I’ve often had people talk to me about their lack of faith. They fret and say things like, “I wish I had more faith to believe for I’m not happy with the amount of faith I have.” Or, “I wish my faith was stronger, it just seems to be so weak.”
Listen to me; it is not smart to go around believing in our own faith or lack of it—-- we should never look to faith to save us. Our faith is not our saviour—Jesus alone saves (Titus 2:13; Acts 4:12)!
We are never commanded to put faith in faith, instead we are called to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to look to Christ crucified alone to save us (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 12:2). He is the righteous one who died for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18). Faith did not die for us. Faith was not wounded for our transgressions. Faith was not bruised for our iniquities. The Lord did not lay on faith the iniquities of us all for there never was a time when faith was nailed to the cross. Faith therefore, cannot be our Saviour.
Faith itself saves no one, but by faith we look to the crucified and risen Christ—the living, triumphant One who does save. He has conquered death. He alone has paid for us with His precious blood. He has ransomed and redeemed us. He alone saves! Where is it that the Bible teaches us to look to our faith as our Saviour? Nowhere! But here’s what it does say;—-“Look unto me and be ye saved—for I am God and there is none else” (Isaiah 44:22) or to ‘New Testamentize’ it, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31).
The truth is, if you were convinced that you had a strong faith, you might become a menace to yourselves and others. You might end up as a self-righteous, priggish pest! And besides being a nuisance, you would find yourself on dangerous ground! Why? Because you may be so satisfied with your faith that you would conclude yourself to be saved! And here‘s the danger, your confidence would have shifted to something other than Christ alone! Your trust would be in your faith and not the Lord Jesus!
What treacherous ground to rest upon.
“But that’s flawed thinking”, you say, “The faith I have is a gift from God!” This is true—faith is a precious gift (Ephesians 2:8), but let me caution you, if you look to something other than Christ alone, you have departed from the Gospel (Galatians 5:4)! If you are resting on your faith rather than resting on Christ alone, you are on a foundation of quicksand! Again, let me stress, if you look at your faith and find peace by doing so, you are deluded, you are not in the gospel. Wake up before it is too late. Do not rest until you are resting on Christ alone (Hebrews 4:11). We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone, but not saved by faith alone in faith alone! Listen to this old hymn from John Newton:
The Blood which, as a priest, He bears For sinners is His own; The incense of His prayers and tears Perfume the holy throne.
In Him my weary soul has rest, Though I am weak and vile; I read my name upon His breast And see the Father smile
And that’s the Gospel Truth!