Through Faith

Introduction: The Transformation of Grace and the Compendium of Salvation

0:03 I turn again this morning to Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, the portion of the word of God that we commonly call the book of Ephesians, more properly the letter to the Ephesian Christians, and we continue our careful examination of the apostles' words, particularly as they are found in verses 8 through 10.

1:01 He said, in common everyday conversation, we often speak of two things as being as different as night and day. Perhaps there are two children, born of the same parents, reared in the same environment, and yet their temperaments so entirely different, their aptitudes, their interests, their natural inclinations, that we shake our heads and say, how could two children as different as night and day come from the same two parents? Or, some of you who may be athletically inclined, you notice perhaps two golfers, two baseball players, both tremendously advanced in their aptitude athletically, and yet we say of their styles, their style is as different as night is from day. May I say that whatever night-day contrast you think you may see with reference to children, to athletes, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to children, to anything under the sun, no contrast is as vivid as the contrast set before us in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, as the Apostle describes what the Ephesians and all men are by nature, verses 1 to 3, and what they have become by the operations of God's

2:26 grace, as described in verses 4 through 10. And in that 1. wonderful description of the tremendous transformation of grace, the Apostle in verses 4 to 7 has given us some of the clearest teaching to be found anywhere in the word of God concerning the author of this transformation, who is God himself. He has described to us the motive which moved him to effect this great transformation, and he calls it his rich mercy and his great love.

3:00 Then he sets before us. This unique method in the transformation, God transforms dead, bound, guilty sinners by uniting them to his own Son, quickens us with Christ according to the language of the text, raises us with Christ, and seats us together in the heavenlies in Christ. And then the goal that God has in mind, that which he intended when he put into operation this great transformation. It is stated so clearly in verse 7 that in the ages to come, he might show forth, he might display the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Then in verses 8 through 10, the Apostle reviews what he has already told us. He expands certain aspects of what he has already told us, and then he underscores some of the most fundamental issues. The Apostle gives to us in verses 8 to 10 what I have called a compendium of salvation by grace.

4:13 Every major line of biblical revelation concerning salvation by Christ is before us here in verses 8 to 10, at least in germ form. Here is a distillation of everything that is taught from Genesis to Revelation. This is the revelation concerning God's salvation, which is of necessity a salvation by grace. And we sought to address ourselves to this question, namely, why was the Apostle so concerned to review, to expand, and to underscore what he has already obviously taught us in the previous verses?

Guarding the Inlet and Outlet of Grace

4:55 It's obvious that if we are dead, we are bound, and we are guilty, that if we are ever rescued, it must be. a rescue rooted in the grace of God. But having shown us some of the great issues of salvation by grace, the apostle is conscious that perhaps few tendencies are stronger in the evil human heart than the tendency to pervert the grace of God, to pervert it at its inlet, so that grace that comes to us as pure grace will be defiled by man's efforts and man's contributions. And then to defile the pure stream of grace in its outlet, turning that grace into a license for sin.

5:40 And verses 8 to 10 constitute the two sentries, the two guards, who jealously watch over the inlet and the outlet of grace. Verses 8 and 9 telling us that salvation is by grace, pure grace, nothing but grace. And verse 10 telling us that that grace, once it flows into the heart of man, will be defiled by man's efforts and man's contributions. to the life, will always issue in a transformed life in good works that are performed by the power of God and unto the glory of God.

Review of Previous Points: Nature and Cause of Salvation

6:12 Well, we began last week a careful examination of these verses, and we saw but two things in them. I shall only mention them and then move to our study this morning. We saw that the transformation is described as to its essential nature. How is this transformation described?

6:31 Well, the apostle describes it by the use of the word saved. By grace ye have been saved. You have been delivered from sin and its consequences unto the gracious purposes and provisions of God. And then we concluded our study by showing from this text that the transformation is then traced to its principal cause.

6:58 Why have we been rescued from? And understand? And the text says, for by grace. The principal cause of this transformation is the grace of God, the unmerited favor of God, the unsought-for kindness of God to the ill-deserving.

7:18 And then we saw that this little phrase, for by grace ye have been saved, rightly understood, forms a plumb line by which we measure all religious teaching. What place does it give to this concept of being saved in its biblical meaning? What place does it give to grace? The words form not only a plumb line to measure all teaching, but a mirror by which to examine our own hearts.

7:48 What place does this biblical notion have in our own hearts? For by grace ye have been saved. Do I find an answer in my own spirit? A great delight in salvation.

8:01 Salvation by grace. And then it forms a tower of proclamation. The only message worthy of being preached as good news is the message that God rescues sinners and he rescues them in his amazing grace. Now we come today to the third line of truth that's in this compendium, and it's found in the two words, through faith.

The Instrumental Means of Salvation: Through Faith

8:27 And in these words, the apostle is done. Giving to us the transformation explained as to its instrumental means. The essential nature of the transformation, you have been saved. The principal cause, by grace.

8:48 By what means do I come into the possession of this salvation by grace? What is the means by which it becomes mine? And the answer of this text is, through faith. And so he gives us the means described by faith, and then the source from which this means comes, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

9:16 We'll only have time this morning to consider the means described, the little phrase, through faith. Now what do we mean when we talk about something being the instrumental means of another thing? Well, the you who were here last week will remember the illustration I used trying to illustrate what the Bible means by saved. We had our boy floundering around in the cold waters of the pond where he shouldn't have been.

9:46 He had fallen through the ice. Well, the author of his salvation, of his rescue from the icy waters and ultimately into the warmth of his home and into his mother and father's arms, the author was the local storekeeper who heard his cries. The moving cause was the compassion and the concern and kindness of that storekeeper. But the means that was used was that pole stretched out upon the ice, and when the little boy laid hold of the pole, his laying hold of the pole was the instrumental means of his deliverance from the icy waters and ultimately to the bosom of God.

10:31 The channel of God is the last of these upsets. The house is consigliness. Sometimes the plan is too easy. starvation, unto health and physical well-being. Well, who's the author of that salvation? The kindly, benevolent man. What was the principal cause? The grace, the kindness, the undeserved favor of that man. What was the instrumental means of that salvation from starvation to health?

11:23 It was the taking and the assimilating of the food thus offered. That was the instrumental means. So it be perfectly proper for the beggar to say, I was saved from starvation and death unto health by a kindly man. It be perfectly proper for him to say, I was saved from starvation and ultimate death unto a life of health and well-being by the kindness of a wealthy man. It be perfectly proper for him to say, I was saved from death unto health by the food offered. A kindly and wealthy man. It be perfectly proper to say, I was saved by eating the food offered by a kind and a wealthy man. You see? And it is the eating that is the instrumental cause. But now

12:17 in the case of the little boy who's rescued, the instrumental means laying hold of the pole stretched across the ice. In the case of the destitute beggar, taking and eating the offered food, can you ever imagine the boy building a monument to the pole and worshipping the pole and always talking about the wonderful pole that he laid hold of? You say, ridiculous. If he thinks about his rescue at all, all of his attention will be focused upon the strength and the love of the man who held out the pole. Likewise with the beggar. Can you imagine him building a monument to his own hands and saying, I was saved from starvation and death unto health by the kindness of a kind and a wealthy man? Can you imagine him building a monument to his own hands and saying, look, these hands took the food. Aren't they wonderful hands? Can you imagine him building

13:09 a monument to his teeth, to the juices and enzymes in his mouth where the digestion begins, and to the more potent juices that work in the stomach? And saying, well, without my juices, without my teeth, I never would have been. You say, of course not. He will praise not his teeth and his mouth and his digestive juices or his hands. He will praise the benevolent man who provided food for him in his destitute condition. The instrumental means never becomes the focus of gratitude. And so when the apostle says, for by grace have he been saved through faith, he is setting before us the place of faith in our salvation. And it is nothing more, and it is nothing less than the instrumental means.

14:06 It is the laying hold of the pole that God sets before us in our dilemma. It is the eating of the bread of life that he offers to our starving souls. And the attention of those thus rescued by means of grace operating through faith. The concern will never be to deify their faith, to make a god of their faith.

14:37 But to be found lost in wonder, love and praise to the God who rescues and to the Savior by whose virtue we are brought into life. That's what I mean by instrumental means. It's a technical term, but it's the best term to use to describe the place of faith. Now, having done that by way of introduction, now let's consider the text in more careful detail.

The Place of Faith: Essential and Exclusive

15:08 For by grace he have been saved through faith. The transformation described with reference to the instrumental means through faith. And will you notice in the first place, the place of faith in our salvation. The text clearly states that faith is both essential and the exclusive means by which we are saved.

15:39 There's nothing in the text that says that faith is both essential and the exclusive means by which we are saved. There's nothing in the text to indicate that we are saved apart from faith. Nor is there anything to indicate that we are saved by means of anything other than faith. And I want you to consider those two simple points with me that are inherent in the text.

15:58 For by grace are ye saved. Now the text does not say independent of faith. It says by grace are ye saved through faith. In other words, in the thinking of the Apostle Paul, there is no inconsistency between a salvation that is all of grace and a salvation that is of necessity, a salvation by faith. And according to this text, no one has any grounds to say he's been rescued by God on account of Christ in the moving power of God. There is no power of grace unless he or she is a believer. There is no salvation apart from faith. Now listen to our Lord as he states this in John 3 and verse 36.

16:56 He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him. He that believeth not. The wrath of God yet abides upon him.

17:16 And this has a direct reference in our study of this passage. For you remember that the description of what men are by nature in the first few verses of Ephesians 2 concludes with this statement, And we were by nature children of wrath, that is, those exposed to, liable to the wrath of God. And John tells us that until there is the exorcism, the size of this faith described in verse 8, we are still under a canopy of divine wrath. Again, our Lord teaches in John 16 verses 8 and 9 that when the Spirit is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.

18:01 And then our Lord says of sin because they believe not on me. The crowning sin of every sinner to whom the gospel comes, is the sin of unbelief. Of sin because they believe not on me. Again, I remind you of the statement of the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1.8 speaking of the second coming of Jesus Christ as a comfort to believers and a terror to the non-believer. He says these words, He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on all them, that know not God and believe not the gospel. What do you need to do to draw down upon yourself the unleashed fury of a returning Christ? What do you need to do to make yourself a monument

19:10 of the wrath of the Lamb through all eternity? All you need do, is fail to believe. That's all. You need not curse God.

19:22 You need not damn His Son. You need not blaspheme His gospel. You need not deny the reality and presence of the Holy Spirit. You need not undermine one cardinal truth of the word of God.

19:37 You need not live an open, profane, lecherous life. All you need do is remain in your native unbelief and He will take vengeance upon you. In flaming fire, taking vengeance on all them that believe not the gospel. Again we read in Revelation 21.8, having described the glories of the redeemed, John says, but without, and he describes them, and these are the words that are used, but the fearful and the unbelieving. And they are classed together with whoremongers and liars and idolaters. What do you need to seal to yourself the company of whoremongers and liars and idolaters and devils and demons for all eternity? All you need do is fail to believe.

20:35 And it's a simple word in the original. Just the word for faith, pistis, with the little alpha privative at the beginning, the little a, not. All you need do is fail to believe. And so when I say that this text teaches that there is no salvation apart from faith, I am not reading into the text some thought that is foreign to all that comes before us in Holy Scripture.

No Other Instrumental Means Than Faith

21:09 I am simply drawing from the text what is warranted by the arrangement of the words, for by grace have ye been saved through faith. Wherever the salvation of God comes and terminates upon a sinner, there you will always find this grace of faith. No salvation apart from faith. But secondly, this little phrase, occurring where it does, also teaches us this.

21:40 There is no instrumental means of our salvation other than faith. We are not told, for by grace are you saved through love, nor does it say, for by grace are you saved through hope, by grace are you saved through zeal, through prayer, through fasting, through Christ-like character, through vows of obedience, through sorrow for sin, through resolutions to be done with sin. And listen, it doesn't even say, for by grace are you saved through repentance. That isn't what my text says.

22:21 Now, just look at the text. For by grace are you saved through faith. No salvation apart from faith, but no instrumental means other than faith. Now granted, granted, this faith will never be divorced from repentance.

22:41 Never. That's why the Apostle said he could preach repentance toward God in faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and they will always be present in the same heart wherever one is, the other will be present. But listen, the Bible nowhere says that repentance is the instrumental means of our salvation. It is an indispensable ingredient of a saving response to the Gospel.

23:10 But the Scripture is careful to say, by grace are you saved through faith. Granted, that faith will never be a dormant, lifeless, inoperative faith. It will always be found at home with humility for sin, brokenness over sin, with a sense of hungering after God, prayer, self-denial, vows of obedience. These will always be its blessed sisters and brothers and children.

23:40 But the thing itself is faith. No instrumental means of our salvation other than faith. This is why the Reformers were careful to emphasize sola fide, by faith alone. And the Apostle sets before us in this compendium of salvation by grace.

24:09 And in the original he is so careful with this. He uses a construction of the words in the original. Never uses the accusative, which would mean we are saved, on account of our faith, but always uses the genitive. We are saved through faith as the instrumental means.

24:30 Now this concept of salvation, never coming apart from faith, never attributed to any other instrumental means other than faith, is consistent with everything found in the word of God from Genesis to Revelation. As one author has said, faith is never treated as a novelty of the New Testament. Nor is any distinction drawn between the faith of the old and the new covenants. There is greater light for believers in the new.

25:04 There is a richness in their faith. There is a more defined focus after the revelation of Christ. But if you ever had any question that people are saved qualitatively different in the old than in the new, lay it to rest by reading two chapters in the word of God. That's all you need.

25:23 Romans 4 and Hebrews 11. That's all. Because Romans 4 shows that before the giving of the law, Abraham was justified by faith. After the giving of the law, David was blessed with divine forgiveness through faith.

25:42 And Hebrews 11 brings before us all of the great characters of faith in the Old Testament in order to support the exhortation with which the tenth chapter closes, which is an exhortation to believe unto the saving of the soul. And then he draws out for his support the Old Testament characters. And so the salvation of God in the Old Testament was a salvation that came by the instrumental means of faith. This was the consistent teaching of our Lord.

26:15 This is the work of God, he said in John 6, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. In chapter 7, he that believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 11, 25. He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.

26:34 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. It's the apostolic testimony that whosoever believeth in him. John 3, 16. Acts 10, 43.

26:46 Acts 13, 38 and 39. By him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. What directive to Paul and Silas give to the jailer who cries out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? The direction given is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

27:10 In Romans, Paul's great theme is the gospel that is suited to the needs of all men, Jew and Gentile. And he enunciates his theme in chapter 1 in verse 16 and 17. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone not that loveth, everyone that mourneth, everyone that hopeth, everyone that voweth, to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith.

27:38 It is the testimony of Romans 4 as I've mentioned again in chapter 5 just shall live by faith. It is the testimony of Romans 4 as I've mentioned again in chapter 5 just shall live by faith. Chapter 5 justified by faith. We have peace with God.

27:54 The entire argument of the epistle to the Galatians chapter 2 chapter 3 all the way through the New Testament and I don't want to weary you by citing examples but I've given you just enough to let you feel the pervasive emphasis of the word of God in this area. So much is this so that one of the descriptive titles of the new community was this they are called believers. Acts 5 in verse 14 and believers were the more added unto the Lord. So central is faith as the instrumental means of our salvation that it is proper to call a true Christian a believer.

28:39 And what was the goal of the Apostles ministry in his preaching? He tells us in Romans 1 5 he had received grace for obedience to the faith or obedience of faith is a more accurate translation among all the nations. What is he concerned about? He's concerned that there shall be the exercise of faith that in turn will produce all of its holy fruits of obedience to the Gospel and to the Savior whom it proclaims.

The Spirit of Error and Distortions of Faith

29:13 Now then if these assertions are true and I trust you're convinced by the wording of the text two assertions no salvation apart from faith by grace you say through faith and no instrumental means of our salvation other than faith and I trust you see that in the text and in the supportive evidence we should not be surprised that since this matter of the place of faith in our salvation that there would be in the history of the scriptures and also of subsequent church history a continuous effort of the spirit of error to undermine the clear teaching of our text. Salvation by grace which is salvation by faith is the jugular vein of true religion and if the spirit of error is concerned to undermine true religion we must to see the dastardly work of that spirit of error in this precise field of concern and in a very perceptive essay I don't know what to call B.B. Warfield's articles they're not articles they're not sermons

30:43 they're wonderful panoramic scriptural presentations of various themes while in the one on saving faith there's nothing more or less than the effort of the various writers to correct false notions of faith that had crept into the various churches and then he begins to demonstrate that in the case of the Galatians they were mixing up faith with something else and so we had to show that there was a matter of notions thou believest God is one he says the demons also go that far and they tremble but wilt thou not know oh man that faith without works is dead you know he's not saying that you're saved by faith plus works he's dealing with the nature of true faith what is the book of Hebrews people were tempted to despair so he's the thrust of all of the epistles with reference to the doctrine of faith and the initial activity of the spirit of error upon the early church to twist to undermine to distort the biblical concept of faith in relationship to our salvation

32:13 now whether or not you buy that thesis I hope you buy my two assertions from the text this morning that our text states no salvation apart from faith no other instrumental means in addition to faith now what I wish to do in closing this morning is to bring before you four or five of the main areas in which the spirit of error has sought to distort this biblical teaching and I do this with the deepest concern that you might grasp these things not only by understanding before God because if you are here as a saved man or woman you have been saved by grace through faith and the measure of your enjoyment of that salvation will be the maintenance of the posture of faith and if you begin as the Galatians to move to faith plus something or like those to whom James had to write faith begins to be stripped and bled to the ground you are in trouble and so these things are not the stirring up of a tempest in a theological teapot we are dealing with things that lie close to your jungler name spiritually let that be

Distortion 1: Substituting Works for Faith

33:42 seized upon by the spirit of error and your life's blood will flow out at your feet so may God help us to listen carefully and we have one more verse for you that we can read in the Bible that says that God is the creator of the earth the creator of the heavens and the earth and the heavens and the heavens and the earth and the heavens and the heavens upon their performance and their character for the attainment of acceptance with God. You say, Pastor, will you never weary of quoting that character in the temple? No, I will not! For he's the embodiment of this spirit of error.

34:43 He says, I thank thee, God, I am not as other men. And then he proceeds to tell God what a wonderfully profound attainment he has in his character. And then, as if to make up any chinks in his armor there, he tells God about his performance. I fast, I tithe, I do all the rest.

35:04 He thinks he is to be saved by the instrumental means of his own character and his own performance.

35:14 This is why the Scripture in our very passage says, not out of works that no man should boast. If the Pharisee was saved through attainment of character and religious performance, he would have every ground to boast.

35:37 And boasting is never excluded until we see that the instrumental means of our acceptance is faith and faith alone.

Distortion 2: Adding to Faith

35:51 Second acting of the spirit of error is this. When anyone says that anything else needs to be added to faith as the instrumental means of our salvation, it's one thing to say, I will put performance and character in the place of faith and substitute it. It's quite another thing to say, all right, we'll maintain faith, but we'll add something to it. Let me illustrate it this way.

36:21 Here's Mr. Faith. And here's Mr. Performance and Works.

36:25 And they look each other in the eye and each one says, I'm out to kill you. Mr. Faith says, if you dare to stand with me before God, to pray, to plead anything that you are and have as the ground of this sinner's acceptance, I'm out to get your jugular vein. And Works says, I'm out to get yours.

36:44 You see, it's one thing to replace faith with something else. But now what do you do when Mr. Works comes over and joins hands with Mr. Faith and says, you know, we're really out for the same thing.

36:54 We've been looking at each other's eyes and glowering at each other and threatening and brandishing our swords and polishing our pistols and loading our six shooters. But really, we've just had a misunderstanding. I'm all for you, Mr. Faith.

37:08 And when you understand what I really am, you won't be against me. You'll be all for me, too. That's the book of Galatians. These Judaizers did not come down and say, look, give up believing in Jesus Christ.

37:21 They wouldn't have got to first base in a Christian church if they came down and said, give up believing in Jesus Christ. Suppose someone walked through this door this morning and said, I have a wonderful revelation from God. All you people who think you're saved in such a way that Jesus Christ does the saving and you get to him by faith, you get the whole business. What would you do with such a character?

37:39 I hope you'd run him out bodily. Do it sweetly, but run him out.

37:44 Don't leave any bruises, but run him out.

37:48 You wouldn't buy that. Neither would the early church planted by the apostolic witness. If anyone came along and said, let's replace faith with works. No, no.

37:58 But what happened was this. They said, it's that pesky little full stop, that little period that Paul keeps putting after faith. We've just got to change his punctuation.

38:10 He says a man is justified by faith without the works of the law. Full stop, period. And they said, well, we like everything that's in the sentence. We're just going to alter the punctuation a little bit.

38:22 We'll put a little comma. And they said, if you really want to be confident of being saved by grace through faith, we just have to add a little something to faith. Say like circumcision, keeping certain Jewish regulations and holy days and ceremonial laws and dietary laws and dietary laws and dietary laws and observing days and months and seasons, touch not, taste not, handle not, to use the language of the book of Colossians. What were they doing?

38:49 They were saying that something needs to be added to faith as the instrumental means of our salvation. And the Jerusalem council recorded in Acts 15 was convened to wrestle with that issue and they made a pronouncement. We believe that we shall be saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as well as they and how did they preserve grace? They said, tell them they need do nothing beyond believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

39:24 Now there's a subtle, subtle working of that same spirit of error. And it works like this. Is not true faith always mixed with repentance? And what's the answer of the word of God?

39:39 Yes. Is true faith always productive of submission to Jesus? Jesus Christ and desire to obey Him and honor Him? Yes, yes, yes.

39:49 Ah, but listen, listen. If we begin to think in our minds and begin to tell sinners that they must bring with the naked hand of faith that takes the bread of heaven hands full of vows of intention to serve Christ, vows of intention to follow Him wholly, vows of intention to cut off right hands, hands and right eyes, vows of intention to love Him supremely. You see what we've done to the sinner?

40:25 We've caused him to put his eyes in the fullness of mercy and grace that is in the Savior.

40:41 Believe, believe to itself and upon and into another.

40:57 Listen, listen. Don't be wiser than God. Is He concerned to preserve the interest of holiness and godliness on His earth? Yes or no?

41:07 Don't you be wiser than God. He's more concerned about the interest of holiness and obedience than you are. And He knows that the only way to secure it is to maintain faith on me with human merit and effort because that faith will always work by love. True faith works by love.

41:36 We don't wait for the love before we believe. We believe that we may love and never love again. Never was true faith exercised in the Savior without the heart running out in love to the Savior thus embraced.

41:56 You say that's playing with words. No, it isn't, my friend. It's all the difference between that child of God who believing on the Savior and in that exercise of faith believing the Savior is all He said He would be to needy sinners filled in the one hand with the Savior and the sense of shame that flows from the memory of the past and filled in the other hand with the sense of wonder that He's accepted in the Beloved finds the wheels of devotion and desire to obey and please the Savior constantly fed by the springs of free grace that come to Him as a believing sinner.

Distortion 3: Exalting Faith to the Place of the Savior

42:42 So we must beware of the spirit of error that would substitute anything for faith. Beware of the spirit of error that would add anything to faith. Thirdly, beware of the spirit of error which exalts faith to the place of the Savior.

43:01 And God knows we live in such a day. I have faith. Isn't that wonderful? I've got this wonderful quality of faith.

43:09 Therefore I must be a Christian.

43:12 Therefore I must be saved. My friends, our faith does not save us. Christ saves us. As one has said and I want to quote Warfield who speaks now not so much as theologian though there is impeccable theological accuracy but he speaks as pastor.

43:30 Listen. He speaks as worshipper. He speaks as humble disciple. The saving power of faith resides not in itself but in the almighty Savior on whom it rests.

43:43 It is never on account of its formal nature as a psychological act that faith is conceived in scripture to be saving faith. It is not as though this frame of mind or attitude of heart was a virtue that could claim something from God or was particularly pleasing to God thus disposing God to favor us or bringing us into an attitude of receptivity or sympathy with God opening the way of communication from God. No, no, Mr. Warfield says it is not faith that saves but faith in Jesus.

44:20 Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in any other Savior or in this or that philosophy or human conceit or any other gospel than that of Jesus Christ and Him as crucified brings not salvation but a curse. It is not strictly speaking even faith in Christ that saves but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or the nature of faith but in the object of faith.

44:55 And in this the whole biblical representation centers so that we could not more radically misconceive it than by transferring to faith even the smallest fraction of that saving energy which is attributed in the scriptures solely to Christ Himself. Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He plus the sinner's faith shall save them from their sins now. He shall save from sin.

45:29 But you said, Pastor, you demonstrated from the text we're not saved apart from faith. Right. So the only way to bring them together is to say whatever faith is it is no Savior. It does not share one gram of the saving efficacy that resides solely and exclusively in the Son of God.

45:54 So beware of anything spirit that exalts faith to the place of a Savior. Do you not see that this is the curse of decisionism? Instead of asking people have you been brought to behold the glory of God in Jesus Christ so that you've been able to entrust yourself to Him for time and eternity the insipid little question is made have you made your decision for Jesus? Almighty decision!

46:22 Curse it!

46:26 Be such profanation of the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not concerned about your decision for Christ. My concern is has there come home to your guilty hell deserving soul the realization that if you don't go completely out of yourself to another you've had it for time and eternity. Have you been driven from every refuge but Christ?

46:53 If you have you're not building a monument to the path that got you to the refuge. My friend you're amazed at the refuge. Faith was the place and the path by which you got there but you don't build monuments to the path. You sing as we sang this morning blessed Lord in thee is refuge for my guilty trembling soul.

Distortion 4: Degrading Faith to Barren Notionalism (Easy Believism)

47:20 There's a fourth acting of the spirit of error and it's this the one which degrades faith to a barren notionalism and I'll explain what I mean by that. It says oh boy I love what the pastor's preaching this morning. Not bearing down on repentance not bearing down on the lordship of Christ not bearing down on this just believe. Oh my friend listen listen beware of the spirit of error that bleeds faith of its biblical significance and we'll expound that God willing next week just what that significance is but I do want to touch on this this morning for there are some of you here who no doubt will not be here next Lord's Day.

48:03 Listen whenever the Bible speaks of being saved by grace through faith it means what the Bible means by faith not the meaning shallow notionalism commonly called in our day easy believism. You see the curse of easy believism is this not its insistence upon being saved by faith alone but upon its insistence that faith is merely basically the adjustment of some notions in the head.

48:36 I faithfully face the facts that the Bible says I'm lost the fact that the Bible says sinners who believe in Christ are saved accepting those facts ipso facto I am saved. Ah my friend wait a minute the scripture says if thou should believe in thine heart heart what is your heart? That's the seat of everything you are is a total integrated human personality. And what has your heart has you lips mouth hands , eyes eyes, affections for the scripture says out of the heart are the issues of the total life.

49:16 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So when the scripture says believe and what is the organ of belief with thine heart Don't you talk to me about faith being merely notional. True faith is the outgoing of one whole person name me the guilty sinner to one whole Christ who is God and man in the perfection of his threefold offices as prophet priest and king and if the whole of you goes out to the whole of him my friend you're never going to be the same again.

49:55 There'll be none of this talk I believe but I'm not surrendered I'm a believer but not a disciple if thou shalt believe in thine heart see it? Beware of any teaching that reduces faith to a barren notionalism notionalism that's what the book of James is all about it was happening in the apostolic age some of you have heard the term Sandemanianism that was a big controversy or as my British friends would say controversy over in Scotland you know what the whole issue was notional faith notional faith and when we talk about the controversy with easy believism the things that Charles Ryrie has dared to commit himself to in print in his book Balancing the Christian Life is not attack upon a person when a man commits himself in print with a responsible publisher such as Moody Press and says that to teach that faith involves reckoning with Christ as Lord is another gospel my friend the battle lines are drawn you see what we've tried to do we've tried to guard the simplicity and the purity of faith from the intrusion of anything else and I must stand to confess as I know some of my brethren have in our zeal in the past to go after

51:24 this notional concept of faith we violated to some degree the second warning I gave adding to faith something that ought not to be added and telling the sinner unless he can come to Christ with his vows and his intentions he has no warrant to believe oh my friend just deal with a few people under real Holy Ghost conviction and that will cure you of that error of all people they can see nothing of sinning sincerity of intention they know their hearts to be accessible of falsity and fickleness and now to tell them they've got to bring a sincere intention has to drive them to despair but to tell them there's a Savior who receives the ficklest of sinners who come that's good news that's good news and some of you need to hear that good news too long your eyes have been upon your cursed fickleness too long your eyes have been upon your own iniquity instability and your own lack of holiness and all the rest oh my friend listen by grace are you saved through faith venture on Him venture holy let no other trust intrude none but Jesus none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good beware of that fourth acting of the spirit of error

Distortion 5: Negating the Necessity of Faith (Hyper-Calvinism and Genetic Salvation)

52:51 that degrades faith to barren nationalism uh notionalism and then fifth act fifth of all nationalism too that fits but that wasn't my point beware notice I didn't say patriotism I said nationalism there's a difference but that's another issue beware beware of the spirit of error that negates the necessity of faith for salvation now I don't see this taught yet in the New Testament except if we say and we could with some degree of legitimacy say this the Pharisees also had this idea of salvation by genes we be Abraham's seed it doesn't matter we don't believe Moses and the prophets while we're always talking about him it doesn't matter we don't believe God's forerunner John the Baptist and Jesus Christ we are saved by genes faith is utterly unessential we're not even concerned about faith in works works in faith faith plus notional faith heart faith let's just say we're all fixed up because of who we come from some of us are fixed up my brethren here today know what that is we're children of the covenant isn't that something by grace you're saved through having the right genes in your bloodstream by grace you're saved through having the right parentage that's not what the text says by grace you're saved through faith

54:20 he'll take vengeance on all that believe not even if they are twenty-third in the line of believing parents and grandparents right back to Abraham himself and then there's the curse of the hyper-Calvinism of some men who teach eternal justification and the seed of faith is implanted in all the elect whether or not they ever exercise faith and they'll still get to heaven when you start talking about eternal justification and seeds of faith you're using language I don't find in this book I've scoured it from beginning to end and I see nothing about seeds of faith and eternal justification my friends never let the logic of truths forced upon your mind by the scriptures drive you out of the scripture you stick within the bounds of scripture and there are times when I find logic over my back with a lash saying go that next step and I say I'm never going to move one step until scripture paves the path don't be bullied by carnal logic into thinking that faith is unnecessary well as I've tried to analyze the scriptures and survey the history of the church I believe these are five of the main workings of the spirit of error with reference to faith as the instrumental means of salvation may I now bring it all to a pointed and brief conclusion by driving home

Conclusion: A Call to Believe

55:49 to your heart and conscience one very simple question this morning and the question is this as you sit in this place upstairs downstairs are you right now in this place this morning a believer a believer are you a believer have you been saved by the grace of God through faith in other words has God by the word in the spirit brought you to that place where seeing yourself undone and hopeless you've been driven out of yourself to rest completely in another may I allow the theologian again to give a simple beautiful description of what faith is in response to the revelations of God's grace and provisions of his mercy it that is faith commits itself without reserve and with renunciation of all self-dependence to Jesus Christ as its soul and sufficient savior and thus in one act empties itself of all claim upon God and casts

57:17 itself fully upon God and his grace for salvation isn't that beautiful saving faith is always exercised in that paradoxical way giving up all claim upon God I do not come like the Pharisee presenting something in my character either inherited or acquired not even my vows to obey him not even the beginnings of determination to serve him and to be a holy man no I bring nothing to him I'm emptied of all claims upon God nothing in my hands I bring and yet mingled with that is that venture upon that God revealed in Christ that he would save me oh my friend if you've been emptied of all claims upon God and have you in the words of Warfield cast yourself wholly upon him and his grace for salvation can you see why faith salvation by faith is such a stumbling block on the one hand someone sits there this morning and says it's all so confusing and someone else in his head it's all too simple that's right only the Holy Ghost

58:47 who drives the sinner from every other refuge can enable the sinner thus to cast himself upon the Savior oh my dear friend if you're not saved write it down as an inflexible axiom of biblical revelation you never will be saved until you believe and you never will believe until you see the necessity of going out of yourself and you'll never see the one worthy of the object of faith until you study seriously who Christ is and what he's presented to be in the gospel so I leave you with that earnest entreaty this morning expect no salvation apart from faith expect no salvation in any other way but the way of faith for by grace have you been saved through faith let us pray