Things New and Old

Ancient truths revealed in the Scriptures are often forgotten, disbelieved or distorted, and therefore lost in the passage of time. Such ancient truths when rediscovered and relearned are 'new' additions to the treasury of ancient truths.

Christ showed many new things to the disciples, things prophesied by the prophets of old but hijacked and perverted by the elders and their traditions, but which Christ reclaimed and returned to His people.

Many things taught by the Apostles of Christ have been perverted or substituted over the centuries. Such fundamental doctrines like salvation by grace and justification have been hijacked and perverted and repudiated by sincere Christians. These doctrines need to be reclaimed and restored to God's people.

There are things both new and old here. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things" 2Ti 2:7.

Sunday, October 11, 2020

What is saving faith?

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10212499125808642
October 10, 2018  

#savingfaith

What is saving faith?
Saving faith is not faith that saves, it is the faith that is an effect of salvation already freely bestowed by God. Saving faith is not the instrument to obtain salvation, it is an evidence of that salvation.

Saving faith is the faith that receives and rests in Christ Jesus and His righteousness and blood as the only ground and hope for eternal salvation.

Saving faith is distinguished from historical faith; the latter acknowledges and believes that Jesus was a historical figure who lived and died in the first century. The devil has faith but it is not saving faith.

One is constrained by historical facts, it is only a fool who denies historical facts; the other is a fruit of the salvation freely bestowed by God, in Jesus Christ.

Saving faith is a grace, one of many, worked in the heart of a child of God by the indwelling Spirit, one who is already born of God. It is one of the fruit worked by the indwelling Spirit in the born-again man.

That faith worked in the heart makes possible the believing of the truth of the salvation ALREADY bestowed by God's free and sovereign grace; it is believing what is ALREADY true, not to make it come true.

(Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ does save; it saves from ignorance, lies, superstition, fables, etc; receiving and resting in Christ enables one to experience the blessedness of his righteousness in Christ, assurance, hope, etc. These are temporal salvation, relating to his wellbeing as a child of God.)

Dan Delmo
Thanks for posting, Bro. Sing.
Here is my take on faith.
There are two kinds of faith

1. Faith which is fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22).
2. Gospel faith or faith which was once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

As I understand it, the devils believe not because they have faith but because they are spiritual beings who live in the spiritual realm.

On the other hand, we need faith because while we have the Spirit of God, we still need faith to see things that our natural eyes could not.

Sing F Lau
I see the two kinds of faith as thus:
- one an effect of the salvation (eternal) bestowed, enabling a man to receive and rest in Christ Jesus for his salvation (temporal)
- the other is an effect of the natural mind admitting and acknowledging the bare historical facts of the person of Jesus Christ.

Another pair of comparisons would be:
- the body of revealed truth delivered to the saints that forms the basis of what to believe concerning God and redemption.
- the fragments of man's fertile imagination that form the basis of what man believes concerning God and redemption

This is a comparison of the same kind.

The devils believe that there is one God; the devils acknowledge the divine sonship of Jesus; the devils are rational beings.

But the devils do not believe Jesus in the sense of receiving and resting in Him for salvation.

Saulo Saulo
There is only one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sing F Lau
The faith which was once delivered... here is an article.
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-faith-which-was-once-delivered.html

 



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