VII.
TRUST IN CHRIST ALONE
A.
THE WORD "TRUST" IS A SYNONYM FOR THE GREEK WORDS TRANSLATED
BELIEVE AND FAITH.
1.
Believe
and Faith are Used Hundreds of Times (492) in the Bible
to Communicate the Concept of Trusting in Christ Alone for Eternal Life.
2.
Believe is a verb and Faith is a noun.
B.
FAITH IN CHRIST IS THE KEY TO ETERNAL SALVATION.
Faith
is the means by which the saving work of Christ is applied to the believing
sinner. Eternal salvation comes to the individual when that person places their
trust in Christ's death on the cross as the complete payment for their sins.
1.
What
it is Not - mere intellectual
assent in just the historical facts.
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Imagine a ship filled
with people crossing the Atlantic. In the middle of the ocean there is an
explosion. The ship is severely damaged and slowly sinking. Most are dead, and
the rest are rushing for the lifeboats. Now suppose one man doesn't know
about the lifeboats, so he does not get aboard. He doesn't have
knowledge, so he is not saved.
Suppose
another man knows about the lifeboat and believes it will save his life, but
he is grief-stricken over seeing his wife killed, so he chooses not to get
aboard and dies with his wife. He has knowledge and mental assent,
but he is not saved.
Others
believe the lifeboats will save them, and they get into the boat.
They are saved by faith, that is, they have knowledge, mental
assent, and trust. However, it is not their faith that saves them
- no matter how much they have. It is the boat. Saving faith trust
Christ, and Christ saves." -
(G. Michael Cocoris -
EVANGELISM:
A BIBLICAL APPROACH - page 77).
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2. What it Is – complete
trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal salvation.
CHRIST
DIED. . . THAT'S HISTORY.
CHRIST
DIED FOR ME. . . THAT'S SALVATION!
C.
FAITH IS TRUSTING IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO SAVE YOU.
FAITH
is a voluntary and sincere change in the mind of the
sinner, causing him to completely trust in Christ alone for
eternal life.
The
meaning is, “to accept something as being true, a confident belief in the
truth, taking people at their word, and/or trusting that what they say is true.
To
have eternal life, one must trust the Lord Jesus Christ completely
for salvation. The responsibility is for you to Believe on Christ.
YOU
MUST TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE, AND GOD WILL GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE AS A
GIFT!
We
cannot trust in "good works" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in our "baptism" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in the "local church" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in "turning over a new leaf" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in our "feelings" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in "ourselves" to get us to Heaven.
We
cannot trust in "others" to get us to Heaven.
We
must trust in Christ alone as our only way to Heaven.
SALVATION
= FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST + NOTHING!
The
Bible is clear, "He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life" (John 3:36).
John
14:6 - Jesus
plainly said, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
Ephesians
2:8, 9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God; NOT OF WORKS, lest
any man should boast."
John
3:18 - "He that BELIEVETH on Him is not condemned; but he that
BELIEVETH NOT is condemned already, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the
name of the only begotten Son of God."
John
3:16 - "For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever BELIEVETH in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life."
John
1:12 - "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."
John
3:36 - "He
that BELIEVETH on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that
BELIEVETH NOT on the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
on him."
John
5:24 - "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hearth my
word, and BELIEVETH on Him that send me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
John
6:40 - "And this is the will of Him that send me, that every one
which seeth the Son, and BELIEVETH on Him, may have everlasting
life."
Acts
10:43 - "To
Him gave all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever BELIEVETH
in Him shall receive remission of sins."
Acts
13:39 - "And by Him all that BELIEVE are justified, from all
things, from which we could not be justified by the laws of Moses."
John
6:47 - "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that BELIEVETH
on Me hath everlasting life."
"WE
ARE SAVED BY BELIEVING, NOT BY ACHIEVING!"
"FAITH
ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE IS SALVATION!"
D. HOW MUCH "FAITH" IS REQUIRE TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?
1. It only takes a little.
LUKE
17:5,6 - "And the Apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed..."
A
mustard seed is small. A "grain" of mustard seed is tiny! The
real question is not how much, but has to do with the object of your faith.
A lot of faith in the wrong thing is not any good, but a little faith in
the right thing is enough.
Faith
in your good works for eternal life means death and Hell. Faith in Christ, plus
anything means death and Hell.
Faith
in Christ alone means eternal life for the person who is trusting in the work of
Christ on the cross for their eternal salvation.
2. It is a child-like faith.
MARK
10:13-16 - Jesus said, "...suffer the little children to come unto
me, and forbid them not: for such is the Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall NOT
enter therein..."
Children
trust adults. Without knowing anything about an adult they will trust
them. Child-like trust is real. It is simple faith, yet totally trusting
in the adult figure. That is why we teach our Children to not talk with
strangers or take candy from them.
Faith
in Christ is that child-like faith. It is simple faith, but completely
trusting in Christ alone for eternal life.
E. THE
OBJECT OF FAITH IS JESUS CHRIST.
Having
eternal life (knowing you are going to Heaven) is not conditioned on how
one believes, but on whom one believes. Salvation is not base on the
"kind" of faith, but the "object" of one's
faith.
Notice
the grammatical construction that occurs every time faith is
mention in connection with forgiveness and salvation. The word
"believe" is followed by the preposition "in" or
"on" depending on the context of the passage.
1. John 1:12 - "But as many as received Him (Jesus Christ), to
them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe ON
His (Jesus
Christ) name."
2. John 3:16 - "...
that whosoever believeth IN
HIM (Jesus Christ) should not perish..."
3. John 3:36 -
"He that believeth ON
THE SON (Jesus Christ) hath everlasting life . . ."
4. John 6:40 - "And this is the will of Him that sent Me. that
every one which seeth the Son and believeth ON
Him (Jesus Christ), may have
everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
The
Apostle John and all the writers of the New Testament understood
that simply believing in God would not get anyone to Heaven. The
unbeliever was to put their trust in Christ's death on the cross as the complete
payment for sin. Jesus Christ is the object of our faith. He alone saves us from
our sins.
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Faith
itself does not save. That is, we are saved only when we place our faith in
the right object, namely, Jesus Christ.
Some
people question the validity of faith alone. They believe that works are
necessary along with faith. For support they refer to James 2:19, which
says the demons believe and tremble. So, they argue, believing is not
sufficient.
But
the question is, "What do demons believe?" They believe that
God is one (James 2:19), that is, they are monotheists. So are
millions of others, and that is not sufficient to save.
Demons do not believe
that Jesus died for their sins and that they can be saved through placing their
faith in Him.
In
other words, believing that God exists does not save. But believing that
Jesus died for your sins and was raised again for your justification does
save” (Romans 4:24-25). -
(Dr. Earl D. Radmacher - SALVATION -
page 120).
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Faith does not save. Faith is not magic; there
is no saving virtue in it. Christ saves.
Faith
is merely the means by which the benefits of Christ's death are applied to the
individual. The New Testament does not teach that a person is saved on
account of his faith, but rather, that he is saved through faith. The
saving power resides not in the act of faith, nor in the nature of faith,
but exclusively in the object of faith - Christ.
All
that is needed is a little faith. Jesus said an amount the size of a
mustard seed would do (Luke 17:6). A mustard seed is tiny. The
issue, then, is not the amount, but the object of faith.
The
question is whether the object of faith is able to do the job. A great
amount of faith in a bridge too weak to support you would do you no good,
but a small amount of faith in a bridge that would support you - just enough to
get you on it - is enough to get you across it. -
(G. Michael Cocoris -
EVANGELISM:
A BIBLICAL APPROACH - pages 76-77).
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F.
HOW DO WE GET FAITH?
Romans
10:17 -
"So then FAITH cometh by HEARING, and HEARING by the Word of
God" (Hearing = Believing).
Romans
10: 1-
Romans
10: 12-17-
Which
comes first? Believing
or, calling on the name of the Lord? Believing!
Which
comes first?
Hearing the message or believing the message? Hearing!
Which
comes first?
Someone preaching or someone hearing the message? Preaching!
Which
comes first?
One being sent to preach or one preaching? The Sending!
God
uses men and women to (preach) proclaim His glorious gospel to the world.
G.
WHY FAITH IS NECESSARY.
Hebrews
11:6 - "But without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please (God) . . ."
1. ETERNAL LIFE -
We
are Saved by Faith (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8, 9).
2. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE -
We
Live by Faith (II Corinthians 5:7, Romans 1:17).
H.
PRESENTATION: PRINCIPLE #4 - Trust In Christ Alone
Carefully
go over this section of the Facts tract. Make the verses personal - Add the
name of the person you are witnessing to in the blank.
Acts
16:31 - "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ( __________ ) will be saved."
Ask,
"Does it say that God 'might' save you if you put your trust in Christ?”
John
3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever ( __________ ) believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life."
Ask,
"Do you believe this verse?”
If
you can put your name in the blank space, on the authority of God's word,
what does it say you can know?
John
6:47 - "Verily, Verily (truly, truly), I say unto you (
__________ ), He that believeth on Me HATH everlasting life."
I
John 5:13 - "These things have I written unto ( __________ ) that
believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye ( __________ ) may KNOW
that ye have eternal life..."
Ask,
" (__________ ), do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins
on the cross?"
Ask,
"What does this verse say that you have, if you believe this?"
1. THE CHAIR ILLUSTRATION - Acts 16:31
"The
word “believe” means trust. For example, it is like sitting in a chair. You
didn't examine how it was built before you sat down in it. You didn't put
half your weight in the chair and then sit down in it. You simply trusted
the chair to hold you. Trusting in Christ means you are trusting Him alone to
save you. You are not trusting your good works or anything else to get you
to heaven. You are depending totally on Christ to save you and give you the
gift of eternal life.
2. THE AIRPLANE ILLUSTRATION -
John 3:16
"Trusting
in Christ for eternal life is much like boarding on a Jet. The moment you
step on the plane - you're trusting your destination to the pilot. If your
going to Dallas; you have to trust in the pilot to get you there. The
same is true with Christ. If we expect to go to Heaven it will only happen when
we put our faith in Christ. He died on the cross to pay for all of our sins.
Now, He wants us to trust Him alone to get us to Heaven."
