At North Coast Church I’ve long used the word picture of giving the steering wheel of our life over to Jesus to describe what it means to become a follower of Christ. Periodically I get emails, letters, and comments on this blog from folks who object to that imagery. Usually, it’s from someone concerned about one of two extremes – either that I’m over-simplifying the gospel or adding something extra to it. Recently someone wrote:
“I don’t see how Larry adheres to “faith alone in Christ alone.” In fact I expect he would admit that he sees that statement off the mark of accuracy. Alone still means “separate and by itself” right? It would be nice to hear that Jesus’ promise in John 3:16 is as simple as it sounds. Instead, I can grab a packet with hours of sermons to explain to me what “giving Jesus the Steering Wheel of my Life” means.”
Of course, “faith alone in Christ alone” is not a phrase found anywhere in the Bible. It’s a theological summation. And it’s always interesting to me how we can get all worked up and divided over terms the scriptures don’t even use. But, still, it’s a legitimate question. Is faith in Christ enough or isn’t it? Exactly how do faith and obedience intersect?
Here’s my response:
I’m sorry, but before I can claim to adhere or deny “faith alone in Christ alone” I need to know what you mean by “faith alone.”
If by “faith alone in Christ alone” you mean an intellectual assent that matches the way the demons believe in Jesus (James 2:19) then I have to plead guilty as charged. I don’t buy it. If you mean that we can claim to have faith in Christ and live like hell (and still count that empty faith as saving faith) then you can count me out.
But if you mean by “faith alone in Christ alone” that salvation can only be found through faith in Christ and can never be found or furthered by our good deeds or the works of the OT law – then I’m all in. And if your definition of faith matches that of Jesus and the NT writers, I’m there.
Bottom line: When it comes to trying to figure out how faith and obedience intersect, it seems to me that we can’t improve upon the Apostle John’s simple test to determine if we actually know God.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6
I see no reason to redefine or tweak his words – after all, they are scripture, and all of our theological ruminations are not.
And didn’t Jesus speak about a group of people who called him Lord but did not do what he said? When it comes to determining the role obedience does or doesn’t play in our salvation, doesn’t it make sense to let his words speak for themselves?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:21 -27
And finally, doesn’t the Great Commission conclude with a command to teach those who have come to Christ to “obey everything I have taught you”? Apparently, Jesus considers obedience to be neither “adding to the gospel” nor an extra credit add-on for those who are really into it.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
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So, when I speak of stepping over the line and giving God the steering wheel of our life, I’m not suggesting that we somehow work our way into God’s favor or earn our salvation. I am suggesting that genuine faith, by definition, includes a pattern of obedience.
Obedience is not a stairway to heaven – or the final steps that complete what Jesus started. But according to the Apostle John, it is the one test that distinguishes between genuine faith and counterfeit faith.
The Steering Wheel packets we provide at North Coast Church contain practical pointers to help new Christians know what following Christ looks like and how to grow in their walk with God.
And according to Jesus and John (and the rest of the scriptures) this thing called obedience does seem to be a rather important by-product of genuine faith and belief.
Hi. Just stumbled upon your blog. Much of what you said resonated with me.
I am reminded of what Martin Luther said: “It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies is never alone.”
Blessings.
Chris Wiles
http://www.thornscompose.wordpress.com
Well said! Through the ages people have been told, “Just believe in Jesus and you will be saved.” But our English understanding of “believe” causes problems here.
The Greek word for “believe” can mean simply to believe a person or thing (John 2:22; 4:21; 5:46); but when used with a preposition (believe in, believe on, as in John 3:16) it means more than mere acceptance of a statement. It means to accept a statement or a person to such a level as to rest upon them, to trust them completely, to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered by and in the person. Thus to believe in Jesus is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving grace as fact, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; in other words, to rest our soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon one’s life. (Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. II, pp. 49-50) In other words, faith means to be a follower of Christ—to become “conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Rom. 8:29).
That’s more than simple mental assent.
I appreciate what you’ve shared Larry. You have well walked the line between lordship salvation and free grace theology. Just like in Jesus’ day some of us want to boil everything down to the essential core while others want to build into the details concluding with an excessive degree of complication.
Simply believing in faith sounds plain enough but painting a picture of how it looks in someone’s life can be a lifelong work of art quite difficult to express in words. In the end, am I seeking the Lord and am I obeying His commands and voice in my life? To face this question daily and answer it in faith would seem to imply a faith that stands alone that is proven by obedience.
What I find interesting is that for those who profess to believe, obedience is the more difficult issue while for those who do not profess to believe, their difficulty is in the believing itself and they do not seem to struggle with the issue of obedience – essentially, they are obedient to their non-belief.
Hey Larry,
You know I’ve kind of re-thought this standard response…in fact, my next book is out in a few weeks and it addresses the cliche mentioned:
“It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies is never alone.”
Actually, this is really Calvin’s (Packer’s version) formulation, not Luther’s.
So…I’ll send the book. Basically, I’m going to try and persuade you that this is a sanctification (works are vital) vs. justfication (works have no place) issue!
Hope I win!
God bless,
Fred Lybrand
I’ll look forward to getting the book – I’ll read it too.
I agree with what you are saying, but without trying to swallow the knat, let me ask this: If “genuine” faith is the faith that includes the resultant obedience to God, then is this measure merely a matrix for us (as opposed to God) discerning/determining whether wheter there is “true saving faith?” John tells us that “WE know that we have come to know him…” So I think the phrasing of the issue is this: “how do I know I am saved?” I think this distinction is critical in the analysis, for if one phrases the issue as, “(I)s obedience a requisite for salvation”…or better yet, “(I)s obedience a true measure to determine if there is saving faith as opposed to mere assent?” then works enter in as a condition. This line of reasoning would then have to upset grace by faith alone and replace it with salvation and works.
I wonder how the scriptures you point out (which clearly could have no greater source of authority) in making your point can be reconciled with another scripture where Jesus declares the saving faith of criminal on the cross? That criminal’s only act of obedience was responding to the wooing of the Spirit and repenting and proclaiming Jesus as God at that very moment (as previously he with the other non-believing criminal were mocking Jesus). That was the thief’s one and only act of obedience to God in his whole life!
All that to conclude with this. If we want to see an indicator and have assurance of our own individual saving faith, then we can look to our degree of obedience to God and the Word. And while we are at it, let’s look to these other fruits…obedience with love (Luke 10:27), humility (James 4:6-9), sanctified living (1 Co 2:12), spiritual growth (Eph 4:12-16), and transformation (2Col 5:17).
In this context, I fully agree with your statement that “And according to Jesus and John (and the rest of the scriptures) this thing called obedience does seem to be a rather important by-product of genuine faith and belief.
Larry,
As I read over Jeff’s thoughts, which I find very helpful, I am struck by the 24 years of pastoral service in aiding people to capture (or recapture) their assurance.
The only thing I’ve found that consistently works is to actually invite them to quit looking at their works / fruit…and look only to Christ and His promise of eternal life through His death on their behalf.
For me personally, too, the more I look at my stuff…the less sure I become; while, the more I look at the Lord’s promise to me— the sooner I’m ready to go!
Grace,
Fred
http://www.fredlybrand.org
Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
Hi Larry,
There are many things I’ve wanted to say for a long time since originally posting on your previous blog. There are many directions we can travel and many Scriptures involved in this discussion.
I’ll stick with this defense… Why assume the NT writers would use a simple word such as “faith/belief” to mean so much more than just that? There is no reason to assume that greek readers of the first century would read “faith/belief” to mean faith plus(+) this + that + full this + total that + deep sorrow…etc.
When:
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” John 5:29
in response to :
“What must we do to do the works God requires?” John 5:28b
His ABSURD answer only meant that there is no work to be done at all. Faith is no work. So why then, is Faith more than assent?… Prepositional phrases like “(believes) in Him” or “in Me” (en -Greek) can always be restated in some propositional form such as “(believe) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” -John 30:31b- or simply in our own vernacular it might be “I believe that Jesus is who he says He is- the Messiah promised in the Old Testament…”
Beliefs are stated in propositional form in Scripture and even equated with “persuasion” like in Acts 28:24:
“And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.”
If all I have to do is believe, then that is all I have to know I’ve done! Period. So only if faith is some mysterious thing we cannot know we have done must we then look at something else such as our works (or our emotional state or some spiritual gift proceeding from our mouths).
Faith is not so mysterious. Assurance is simply believing in a declarative promise of God. Look at Jesus in the Word, and, while looking, answer if He is the Christ the Son of God. Assurance is NOT believing in my commitment or the handing over of my life to Him. On the contrary, It’s recieving His life.
And as to 1 John 2:3-6, Saying “I know Him” is more intimate and different from saying “I believe in Him” discussed later in 1John 5. Along the same lines as your quote, you could have just as easily as quoted 1John 3:6:
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
or verse 9:
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
But then you would have needed some more serious explanation beyond the obvious. I’m just saying your quoted verse wasn’t so simple. There’s a different issue going on there than you would have me assume.
I meant John 6:28,29 not John 5.
Absolutely – but I’m finishing a book deadline right now and may not post again until mid July
I appreciate very much the response submitted by Stephen. What I liked the most was the reexamination of 1 John. What troubles me in this blog is the arguments built on language. It seems to me that the best way to understand a writer is to examine his full work and then interpret being of the same mind. When looking for the definition of faith and the way to salvation through Jesus and what was written about Him (None of the books in the Bible were authored by Jesus although He did inspire) we must understand that the gospels are an account of His work and interactions with people. We can not assume that when Jesus is talking to a man about how he might receive salvation that Jesus is giving him word for word instructions. We must examine Jesus’ purpose and actions to correctly interpret this dialogue. Otherwise why would Jesus tell a group of Pharisees to drink His blood in order to recieve eternal life. John 6. Jesus knew that these religious hypocrites would not rely on his promise of eternal life so rather told them something that would later on even confuse the disciples. Jesus knows the hearts of men and was not in the business of selling the good news but rather was sent to be the good news. So we look to the apostles for the good news and over and over it is simply believe the promise of salvation. Our lives are simply a witness to the fact and can not be conditional. This thought could only lead to a two part system of salvation. This is not good news nor is it possible. I simply want us to understand the Word for all that it is worth and abandon the traditional phraseology as Larry hinted to so that we can understand the foundation of our faith not through our vernacular but rather of those who were commissioned to delver it.
Of couse the discussion is about language. As our English language is constantly changing we need to be reminded of the original mean of the sacred text so they we make proper application in our lives. Larry has rightly handled the word of truth on this issue. His comments are consistent with the whole of scripture. To reduce faith to an intellectual agreement with a statement is to completely dismiss the various defintions of faith offered in scripture, including but not limited to James 2:14-26. Obedience to God can happen apart from faith, but faith by definition is active. If not we are arguing that the demons mentioned in Matthew 8:29 and James 2:19 are saved because of their faith. That seems inconsistent with the teaching of scripture. Passive faith is no faith at all.