One of my biggest struggles as a younger Christian was that of great doubt. Oh, I didn't doubt the Gospel and its power to save nor did I doubt God and His promise to save anyone who comes believing. And I certainly did't doubt the sufficiency and efficiency of Christ's sacrifice for sinners who believe. No, I was rock solid on all of those. My problem with doubt was that I doubted me or to be more specific I doubted the quality of my faith.
Most who are reading this all know and more than likely affirm the truth that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone for God's glory alone. I certainly didn't doubt it in any way, shape, or form. But having said that let me tell you a secret. I did sometimes doubt whether my faith was of the kind and quality that could truly be considered as saving faith. Here are some of the questions that from time to time overwhelmed me. "Did I really believe the right stuff?" "Was I really serious and sincere?" "Did I truly understand the Gospel?" "Was my repentance real and genuine?" "Were my motives pure?" I could add a few more but I think you get the idea and I wouldn't be surprised if some of you haven't asked the same questions from time to time.
Well, I don't need to tell you that these kinds of questions not only lead to serious doubts about one's salvation they also arise from and lead us back to serious theological error about salvation. You see, these are the kinds of questions that more than revealing the quality of our faith reveal the object of our faith. Let me explain by asking another question. What is the true object of saving faith? The answer is simple isn't it. The true and in fact only object of saving faith is Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins. This is the object of faith if one is to be saved. But when we get wrapped around the axle concerning the quality of our faith so that we doubt our salvation we have made that the object of our faith. Did you get that? When we doubt the quality of our faith in terms of whether it was of a kind, sort, or quality able to save us we have in essence begun to trust in our faith for salvation rather than Christ.
Faith is not our savior, it is what connects us to the Savior. Faith is not our physician, it is what brings us to the Great Physician. Faith is not our righteousness, it is the tie between us and our Righteousness. Faith is not our perfection but it does trust in Him Who is Perfect and Who perfectly satisfied the wrath of His Father for all of our sins. Faith is not Christ, the cross, the blood, or the atoning sacrifice. It is merely the desperate look upon Christ on the cross shedding His blood as our atoning sacrifice. A desperate look but a believing look. An imperfect look but a trusting look. An ignorant look but a desiring look.
As the hymn writer Horatius Bonar wrote almost 150 years ago:
"And as faith goes on so it continues; always the beggar's outstretched hand, never the rich man's gold; always the cable, never the anchor; the knocker, not the door, or the palace, or the table; the handmaid, not the mistress; the lattice which lets in the light, not the sun." Faith, without virture or worthiness or even power in and of itself, connects us with Him Who is infinite Virtue, Worthiness, and Power. Faith, which has no ability to apply mercy, grace, or pardon is the necessary tie between those things and us.
Faith is rest not toil and thus to worry about our faith or the quality thereof is contradictory to its very definition. Remember, God has demanded and provided for Himself a perfect righteousness on the believing sinner's behalf. No where in the Scriptures that I can find has he ever demanded or provided a perfect faith. So even the weakest, most frail, small, and even confused faith can and will connect us to Him Who is our strong, loving, merciful, and ever-forgiving Savior--even that faith that can only cry out, "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief."
I hope this helps you as much as thinking about it helped and still helps me.
Most who are reading this all know and more than likely affirm the truth that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone for God's glory alone. I certainly didn't doubt it in any way, shape, or form. But having said that let me tell you a secret. I did sometimes doubt whether my faith was of the kind and quality that could truly be considered as saving faith. Here are some of the questions that from time to time overwhelmed me. "Did I really believe the right stuff?" "Was I really serious and sincere?" "Did I truly understand the Gospel?" "Was my repentance real and genuine?" "Were my motives pure?" I could add a few more but I think you get the idea and I wouldn't be surprised if some of you haven't asked the same questions from time to time.
Well, I don't need to tell you that these kinds of questions not only lead to serious doubts about one's salvation they also arise from and lead us back to serious theological error about salvation. You see, these are the kinds of questions that more than revealing the quality of our faith reveal the object of our faith. Let me explain by asking another question. What is the true object of saving faith? The answer is simple isn't it. The true and in fact only object of saving faith is Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins. This is the object of faith if one is to be saved. But when we get wrapped around the axle concerning the quality of our faith so that we doubt our salvation we have made that the object of our faith. Did you get that? When we doubt the quality of our faith in terms of whether it was of a kind, sort, or quality able to save us we have in essence begun to trust in our faith for salvation rather than Christ.
Faith is not our savior, it is what connects us to the Savior. Faith is not our physician, it is what brings us to the Great Physician. Faith is not our righteousness, it is the tie between us and our Righteousness. Faith is not our perfection but it does trust in Him Who is Perfect and Who perfectly satisfied the wrath of His Father for all of our sins. Faith is not Christ, the cross, the blood, or the atoning sacrifice. It is merely the desperate look upon Christ on the cross shedding His blood as our atoning sacrifice. A desperate look but a believing look. An imperfect look but a trusting look. An ignorant look but a desiring look.
As the hymn writer Horatius Bonar wrote almost 150 years ago:
"And as faith goes on so it continues; always the beggar's outstretched hand, never the rich man's gold; always the cable, never the anchor; the knocker, not the door, or the palace, or the table; the handmaid, not the mistress; the lattice which lets in the light, not the sun." Faith, without virture or worthiness or even power in and of itself, connects us with Him Who is infinite Virtue, Worthiness, and Power. Faith, which has no ability to apply mercy, grace, or pardon is the necessary tie between those things and us.
Faith is rest not toil and thus to worry about our faith or the quality thereof is contradictory to its very definition. Remember, God has demanded and provided for Himself a perfect righteousness on the believing sinner's behalf. No where in the Scriptures that I can find has he ever demanded or provided a perfect faith. So even the weakest, most frail, small, and even confused faith can and will connect us to Him Who is our strong, loving, merciful, and ever-forgiving Savior--even that faith that can only cry out, "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief."
I hope this helps you as much as thinking about it helped and still helps me.
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