Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017
WSC 86 of 107
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them
Ephesians 2:8-10
WSC 86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace,1 whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.2
1Heb 10:39; 2Jn 1:12; Isa 26:3–4; Phil 3:9; Gal 2:16.
Here’s a question: What is one thing you need to have eternal life? Over the years, I received various answers when I asked this question. Some say, “Obedience.” Why? Because the Lord’s answer to the rich young ruler’s question of what he must do to obtain eternal life is “Keep the commandments.” Others say, “Grace.” For, “by grace ye are saved,” says Paul (Eph 2:5). Some may even reply, “Jesus Christ.” They know that if I ask them a theological or exegetical question and they don’t know the answer, they can say “Jesus,” and it will almost always be correct.
Well, you may have guessed that all the above answers are in some sense correct, depending on the context of the question. But in this message, we must consider the necessity of faith, or more specifically, faith in Jesus Christ and what it is.
Our Shorter Catechism, question 86 asks: “What is faith in Jesus Christ?”
Answer:
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.
Now, there isn’t a biblical text which teaches all these things in the same place. But there is a statement that speaks of the utter importance of faith in our salvation. I am referring to Ephesians 2:8-10:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
Paul begins this chapter by reminding us that we are, by nature, dead in trespasses and sin. We were not drowning or dying. We were dead and rotting spiritually.
We walked according to the course of this world. Our lives could be described as a walk. It was a deliberate, not instinctive, walk, like that of animals. We had a goal. But we were walking towards damnation in the way of ungodliness. We followed Satan willingly. We sought to fulfil the lust of our flesh without regard to God.
And so we were children of God’s wrath. God did not hate us. God never hates the elect because they are beloved in Christ. Nevertheless, God was angry with us for our sins. We deserved His wrath and curse.
But God, in His mercy, love and kindness toward us, quickened us together with Christ (v. 5), raised us together with Christ (v. 6a), and seated us together with Christ in heavenly places (v. 6b). We were made alive spiritually so that we could hear the call of the gospel. When we responded to the call, we were raised so that we might walk in the way of life (v. 10b).
These are essential doctrinal assertions, for they have tremendous implications for us. They teach us what we are to think of God, and how to live for Him.
Ephesians 2:8-10 is essentially a re-iteration and summary of what Paul has been saying. In these famous verses, He presents three crucial things. First, he reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith. Secondly, he reminds us that this faith is a gift of God. Thirdly, he reminds us that our faith is borne out of a new nature.
1. We Are Saved by Grace Through Faith
Verse 8 reads, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.”
What does Paul mean by ‘saved’ in this context? Paul usually speaks of salvation in three senses of the word, corresponding to the idea that believers have been saved, are being saved and will be saved. We are saved in our justification when God declares us righteous on account of what Christ has done. We are being saved in our sanctification (cf. Phil 2:12). We shall be saved from the wrath to come on the day of our resurrection and glorification (cf. Rom 5:9).
What does Paul mean by ‘saved’ in our text? It is clear that he is alluding to our justification, for the word ‘saved’ is in the perfect tense in the original. The perfect tense in Greek describes something that has been done, whose effects are still being felt.
Therefore, when Paul says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith,” he is essentially saying, “For by grace are you justified through faith.” Writing to the Romans, he expresses the same idea when he insists, “The just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17).
We are justified by faith. By faith, we receive God’s declaration that we are righteous.
Now, the act of faith is believing. We are saved, says Paul, not by anything else but by exercising faith.
But why faith? Why not meditation? Why not prayer? Why not fasting? Why not charity? Why not penance? Why not good works? Why not love?
Because we cannot save ourselves! All our righteous deeds are filthy rags in the sight of God (Isa 64:6). To be saved, we must receive the righteousness that is acceptable to God.
What is the righteousness that is acceptable to God? It is the righteousness of the Son of God, who lived a perfectly righteous life for us and suffered and died to pay for our sins.
How does faith come in? Faith comes in as the hands to receive the righteousness of God in Christ. It may be reckoned as the pipe through which the water from God’s reservoir of grace in Christ flows into our hearts.
This is why Paul says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” We are not really saved by faith. Faith is just the instrument. It is merely the hand or the pipe through which we must receive God’s grace. It is Christ who saves. When Paul says: “by grace are ye saved through faith,” it is really a shorthand for, “By grace are ye saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” As our catechism puts it, saving faith is receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation as He is presented in the gospel.
What is it to receive Christ? It is to acknowledge and confess Him as my personal saviour as He is presented to us the gospel. If we want to boil it down to its essence, it involves agreeing and accepting two propositions: (1) Christ is the son of God who took on human flesh to live and die for sinners to save them from their sins; (2) I am indeed a sinner, I need Christ, I want Him to save me, and I know He will save me. Or, we may say that to receive Christ is to wear the garment of righteousness that Christ is handing you. It is not merely to agree that He can save you, but to be confident that He will save you. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,” says John (Jn 1:12).
What is it to rest in Christ? It is to cease to rely upon our own righteousness for acceptance by God, but to cling on to Christ and to find peace in the fact that God will accept me as righteousness in His sight because of what Christ did for me. It is to be dead in Christ and have our life hidden in Him. This is what Paul means when he speaks of being “found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil 3:9).
Faith in Christ, in other words, wholeheartedly receives all that Christ has revealed concerning Himself and what He came to do, and then entrusts herself wholly to His care. Faith looks away from herself to Christ. Those who have faith forget about themselves as they look to Christ and Christ alone.
This is also why Paul says, “By grace are ye saved.” What is grace? Grace is unmerited and unconditional favour. It is a free gift of God. God’s grace is God’s gift. It is something we do not work for or deserve. It is given without pre-condition. What form does this gift take? Is it merely a ticket to heaven or a certificate to say we are righteous? No, no; Paul says in Romans 5:17:
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17
God’s gracious gift for our salvation is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to us, or credited to our account!
So when Paul says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith,” he is saying: You were saved when you received by faith the righteousness of Christ, which God freely attributed to you.
But now the question may be asked: If faith is believing, then faith belongs to the person who exercises it, so how can our salvation be said to be by grace? Wouldn’t it be true that, ultimately, my salvation depends on how great a faith I have and how I exercise it? Wouldn’t that mean that my salvation actually rests in my hands?
Paul anticipates this objection as he reminds us, secondly, that our faith is a gift of God.
2. Our Faith Is a Gift of God
Once again, the act of faith is believing. If I say I have faith, I am saying, “I believe.” Faith in Christ is an act of our will arising from our knowledge of the gospel. How, then, can we be said to be saved by grace? Or, in another way, how can we say that we are saved unconditionally and freely if we must do our part by believing?
Suppose I say I will give you a million dollars, but the condition is that you must agree with everything I say. Suppose you agree to my condition. You start to agree with everything I say, so I give you a million dollars. Now, would you say the money is given freely and unconditionally? Would you not instead think that it is given conditionally and manipulatively?
If that is the case, how can we say we are saved by grace, even grace unconditional and free, when we have to repent and believe in the first place?
Well, we can because faith is a gift of God! As Paul puts it, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (v. 8-10).
Now, is the gift of God in this declaration? Some commentators say that by the gift, Paul is referring to the grace of God. But that would make Paul tautologous, for grace is the free gift of God, so Paul would be saying, “The free gift of God is the gift of God.”
I am convinced that Calvin and almost all Calvinistic commentators are correct that to Paul the gift of God is ‘faith.’
This makes a lot of sense, for Paul is trying to show that we are saved by grace. We do not merit our salvation. Our salvation is not conditioned upon anything we do. It is not dependent on our natural ability or inclinations. It is not even dependent on our own faith! Otherwise, we can indeed boast: “It was my faith that saved me! The gift of salvation may be very great, but it was, after all, by my faith that I received it.”
So Paul reminds us this faith is not of ourselves. It is a gift of God. It is given by God. Or, as our catechism puts it, “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace.” Now, this word grace carries two implications. The first indicates that it is something that is freely given. The second suggests that it is a virtue in the heart. We will see the second implication expounded in our third point, but for now, we must see that it is freely given.
And in case we still don’t get it, Paul adds that it is “not of works!” What does Paul mean when he says that? Well, to understand what he means, it is helpful for us to know that the word for ‘works’ (ἔργον, ergon) is the word from which we get the English ‘energy’. Work is something which we do with our own energy.
So when Paul says that this faith is not of works, what he is simply saying is that it did not spring out of our own hearts. It is not something we generate from our hearts. It is not of our own will.
God does not merely promise to save us if we believe in Christ. He commands us to believe Him. He promises to save us when we believe in Him. And He gives us the gift of faith to enable us to believe in Him.
So you see, our faith is not of ourselves. It is a gift of God. Since it is given by God, we have no ground to claim credit or to boast.
We could claim credit or boast in our good judgment of exercising faith in a politician. But we cannot boast about exercising faith to receive Christ’s righteousness, for the faith is not ours naturally. This is the basis of the word “alone” in the answer to WSC 85:
“Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.”
We do not contribute anything at all to our salvation, not even the exercise of faith. It is Christ alone who saves!
This point is so important that Paul reiterates it by ensuring we understand how we come to have the faith we need for our salvation.
He tells us…
3. Our Faith Arises Out of a Re-Created Heart
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them
Eph 2:10
Believers are God’s workmanship. We are His handiwork. Paul is not referring to our creation. He is referring to our re-creation. We were created or recreated in Christ Jesus.
Put another way, we are what we are as believers due to the extraordinary work of God’s Spirit based on what Christ has done for us.
What is this work? Paul calls it a quickening (v. 5). We were dead in trespasses and sin. We were, as it were, useless in the kingdom of God. We were as useful as a dead body in the king’s court. But we were quickened. We were made alive. We were given a new birth. We were given a new nature. We were given a new heart. We were re-created in Christ!
Why were we quickened or re-created? We were created to do good works, which please God! That is the purpose of our election and salvation. It is God’s purpose that we should serve Him. It is God’s purpose that we should do good works in the name of Christ to glorify Him.
For this reason, a Christian who is not inclined to do good for Christ’s name’s sake can have little assurance that he belongs to Christ.
But what does this have to do with what Paul has been discussing?
Well, remember how Paul has just said that our faith is not of works lest anyone should boast (v. 9). Is he, therefore, saying that we can boast of our good works, but cannot boast of our faith? No, no; Paul is simply saying that the believer cannot boast at all because even his good works arise not from his old nature but from grace.
It is from our new nature that all that is pleasing to God, including our faith, flows. In fact, faith is the first thing that flows from this new nature. Through faith, we are raised with Christ and start doing all the other works that glorify God.
The faith and the good works that we are enabled to do are gifts from God, which He enables us to do through His Spirit’s gracious work of quickening and empowering us.
Likewise, by implication, our faith by which we receive the righteousness of Christ is a gift of God which is given in our quickening.
Faith, therefore, is a result of God’s gracious act of quickening in the first place. It is not something we have by nature, and, therefore, not something with which we may trigger a response from God to save us. Instead, it is a saving grace, or a saving virtue wrought in us by the Holy Spirit as He begins to save us.
Or, let me put it this way: How is faith a gift of God? It is not poured into us. Faith cannot be poured, as it is an exercise of our will and intellect. So, how is faith given to us? Faith is given to us in our quickening!
Remember how faith is like the hands of our soul that receive the gift of righteousness from the Lord. Before we were quickened, the hands of our souls were shrivelled as our souls were dead. But when we are quickened, the hands of our soul are not only enabled to receive the blessings of God, but are also enabled to do good works.
Make no mistake. We are not saying that God changes our hearts and leaves us to do what we would do in our new nature. We are saying that this is a new nature that will work in tandem with the Holy Spirit to believe and do good works.
This is what Paul means when he tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and then adds that it is God who works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). But the Spirit will never again leave us. And when we live a life filled by the Spirit and guided by Him, we shall be full of good works.
This is why James insists that faith without works is dead. Anyone who has genuine faith will do good works for which they have been ordained to do. They will do good works because the change of heart that gives them faith will, at the same time, give them a desire to glorify God’s name by good works. So, the Christian life is a life of good works. Our faith is not alone. Our faith is a saving grace that unites us to Christ. It gives us life, even a life of good works, unto the glory of God.
Conclusion
We learn three things about faith today.
First, we are reminded that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This involves receiving Christ as He is presented in the gospel and resting upon Him and His finished work on the Cross. Glory be to Christ!
Secondly, we are reminded that this faith is a gift of God’s Spirit and not of ourselves. Therefore, our salvation is based entirely on what Christ has done. We do not contribute one stitch to the garment of our salvation. Not even a sliver of faith! Glory be to the Spirit!
Thirdly, we are reminded that this faith is given to us as part of a new nature created unto good works, which we are ordained to do. Therefore, our faith is not alone. It is a saving faith, for by this faith, we obtain life, even a life of good works for the glory of God. Glory to the Father!
All these can be summarised in our Shorter Catechism:
WSC 86. What is Faith in Jesus Christ?
Answer. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.
Why is it important to know these things?
(1) We need to know these things, firstly, so that we may glorify God as we ought to. Our salvation is not of our own will, intellect or ability. It is the work of God Triune from beginning to end. We must learn to praise and thank God for salvation so rich and free.
(2) Secondly, we need to know what saving faith is so that we do not make the mistake of many that as long as we have faith or are faithful, we will be saved. No, no; unless our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can have no salvation. Faith in the pastor, faith in the church, or even faith in doctrine will not save you. Being faithful is good, but you will not be saved unless you receive and rest upon Christ alone for your salvation.
(3) Thirdly, we need to know these things because our Christian life depends on our understanding of saving faith, for we are to live by faith, not by sight. Consider five groups of professing Christians.
The first are the idolaters. These profess to be Christian because the other idols they tried were not effective, so they decided to give Jesus a chance to prove Himself.
The second are the religionists. These profess to be Christian, but live as if Christianity is merely about doing the right things and saying the right things.
The third are the concert-goers. These profess to be Christian but live as if Christianity is merely having a ticket to heaven and going to church once in a while.
The fourth are the legalists. These profess to be Christian, but live in fear that God will reject them because they are not good enough.
The fifth are the hypocrites. These profess to be Christian, but don’t really believe anything. They are merely following their parents, children, or friends to church.
Are you any of these? Those who truly understand that they are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and truly understand what saving faith is will not fall into these dangerous groups. Instead, they will magnify God-Triune and live fruitful Christian lives as those united to Christ their Lord and Saviour. Amen.
—JJ Lim