Christian belief must be preceded by repentance and followed by obedience to qualify as faith. Faith is not just an intellectual exercise (Jam 2:19) or an emotional experience (Jer 17:9). The great gift of salvation is received by faith. A core belief of Christianity may be stated as:
Each person who responds to God's grace and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ by confession of sin, remorse, repentance, faith and obedience receives the great gift of salvation. Each person who resists God's grace is condemned to everlasting punishment. (U)
- Each person who responds to God's grace and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ by
- confession of sin (Ps 32:3-5; 1 John 1:8-10),
- remorse (Ps 66:18; Luke 18:13),
- repentance (Mat 3:8; Rom 12:2, 13:14; Eph 4:23-24; Rev 2:5, 16, 3:3, 19),
- faith (John 6:29, 3:16-17; Acts 16:31; Eph 2:8-10) and
- obedience (Mat 28:20; Luke 11:28; John 14:15; Rom 1:5, 6:16; Heb 5:9)
- receives the great gift of salvation (Acts 4:12; Rom 1:16; 2 Cor 7:10; 1 Thes 5:9; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:9, 18-19).
- Each person who resists God's grace is condemned to everlasting punishment (Mat 25:46; 2 Thes 1:8-9).
(See also Sections 1.4, 3.13, 10.8, 11.4 and 11.8 of Theology Corner)
But a life of faith is not a life of sentimental enjoyment of God’s blessings. Christians do not simply lounge in the serenity of their faith and watch as a world beset with evil passes before their eyes.
An old, forgotten poem can be rewritten by a metallurgist as:
Life is not an idle ore,
But haematite from depths of gloom,
Formed into hot and pasty bloom,
Wrought by the forger’s shocks of doom,
And shaped into a steering oar.
Life shapes us. Faith simply means we will remain true to God whatever happens (See Sections 7.13 and 10.6 of Theology Corner). In the words of Oswald Chambers:
"Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. ‘Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.’ The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. May God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us." (Chambers, August 29th)
