What is Saving Faith?

And if you take your Bibles, turn to James chapter two. Alright. Alright, Riot. Come on. You won't be left behind.

Alright. Amen. James chapter two. James chapter two, and we'll begin reading in verse 14. James two and verse 14.

What doth it profit, my brethren? Though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding, you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith but hath not work works is dead being alone.

Yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have work. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believeth that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble.

But wilt thou know, o vain man, that faith without works is dead? Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear heavenly father, we thank you, Lord, for this day that we can come together to worship you, to praise the name of our savior, Jesus Christ, to declare his marvelous grace. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for your son.

Thank you for the opportunity to declare it today. Give us understanding and direction. Lord, may you be honored and glorified, and may souls be drawn to you. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen.

Amen. So what kind of faith is saving faith? James here speaks of a faith that is active, a faith that yields evidence of that of that faith. He illustrates in verse fifteen and sixteen in this manner, if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Not notwithstanding, you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?

Now James what James is not doing here is he's not giving you a means to salvation, okay, in the way of giving somebody who's hungry food. Why? Because as we clearly learned last week, we're saved by grace through faith and not of what? And not of works. James is not saying you're saved by doing a good work because our good works are as filthy rags we learn in Isaiah.

There is only one way to be saved and that is to be cleansed by the blood of Christ through faith in Jesus Christ who died for our sins on the cross and rose again. Good works just won't cut it for salvation. You must receive it as a gift from Jesus Christ who paid for it on the cross Of Calvary for you and for me. So if that's not what James is saying, what is James doing? Well, he's illustrating what he's doing is using this analogy, this metaphor to illustrate that faith, true saving faith by which we are redeemed and given eternal life in Jesus Christ does produce evidence in our lives.

Just as if somebody came to you that was starving and needed food and you claimed to care about them. So there is your claim. I care about you. I I want you to not go hungry. I really care about you.

So off you go. I hope somebody gives you food, but it's not coming from who? Not coming from me. So what evidence is there that you really care about that person who you just, you know, send on their way and and do not do anything to help them? Is there any evidence that you really care about them?

The answer to that is no. It doesn't seem that there is a lot of evidence there that you really care about. Because if you really cared about them, what would you do? You would you would help them. If you had the ability to to give them a little bit of food, then you might do that so they rather than just send them away and say, well, I hope somebody gives you food.

Okay. And that's the point James made. If our faith is real, it will produce what? Evidence in our lives. What kind of faith is saving faith?

It's faith that produces evidence. It's faith that produces fruit. So let's start this morning with this first. Let's start let's go back to I'm look up here at first Corinthians chapter 15 on the screen, and then we'll jump into point number one of three here this morning. Paul writes, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you by which also preached on you, which also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. How that Christ died for our sins according to scripture, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. What is saving faith? It is believing. It is putting one's confidence and trust for salvation from sin.

In whom? The risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is saving faith. It is putting your confidence and trust for eternal life and forgiveness of sin in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came as foretold in the scriptures, who died for our sins as foretold in scripture, who rose again from the dead as foretold and as declared in the scriptures that we might be saved not through our own works but through the finished work of who? Of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

The object is vital. Not faith in faith but faith in God. We hear that word faith thrown around a lot in society. Well, just have faith. Well, faith in?

Oftentimes, that means to have faith in yourself. That's what they mean. Just just have faith in yourself. You know, you can you can do it. Just have faith in but that is not saving faith.

Saving faith isn't faith in yourself. It's faith in who? It's faith in Jesus Christ. Saving faith is not faith in faith. It's not faith in yourself.

It's not faith that just everything's going to turn out alright. You hear it used a lot. I just have faith. It's all gonna turn out okay. Well, sadly, it's not gonna turn out okay if you reject too.

If you reject God's only way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. So don't just have faith. It's all gonna turn out alright. Have faith in the son of God who came and gave his life for you and for me because he loves us and he cares for us and he invites us to come to him for salvation. That that is saving faith.

It is in the person of Jesus Christ. It is trusting in him. It's not just simply agreeing, oh, yes. I believe in God. How many times have you asked people about their salvation or asked them about their faith?

Say that, oh, I believe in God. Well, first of all, you have to ask, well, which God are you talking about? Because there's a lot of so called gods that we know there's only actually what? One. And that God hath revealed himself in his son who?

Jesus Christ. You reject the son, you then you've rejected who? The father. And so there's some specifics there we need to know. It isn't just enough to say, well, I believe in God.

A matter of fact, James says here in the book of James, the demons believe in what? Tremble. They know there's a God. Does that mean that they're repentant? The answer to that is, well, no.

No. It's not enough to just assert that there is a God, but you must actually put your trust in him to save you from your sins. That is saving what? Saving faith. It is not trust in a religious rite, practice, or formula.

It's not faith in a recitation, a prayer, meditation, pilgrimage, confirmation, baptism, confession, communion, penance. Add to the list what you want. Saving faith is not faith in a religious ritual. It's faith in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not trust in one's own self righteousness, one's own self righteous works.

That was a problem with many in Jesus' day. They thought, well, I keep the law well enough. Well, I'm better than everybody else, so I guess I guess I'm okay with God. I'll squeak into the kingdom for sure. The Bible says in Titus three five, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us.

Not works of righteousness which we have done. There's a lot of people sitting in pews this morning that think they're gonna get into heaven because they go to church faithfully, because they give money in the offering plate, because, well, they're better than, you know, the people that are in jail. That's that's gonna be good enough. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the the glory of God. We all need a savior.

It is not trust in a church denomination or other religious organization, your allegiance to it, or your membership in it. You're not saved by being a Catholic or a Baptist or Methodist or membership in LDS church or whatever. Not even in the having your name on the membership role in a Baptist church is going to what? Save you. If your faith is in that, then your faith is misplaced.

It is only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that saves the soul. Not trust in a religious or ethnic heritage. In Jesus' day, it was the Jews thought they were good because they were Jews. I don't know how many people that I have talked to and asked them about their salvation. I asked them about heaven and they say, well, you know, I I I'm a Christian.

I grew up in a Christian home or I'm a Catholic and I grew up in a a Catholic home and therefore I must be okay, you know, because, well, I'm my heritage is what? Christian. But you can't get to heaven on the faith of your parents or your heritage. It must be what? Personal.

It must be it must be personal. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever personally believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That if thou if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But you have to what? You have to choose.

You can't get there on the coattails of those who have gone before you. It's not trust in any other but Jesus. Mary will not suffice nor will the pope. No will Mohammed or Mohammed's God or Joseph Smith or El Ron Hubbard or Sun Young Moon or whatever name you want to put in there. None of those people died for your sins on the cross and rose again from the dead.

Only who? Jesus Christ. And your faith is in a leader, a speaker, a religious leader, even a pastor, that doesn't suffice. You need to put your faith in who? In Jesus Christ because I didn't die for your sins on the cross.

He did. And he's the only one that can save our souls. First Timothy two five, for there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Not the mother Mary or the pope or the saints or any other religious leader. Just one, Jesus Christ.

Acts four twelve, neither is there salvation any other for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And if you read Acts chapter four, it's very clear what name that is, and that is the name Jesus Christ. The only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. It is important that you put your faith in the right person. It's not just faith.

It's not just sincerity. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and life. No man comes onto the father but by me. Only Jesus. So saving faith is faith, trust, and the risen savior to fulfill his promise to save your soul if you will accept his invitation.

Number two, saving faith is faith that abides. It is faith that remains. It is faith that continues in Christ. A faith which cannot be destroyed. It endures.

It perseveres. Thus is its nature and the nature of one born again by the spirit who is sealed by the spirit until the day of redemption, until the day we stand before Christ in heaven like him, freed from sin and death and any taint of sin or suffering from sin where we will inherit the place he has prepared for us. We are sealed until that day by his spirit that he has given to us. It is an enduring faith, An enduring faith. In back in this verse here in first Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which which I preached unto you by which also you have which also you have received and wherein you stand by which also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain.

Unless you have believed in what? In vain. What is Paul saying? Well, Paul is saying the faith that's saved is a faith that what? It continues.

The faith that by which you are born again and receive the Holy Spirit who makes you a child of who? God. That faith doesn't end. It it continues. Those who are the redeemed in Christ who have his spirit are not going to lose their what?

They're not going to lose their faith. They are being kept by the power of who? Power of God through what? Faith. Ready to be revealed last days.

First Peter chapter one. We're not being kept by our power. We're being kept by whose power? His power. Through what?

Through faith. His power evidences itself in a continuing and an enduring faith. That is the kind of faith that saves, an enduring faith. Look, if you would, in Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew chapter 13, we have the parable of the sower. The parable of the sower. And we're gonna read verses three through eight, and then we're gonna jump down to verse 18. So, Matthew 13 verse three. And he spake many things under them in parables saying, behold a sower went forth to sow.

He being Jesus spoke to the crowd using stories, illustrations from everyday life to illustrate and explain the gospel. Yeah. And he begins this and behold a sower, a farmer went forth to sow, to sow seed. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them. Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth and wherewith they sprang up because they had no deepness of earth.

And when the sun was up, they were scorched because they had no root. They withered away. Some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them, but other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit. Some, a hundredfold. Some, sixtyfold.

Some thirtyfold. Look, if you went over to verse 18, Jesus explains to his disciples, hear ye the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth the way that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received seed in the stony places, that's like gravelly area where there's not much dirt, just a little bit amongst the the rocks and stone.

He that receives seed in a stony place is the same that he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it. And yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. Verse 22, he also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he too becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he which heareth the word, understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some 60, and some 30.

Well, what is Jesus teaching? Well, let's take a moment. Let's look at that parable piece by piece. The seed. What is the seed that the sower is sowing?

Well, the seed is the word of the word of God, the gospel. That is the seed that is being sown. What is the ground that the seed falls on? Well, that is the human heart and mind that hears the word that has been sown. Okay?

That is the human heart. Are all human hearts as equally receptive to the word of God? The answer to that is no. Do all people respond in like manner to the proclamation of the word of God? No.

No, they don't. The growth that results from the seed is an individual's response to the word of God. The the first one here doesn't respond at all. It's like throwing seed on the sidewalk. And, well, is it gonna grow on the sidewalk?

No. It's not. The birds come and they whisk it away, and there is no saving faith. The second person, their response is quite immediate, but it's shallow. It has no what?

No root. There's no root that grows. So it's fleeting in its response, not representative of saving faith for when the least pushback arises, then their response, their faith, quote unquote, is destroyed and abandoned. This is not saving faith because it doesn't what? It doesn't endure.

It's fleeting. It's just for a moment. There's no what? There's no no root of the response. And the person might respond to an invitation or get excited about something, but next week or two weeks ago when questions are asked or persecution comes or trials come, they just abandon it altogether.

This is not saving faith. The third group, response is seemingly welcomed and less fleeting than the previous, but other things vie for allegiance. The cares of this world, riches, fame, power, pleasure. Faith is abandoned or lifeless, empty, and produces no what? No no fruit.

Unlike the complacent or backslidden Christian who may struggle with some doubts or fears or questions or failures or worldly entrapments for a time, but who stays the course and does not abandon their faith. You see, Christians do struggle. Have you ever struggled? Yeah. Certainly.

Have you ever struggled with temptation and sin? But the backslidden Christian, the complacent the Christian who is struggling in their life does not abandon their what? Does not abandon their faith. And eventually, they do produce fruit. But for the one who chooses another allegiance and abandons their faith in Christ, that faith doesn't seem to be saving faith.

Because had it have been saving faith, it would have what? Would have continued and then produced what? Fruit. For the last one that falls on good ground, It grows and it grows and it grows stronger and it grows bigger. And like the tree planted by rivers of water, it produces its fruit in its season.

But not all produce the same fruit or the same amount of fruit. Some produce little and some produce what? Much. But saving faith does continue and does eventually produce fruit. Consider Job's faith.

Now here you have Job. So Job is clearly described at the very beginning of the book of one who fears the Lord, has faith in the Lord, and the Lord is blessing him. And so then Satan comes to God, and Satan says of Job, well, the reason that Job is so faithful to you is because look at all this stuff that you've get. Look how you of course, he's faithful because you've given him all this wealth and all these blessings. You take all that away and he will abandon his what?

What's the word? Faith. He will abandon his faith. He will turn from you and curse you. And God says, I don't think so.

I I know so. That's not going to happen but go ahead. And so Satan did. He took away he he took away everything Job had, even killed his 10 children, took away his health eventually. Here, Job is sitting in a pile of dust scraping the sores of his skin.

And he said, the Lord giveth and the Lord, what? Taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now did Job struggle with some questions? Yeah.

Read the book of Job. Lot of questions. But he never abandoned his faith in the Lord. Was that because of the strength of Job? No.

It was because of the strength of who? Of God. We're kept by the power of God through faith onto salvation. But as God proved, Satan could not pluck Job out of his what? Out of his hand.

As he cannot pluck us out of his hand. And Job's faith endured. What kind of faith is saving faith? Well, it's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins on the cross and rose again. It is faith that endures and is faith that produces what?

It produces fruit. It produces evidence. It does produce good works. Ephesians two eight and nine. We looked at Ephesians two eight and nine last week.

Let's look at them again. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. That's where we stopped last week. K? We're saved by grace through faith in Lord Jesus Christ, not of works, lest you boast about how you earned your salvation, which you can't.

You can't can't make that boast because, well, you didn't earn it. Who earned it? Jesus earned it for you on the cross of Calvary. Our boast can't be in anybody but who? In Jesus Christ, our savior.

Not of works. The means of salvation, the means to salvation is not your works. It is faith in who? In the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all who put their faith in him.

It is not by works. But verse 10. For we are his, that is those who have put their faith in Christ, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Matthew five sixteen, Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your what?

Good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. James two eighteen, we just read a few minutes ago. James writes, yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works. Show thee my faith thy faith without thy works, I will show thee my faith, what? By my works.

Do good works have a place in the Christian life? Obviously, they do. God saved you only to take you to heaven. Is that a true statement? No.

It is not. God saved you to make you his child, to conform you to the image of his son. And that doesn't start the day you die. It starts the day that you are born again in Jesus Christ. And he desires to be glorified in you here as his nature and his desires are seen in you.

If you are a child of God, then you will have a desire to do those things that please your father which is in heaven. Good works. Works that are pleasing to the Lord and reveal a transformation of heart and desires to reflect whose nature? The nature of the one who saved you. The nature of the one who died for you.

The nature of the one who indwells you, the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in second Corinthians five seventeen, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. When you're saved and born again, you become a new person in Jesus Christ.

Created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works. James was dealing with a a heretical teaching that was being propagated among some in the church that your life, your works, what you did with the body, God didn't care about. He only cared about what you believed in your heart, but he didn't care about what you did with your body. And that is a false teaching.

Does God care about what you do with your body? Yes, he does. Paul writes in Romans twelve one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your, what, body a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. God does care. God saved us not only to take us to heaven, not only to rescue us from hell, but he saved us that he might glorify himself and those redeemed by the blood of the lamb and born again through the Holy Spirit that he has given to us who now share a nature with the Lord himself.

A faith that saves is a faith that works. It produces fruit in the life of a believer. James' point is that while one is saved by faith, the evidence of that faith is good works. That is works that bring glory to our father which is in heaven. It is not the means to salvation.

It is the evidence that that has already taken what? Place through faith in Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews writes about the heroes of the faith. So by faith, Abel did brought what did Abel do? Well, he brought the right sacrifice in faith to God.

His faith produced evidence in what he did. By faith, Noah built the what? He built the ark to the saving of his family. By faith, Moses left the palace and chose his own people and the Lord rather than the pleasures of sin for a season. And it goes on.

Saving faith evidences itself in our life through changed heart and desires, attitudes, actions that reflect the nature and the heart of our God. They are not the means to salvation. They are the result of salvation, And you can't get those two confused. A lot of false teaching is propagated today by many a preacher because they put the cart before the what? The horse.

The cart doesn't pull the horse. The horse pulls the cart. In other words, you're saved by faith and then it results in a changed life pleasing to God. You don't change your life and do good works and then you're saved. You're saved and then God does what?

Changes your life and produces good works. You're saved by faith, but a faith that works, a faith that gives them, a faith that produces fruit. They do not come all at once, but they do come in varying amounts depending on how closely the child of God is abiding in the vine, Jesus Christ. The more we're time you spend in God's word, the more time you spend in prayer, the more time, the more trust and faith you gain in the Lord Jesus Christ, the more your life will look like his. The more he will change you and produce fruit in your life to the glory of God.

But it will produce fruit. Next week, we're gonna take a closer look at the fruit, at the good works that saving faith doth produce. What kind of fruit? What kind of good works does saving faith produce? We'll look at that next week.

But suffice to say, fruit that brings glory to who? That brings glory to God. That demonstrates the nature of the one who saved us and who lives inside of our of our heart. What is saving faith? It's faith in Jesus.

It is faith that endures, and it is a faith that does does produce fruit in the life of the believer. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? If you have, he is changing your life. He is he is conforming you to the image of his son. He has changed your desires and will continue to empower you by his spirit to live out those desires as you abide in the vine and walk in the spirit and spend time in his word.

But the Bible tells us to make our calling and election sure. And there are many professors who are not possessors. They're trusting in grandma who told them they prayed a prayer that they don't remember. They're trusting in their church membership or that somebody dunked them in water. They have yet to put their faith truly in Jesus Christ.

And if you have any question about that this morning, you can get that question answered once and for all. As we sing of hymn of invitation in a moment, I'll meet you right down here if you wanna come. I'll show you from God's word how you can be saved and know it today. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ, our savior.

Thank you That our faith, our our salvation, our eternity is not based upon our faithfulness or good works but on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary who is alive today and saves all who come to him in faith to the uttermost completely and forever. Lord, thank you that we can trust in you and we put our faith in you. You will never let us down. Lord, I pray if there'd be one in here today who has yet to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive by grace the salvation you give, I pray they'd come as we sing this hymn of invitation this morning and be saved forever. In Jesus' name, we do pray.

Amen.