Why Faith?
“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16, ESV)
Pastor Abel’s sermon on this passage is titled “Faith in Action”.
In the mid-to-late 1800s, there lived a man by the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was a Christian, and a gifted preacher who taught at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for almost four decades. So gifted was he as a preacher, that many used the nickname, “the prince of preachers” to refer to him. While we sadly do not have videos of him, you can find many of his sermons online for free to read. Some have even adapted them in audio form.
Charles Spurgeon loved the gospel and made it his goal to help as many people as he could confess faith in Jesus and receive salvation every Sunday when he preached. He wrote a short booklet as an evangelical resource for others called All of Grace which contains some of my favorite descriptions of faith and grace, and how they work together. For example, he says:
Why is faith selected as the channel of salvation? No doubt this inquiry is often made. “By grace are ye saved through faith,” is assuredly the doctrine of Holy Scripture, and the ordinance of God; but why is it so? Why is faith selected rather than hope, or love, or patience? … Faith which receives Christ is as simple an act as when your child receives an apple from you, because you hold it out and promise to give him the apple if he comes for it. … The child’s hand does not make the apple, nor improve the apple, nor deserve the apple; it only takes it; and faith is chosen by God to be the receiver of salvation, because it does not pretend to create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content humbly to receive it. “Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price which buys it.” Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests all her argument upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good servant to bring the riches of the Lord Jesus to the soul, because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns that grace alone entrusted her with them. (Spurgeon, All of Grace, page 41)
In other words, Spurgeon agrees with Paul in Romans. God has decided that faith is the means for sinful humans to be saved, because faith is simply the open hand that receives the gift of God’s grace. God is the one who saves us, and we are the ones who receive his grace.
For Further Study
- Read and meditate on John 6:22-59. What does Jesus teach about faith?
- All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon is in the public domain, and you can find a free PDF of the book here. If you prefer audio books, here is a free version of the same.
Small Group Questions
- Discuss some examples of how we use faith in a secular sense – that is, in everyday life. What/who do we regularly believe or trust to accomplish things in this world?
- Read Hebrews 11:1-6. What is faith? Why it is impossible to please God without faith?
- In his sermon, Pastor Abel mentioned how faith results in action. Do you agree? What are some examples, from your life or from someone you know, of action that results from your faith in God?
- Read Romans 10:9-17. What causes faith?
- Review the following short list of promises that I took from Jim Berg’s book “God is More Than Enough” and the Scripture passages which support them. Which promises are the most meaningful to you and why?
- Have you struggled to believe any of the below promises currently or in the past? What is at the root of our resistance to believe what God has said, and how can we grow in this?
God promises to…
- Always meet our genuine needs (Philippians 4:13,19; Matthew 6:31-33)
- Always forgive our sin (1 John 1:9)
- Always be up to something good in our lives (Romans 8:26-34)
- Always love us personally (Romans 8:35-39)
- Always give us the grace we need (2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)