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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Nehemiah 9:38-11:21
Acts 15:1-21

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Acts 15:1 (CSB): “Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved.'”

Reflecting on God’s Word

When we come to Jesus to be forgiven and made right in God’s eyes, it is completely devoid of work. We can do absolutely nothing in order to be saved. We simply receive what is freely offered to us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB): “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.” (emphasis mine)

That is what was on the line when some of the Jews came down from the higher elevation of Judea to Antioch (about 300 miles north of Jerusalem). Those Jews wanted to add something to salvation. They wanted to add circumcision. So, basically, they were saying, “Salvation is achieved by trusting in Jesus but also by doing the work of circumcision.”

According to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9, salvation is a free gift and contains absolutely no effort on our part. Why? Because of at least the reason Paul gave in those verses. If our salvation is in any way dependent upon anything we do, then we may have reason to brag in Heaven about what we did to get there. But, since salvation cannot include works, we are all going to brag on Jesus!

So, what about faith? Faith is necessary in order to be saved (Ephesians 2:8). Does faith require effort on our part? Is it a “work”? I asked that question this past Sunday night during a lesson I taught from Colossians 1. The quick response was “no!” And that was the right answer.

When you talk about faith in contemporary culture, it sounds like its work. “You just gotta have enough faith!” We get the mental picture of someone experiencing inner turmoil as they try to muster enough strength to have faith.

But that’s not what biblical faith is. Faith isn’t work. It’s resting.

The Reformers believed that biblical faith had three components: Knowledge, Assent, and Trust. They taught that before someone could be saved, they needed the knowledge of Jesus from God’s Word. Then, they needed to assent, or agree, that the knowledge was reasonable and true. Finally, they had to trust in what they had heard (Jesus saves those who trust in Him). And that trust wasn’t work; it was simply resting in Jesus and His completed work on the cross.

Let me illustrate. Imagine that you and I are hiking a trail through a mountainous area. We arrive at a clearing where we see that the trail has led us to a suspension bridge. To reach the trail’s end, we need to cross the suspension bridge. To do so, we need knowledge, assent, and trust. We notice a plaque near the bridge that indicates it was inspected recently and is in good working order (Knowledge). At that point, we have a choice: will we believe that the information is true (Assent)? If we do, the only thing left to do is to trust the bridge as we step out onto it, placing all of our weight on it (Trust).

Photo by Jonathan Klok on Unsplash

Biblical faith isn’t work. It is simply hearing the information, determining that we agree with it, and then placing our trust in it.

That’s what biblical salvation requires. We cannot work to achieve it. If we work to achieve it, we cannot be saved. It MUST be received as a free, unearned gift without any effort at all on our part. We simply trust in Jesus to make us right in God’s eyes.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you develop a clear, biblical understanding of what faith is.
  • Thank Him for doing the work and ask Him for the grace to rest in what He has already done for you.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into the relationship between faith and works, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)