Does it Matter What You Believe?

(Adapted May 11, 1997 by Bernie L. Gillespie from: R. C. Sproul, Cassette Tape Series: Justification by Faith, Tape entitled, "The Essentials of Biblical Faith," Ligonier Ministries, Tape 684)

Acts 16: 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-- you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

CAN IT REALLY BE THAT SIMPLE?

One of the common objections to the message of the Gospel is: "Can it really be that simple?"

There are those who see the Gospel as too simple and believe that faith is only one of the steps necessary for salvation.

At the other extreme, some say that WHAT you believe in is not as important as THAT you believe sincerely in something.

The Scriptures declare that salvation comes to us by faith alone, and that faith must be in Jesus Christ alone.

WHAT IS THE "FAITH" BY WHICH WE ARE SAVED?

There are many groups today that assume faith means only an intellectual knowledge or mental assent. Therefore, faith can only be one step we take in being right with God.

The Roman Catholic Church in 16^th century taught that faith was absolutely necessary for salvation.

It was the initial step of justification (initsium)

It was the basis of justification (fundamentum)

It was the root of justification. (radex)

But, they maintained that you could have true faith and still not be in a state of justification.

That was because justification included more than faith. More than faith was necessary to be saved.

Other things were added to faith in order for one to be justified.

There are Protestant groups today who believe just as the RCC.

They see faith as the first step of our response to receive salvation because they believe that faith is mental acknowledgment.

Because they do not understand true faith, the add to the Gospel and require of people what God does not.

The Reformers disagreed. They said if you have authentic faith then you have all that is necessary to be linked to Christ and counted right with God.

The controversy swelled over the question: What is this faith that Justifies?"

THE FEAR OF FAITH ALONE

The Apostle Paul was accused by Jewish Christians of teaching that faith alone led people to live in sin.

Rom 6:1 Paul addressed the criticism of "continuing in sin that grace may abound."

He said, "God forbid. Why? Because those who are in Christ are dead to sin

The RCC theologians of the 16^th century were terrified by the concept of Justification by Faith alone.

They thought some would hear this message and believe that all one needed was a casual acceptance of the truth claims of Christianity and then there would be no change in the person’s life.

They thought this teaching would lead to more sin..

The Reformers developed a response to this concern and defined faith as containing three things:

KNOWLEDGE (Notitia) - has to do with the content of faith. This is the "What" we believe.

MENTAL ASSENT (Assensus)

TRUST (Fiducia)

AS LONG AS YOU’RE SINCERE . . .

In contrast to the RCC position, others having taken faith alone to an extreme.

One of the statements that came out of the ‘60s was, "It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere."

In light of the teaching of Scripture this is a ghastly thing to be said by a Christian.

This is a monstrous lie which has been repeated so often that it has come to be believed.

It is on a collision course with Christian faith and teaching.

What do we mean by sincere?

The word sincere comes from two Latin words: sine = without; cere[us] = wax.

Three definitions: 1. Not feigned or affected; genuine: sincere indignation. 2. Being without hypocrisy or pretense; true: a sincere friend. 3. Archaic. Pure; unadulterated. [Latin sincrus.] (American Heritage Dict., CD Rom)

The adverb sincere means "honestly" while the adjective sincerus means "sound," "whole," "clean," "untainted," "real," "genuine."}

Sincere meant to be pure in some manner. It was used in the market place for vessels that had not had their damaged places "doctored up" with wax to make them look better for selling.

One who is sincere is without impurity. This impurity would be reflected in the characteristics of honesty, truthfulness, because the person is whole or sound of nature or character.

The one who says that as long as you are sincere is saying, "As long as you are already pure in your intentions, you are right to believe anything you wish." But, this is only true for those who do not accept the Bible assessment of the human sinful nature.

NO ONE IS PURE ENOUGH IN THEIR INTENTIONS.

FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE IS WHAT GOD ACCEPTS.

What we believe as Christians is of ultimate importance. It matters eternally what we believe and don’t believe.

For e.g. : What if you believed that a statue, totem pole or an idol was a god and that in bowing and paying homage to it, you would be worshiping that god. If you did that without hypocrisy or honestly and your motives were genuine, would it matter if those gods were false gods? People throughout history have made idols, prayed to them and trusted them. They did this sincerely. Is this wrong?

When one prays to the dead is it wrong? Is worshiping one’s ancestors wrong if one believes in it sincerely?

I have seen young people very interested in black magic who believe that it works. They sincerely believe in the power of it and so they study it and use it. Is this wrong? Or is sincerity more important than that which you believe?

This same question came up in Israel’s history. They worshiped the golden calf and called it the Lord. They did so sincerely. But, the LORD rejected their worship and punished them for it. The people at the time of Elijah worship Baal because they thought that he was Yahweh. But, the contest on Mt. Carmel (1 Kgs 18) was over whether one could worship Baal, being sincere, if Baal was not the true God.

Heretics of Church history were people who were sincere or genuine about what they believed.

The Gnostics sincerely disbelieved that Jesus had a real physical body.

The Pelagians sincerely disbelieved that Adam’s sin affect the human race.

The Arians sincerely disbelieved that Jesus was truly God.

In more recent times we have seen a number of beliefs which led to tragic results although held by sincere persons.

Millerites who sincerely believed that Christ was about to return jumped out of trees in order to meet Christ. They fell and were injured. They were sincere. But, they were sincerely wrong.

A group of Pentecostals in the Latter Rain movement called "Never Die" taught sincerely that they were so filled with the power of the Spirit that they were glorified and would never die. They all died. They were sincere. But, sincerely wrong.

There are those who sincerely believe that God will heal every time you believe. They have refused medical treatment sincerely believing that they did not need it because God would not heal them if they trusted in doctors. They died of their illness. Often a simple appendectomy or an antibiotic would have saved their lives. They were sincere. But, they were sincerely wrong.

39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult believed sincerely that if they committed suicide they would be taken aboard a spacecraft behind the comet Hale-Bopp. They were sincere enough to commit suicide. But, they were sincerely wrong.

ALL OF THESE EXAMPLES POINT TO THE FACT THAT IT IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE SINCERE AND STILL BE WRONG.

To believe that it does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere is not a Christians idea at all. It is pagan. It is anti-Christian. It is more in common with modern philosophy and new age faith, rather than Christian teaching.

HOW MUCH DO WE NEED TO KNOW TO BE SAVED?

The Reformers understood that having saving faith does not mean one must have perfect understanding of every single point of doctrine or systematic theology in order to be justified.

We are not justified by knowledge.

However, that does not mean we are justified WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. This is an important distinction.

When Paul spoke to the Philippian jailer, he told him that he must believe on Christ.

This is probably the least amount of content Paul ever gave someone concerning the Gospel.

It was dire situation. A quick answer was needed. But, there was still content.

Paul told him to have faith in Jesus Christ. He had to believe in something - or Someone.

In the book of Acts we see in the preaching of the Apostles the Kerygma which was the essential message to be preached to give adequate content to proper belief for salvation.

People did not need to have a thorough survey of the Old Testament or a ten week Bible study or course in Systematics.

The kerygma was the basic content.

After one believe the Gospel they joined the Christian fellowship and gathered to receive the didache which was the teaching of the broad scope and meaning of Scripture and Gospel.

The Reformers claimed that part of faith is the Bible knowledge of the Gospel (notitia).

This basic knowledge is that:

The God of Israel has sent Jesus to be Savior.

Jesus has died for our sins

Risen and ascended to Heaven

Those who trust in Him only are saved.

It is essential to be truly justified.

Having this knowledge does not justify you.

You could believe the basic content of the Gospel and refuse to accept it for yourself. But there is a basic knowledge all must have in order to attain to true faith.

The second part of justifying faith is mental assent or agreement (assensus) with the Gospel.

This is our agreement with the content. It is intellectual assent.

This part of faith is belief that the information or content of the Gospel is true.

However, one could have both of these two parts and stilled not be justified.

James Kennedy says that if you know the facts of the Gospel and believes its true, that only qualifies you to be a demon and not a Christian. James says that the devils have knowledge (notitia) and (assensus).

TRUST ESSENTIAL TO TRUE FAITH

The third part of faith is the most critical part. It is TRUST (fiducia).

This means to place personal trust or reliance in Jesus Christ. Justifying faith occurs when one understands that Christ is their Savior alone, believes that Jesus died for them, and then places the trust and hope in Jesus and in nothing else.

In justifying faith, all three parts of true faith come together to receive the promise of God that Jesus is Redeemer.

The Heidelberg Catechism answers the question, "What is true faith?" in this way:

True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. [The Heidelberg Catechism, Question 21, (Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1989), p. 33.]

"SITTING IN THE CHAIR"

A practical illustration of how faith receives the promise of the Gospel has been given by D. James Kennedy.

He took a chair and asked a man if he believed the chair could hold him up.

He said, yes.

Then Kennedy asked, "Is that chair right now holding you up?"

The man said, "No."

Kennedy asked, "Why not?" "Because," said the man, "I am not sitting in it."

That is the real difference between mental assent or intellectual understanding of the Gospel and true faith in Christ.

We don’t really trust until we sit in Christ. Only Christ has the salvific power to hold us up.

When one finally "sits" or rest the weight of their whole being on Christ and nothing but Christ, then they trust in Christ alone.

And it is at this point that one is truly justified and right with God.

PAUL ASKED THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER TO "SIT IN THE CHAIR."

ARE YOU "SITTING IN THE CHAIR" OF CHRIST'S GRACE AND MERCY?

HAVE YOU RESTED THE WEIGHT OF YOUR BEING IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE?