Question 21: What is true faith?

 

Question 21: What is true faith?

Answer: True faith is the knowledge that all that God has revealed in His Word is true. That is, it is the firm conviction, instilled in me by the Holy Spirit through the Word, that through the sheer grace of Christ, I, as well as others, have my sins forgiven, am justified forever before God, and am saved.

Galatians 3:24-25 "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, kept in custody until the faith should be revealed. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."

This faith, "before faith comes," is the faith that God gives. Therefore, before faith comes, everyone is bound by the law. Even if these people think, "I need to worship faithfully and be active in church life," they are still bound by the law. People examine their faith within these thoughts. These thoughts are not under the eternal covenant, but rather are bound by the law.

"After faith comes" is the faith that liberates us from the law, and this is salvation. This faith is not something we can achieve through our own efforts. Faith must come from heaven. That faith is the faith in Jesus Christ. Faith comes to those who are united with Jesus Christ. Faith does not come simply because the believer believes in Jesus, but when they believe that they died with Jesus and were resurrected with him.

Galatians 3:26-27 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Here, based on the preceding verse, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," pastors in churches are teaching, "You are saved simply by believing." This Epistle to the Galatians is a letter to the church in Galatia. Paul's letters are all letters to churches that believed in Jesus. They were not written to believers without repentance, but to those who realized they had crucified Jesus and repented. Today, if we do not explain the meaning of the phrase, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," we will have difficulty achieving salvation.

The phrase "in Christ Jesus" means "redemption." And Christ dwelling in us is salvation. There is no salvation without redemption. Therefore, all become children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has confined everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Those who do not repent are those whom the Bible says are imprisoned under sin. Therefore, no one can overcome sin through human effort, nor can anyone escape it. The more a believer strives to overcome sin with their conscience, the more they realize, "I am imprisoned under sin."

Despite this state, believers before faith arrived still believed, "All my sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus." They lived by this belief, believing it as knowledge, without any doubt. However, such a thing has never happened.

The subject Jesus spoke of was the Kingdom of God. This is the Kingdom of God, the very same Kingdom of God that he spoke of in John 3: "Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God."

Salvation is entering the kingdom of God on this earth. Salvation is achieved only by being "born again of water and the Spirit" and entering the kingdom of God on this earth. It is the kingdom of God, heaven, within the heart. To believe, without repentance, that simply believing in Jesus, just because people have accepted Him with their mouths, "goes to heaven" is no different from the medieval belief that "those who bought indulgences went to heaven." The Middle Ages were like the days of Noah. While the Middle Ages were a time of cultural advancement and a generation whose physical eyes were opened, it was a time of spiritual darkness.

Acts 20:21 states, "Testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Repentance and the Kingdom of God interact with each other. Ultimately, many churches fail to preach repentance and the Kingdom of God, instead focusing on "Believe in Jesus." They say, "All you have to do is believe in the merits of Jesus' cross and resurrection and you will be saved."

When believers repent, God proclaims the kingdom of God. Because there is no repentance, the kingdom of God is not proclaimed to those who do not repent. Can salvation truly be achieved simply by preaching, "Believe in Jesus"?

In Mark 1:15, Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel." Believers must repent and believe in the gospel. God speaks to those who do not repent in Mark 4:12, "So that seeing they may see but not perceive, and hearing they may hear but not understand, so that they may not turn and be forgiven." Repentance is the death of the fleshly self. There must be the fruit of patience.

If the complete gospel is preached, those who are lost will not believe, and they will criticize and attack the preacher. However, some will find the message shocking. They will repent and return. Those who do not repent, do not die to their ego, and pursue only personal spirituality will not enter the kingdom of God.