he reveals to us is not in any way misleading.
- As we contemplate God’s revelation, we do so knowing there is more depth to it than we are able to grasp.
- Though we can apprehend God’s revelation, we cannot fully comprehend it.
- John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
- Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: [a]which[who] is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
- Ephesians 3:3-5 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
- 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
- Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Here is a GCI article that addresses the topic of Faith: