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Faith and Trust

That saving faith includes different "acts" is clear from the different ways faith is described in Scripture. In these descriptions we can see, too, that there is a certain development and growth of faith as it is given to and exercised by believers (Lk. 17:5).

Thus, though Christ is always the object of faith, faith involves looking to Him (Is. 45:22), coming to Him (Matt. 11:28), fleeing to Him for refuge (Heb. 6:18) receiving Him (Jn. 1:12), puttingon Him (Rom. 13:14), and giving oneself up or yielding oneself to Him (II Cor. 8:5).

All these, however, describe especially a second activity of saving faith, that of trusting in Christ. We have already said that one principle act of saving faith is "knowledge." Trusting is another. These two elements of saving faith are mentioned in relation to one another in II Timothy 1:12; "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

As the word of God in II Timothy 1:12 points out, trust or persuasion is founded on knowledge. The very word "persuasion" emphasizes this. One is persuaded by truth and by reasonable and sound arguments.

Nor can we trust or be persuaded if we do not know. We cannot trust Christ for salvation, unless we know that He is God manifest in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16), the one who gave His life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).

This second element of saving faith, however, emphasizes its personal nature. It is this trust, in fact, that makes the knowledge of faith not just a "knowing about" but a matter of really "knowing" God Himself personally as He reveals Himself through Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Father.

Without this element, there would be no difference between saving faith and the "faith" of demons (Jas. 2:19), for they "believe" that there is one God and tremble. Nor do only demons believe in this sense. There are many who have been taught the truth of the Word, can find no argument against it, and yet never know God or Christ.

As persuasion, confidence or trust, saving faith not only allows one to see that the Word is true, but that it is true "for himself." Trust, therefore, can be described (as above) in terms of yielding oneself to Christ or in terms of resting in Him (Matt. 11:28). It involves the complete abandonment of self and the surrender of the soul to Him by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.

There are those who wish to speak of faith solely in terms of knowledge or of intellectual assent. We, too, believe it necessary to emphasize knowledge over against the reliance on "feeling" and the resistance to sound doctrine that is so popular today.

Nevertheless, in light of Scripture's own teaching we do not believe it is adequate to describe faith solely in terms of its intellectual activity. It is also, as Paul says in I Timothy 1:12, a matter of committing oneself to Him and so finding peace and rest. Without that we are nothing and have nothing.

Last modified on 27 March 2013
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Additional Info

  • Volume: 5
  • Issue: 8
Hanko, Ronald

Rev. Ronald Hanko (Wife: Nancy)

Ordained: November 1979

Pastorates: Wyckoff, NJ - 1979; Trinity, Houston, TX - 1986; Missionary to N.Ireland - 1993; Lynden, WA - 2002

Website: www.lyndenprc.org/sermons/

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    WA
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    98264
  • Country
    United States
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    360-354-4337
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