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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Only Faith, Part I: Trust |
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Ephesians
2:8-9 Sunday
after Ascension May
24, 2009 We have spent two weeks talking about grace, and what the Bible means when it says “by grace are ye saved.” To summarize briefly, grace is God’s initiative in saving us from the horrible power and penalty of our sins. In grace, God chooses to treat us as righteous and holy people, even though we are really sinners and criminals against Him. Furthermore, in grace God makes us fitting company for Him and His Kingdom by purifying us from the pollution of sin and by changing our natures from that of rebellion against Him to loving obedience of Him. In other words, grace deals with God’s problem with us by forgiving us of all our sins and wickedness and sedition against Him. And, grace deals with our problem with God by changing us from people who love wickedness and evil, to people who love holiness and goodness. In grace there is cleansing of the soul and there is transformation of the heart. There are always these two parts to grace. The Bible says, “by grace are ye saved through faith,” and it is one of the central teachings of the Bible that grace is God’s initiative in salvation, while faith is the response of saved sinners. By grace God offers pardon of sins as a free gift. By faith we receive that gift. Just as there are two parts to grace, there are also two parts to faith. They are, trust, and obedience. Trust simply means to believe God. When the Bible says Abraham believed God it means Abraham trusted God. And so, Biblical faith, trusts God. When the Bible says Jesus bore all our sins on the cross, faith says, “I believe.” When the Bible says Jesus died for our sins, bearing the punishment of our sins in His own flesh, faith says, “I believe.” When the Bible says those who trust in Christ have been forgiven of their sins and God will remember them no more, forever, faith says, “I believe.” When the Bible says all who are in Christ Jesus will live with Him in Heaven forever, faith says, “I believe.” When the Bible summarizes all of this in one of everyone’s favorite verses, John 3:16, faith says, “I believe.” We have in John 3:16 the finest short summary of the Bible that we can find anywhere in holy writ. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life,” Listen to what this verse promises.
Hebrews 11:1 gives the classic definition of Biblical faith, saying; “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In a very real sense, this verse is telling us that faith is simply believing God will keep His word. It is no secret that many today prefer feelings to faith. They want verifiable evidence that they are Christians, and God is with them. They usually seek their evidence in religious experiences and feelings. As C.S. Lewis reminded us in The Screwtape Letters, they would rather feel like they are praying, than pray. They would rather feel like a Christian than be a Christian. Bishop J. C. Ryle of Liverpool wrote of this in his book, Knots Untied. “I cannot forget that religious
feelings are very deceitful things. There
is a sort of gentle animal excitement produced in some minds by hearing
religious music and seeing religious spectacles, which is not true
devotion at all. While it
lasts, such excitement is very strong and very contagious; but it soon
comes and soon goes, and leaves no permanent impression behind it.
It is a mere sensuous animal influence …” (p. 308). I quote Bishop Ryle with approval, but I remember that he wrote more than a hundred years ago. In his day people may have received “gentle animal excitement” in churches that specialized in manipulating people’s emotions and calling it worship. Today, however, those churches are not gentle, they are shockingly sensual in their pursuit of feelings over godliness. They pursue their feelings as evidence that God is at work in their lives and in their “church.” Because they get the feeling, they think, God must be there. But faith trusts in the word of God rather than in personal feelings. Returning to Hebrews 11:1 we see that the primary comfort and confidence we have as Christians is our faith that God will keep His promises made to us in Christ. We have confidence that we will receive the things hoped for, which are as yet unseen, because we have faith. Our faith is our evidence. Faith also means that we trust God rather than seeking verification by signs and wonders, or even by religious experiences. We walk with Christ, not because we have seen Him with our physical eyes, as Thomas saw Him, or have spoken in tongues, or get good feelings from our “worship.” We walk with Him by faith, trusting in Him to be and do who and what He said. We walk by faith, not by sight. Now, here is the point I have been leading up to in this sermon. Faith is the only way to take possession of the spiritual blessings of God in Christ. In other words, faith is the only way to receive the forgiveness of sins and the eternal life God offers to you in John 3:16. You can’t earn it by being good, because you can’t ever be good enough. If you could, there would have been no need for Christ to die. You can’t buy it. You can’t do anything to make yourself worthy of God and Heaven. You can only receive it by trusting God to give it to you. That trust is faith. Holy Father, grant that we may trust thee in Biblical faith. We seek not signs and wonders other than those recorded in Scripture. We seek not religious experiences or emotional euphoria to “prove” that you exist or that You are with us. We simply trust in Thee, through Christ, our Lord. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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