The Nature of Saving Faith
There are many kinds or types of faith that exist amongst the professing Christian world and even amongst the secular, unbelieving world. On some level, all people have faith in something, to one degree or another. So, it isn’t really a matter of if someone has faith, but rather which faith. But according to the Bible, there is only one kind of faith that has eternal significance and value. This kind of faith is supernatural, meaning that it comes from God and is sovereignly wrought in the lives of those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. Join Tom Pennington as he explains from 1 John 5 The Nature of Saving Faith.
Part 5
In the first century, the apostle John wrote that all Christians overcome the world. He uses such language to demonstrate that those who have turned from their transgressions and trusted in Christ alone for salvation have been broken free from the shackles of sin and the family of Satan to be born into the family of God, where righteousness dwells.
Part 6
According to 1 John 5, such an expression is true of every person who has turned from their sins and trusted in the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel for salvation. But not only does embracing the gospel and overcoming the world immediately free you from bondage to Satan, it also produces massive implications for your future on this earth and into eternity.
Part 7
The Bible makes it very clear that salvation only comes through the person and work of Jesus Christ. This simply means that you must believe in the biblical or correct Jesus to be saved. But what does the Bible teach about Jesus, and what is necessary for one to believe for salvation?
Part 8
The Bible teaches that authentic real faith is found in a person: Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible gives sufficient testimony to this crucial reality, specifically from God the Father Himself. In fact, there are three instances in the New Testament when God acts as a witness and gives a perfect testimony regarding the person and work of Jesus.
Part 9
Unfortunately, there are pastors, teachers, and churches that teach that Jesus Christ was not God at specific points during His life on earth. Such teaching is contrary to Scripture and should be outright rejected. One of the primary points that the apostle John makes in 1 John 5 is that Jesus Christ, from the moment of His conception, was the God-Man, and He was the God-Man through His entire earthly life.