We must all die; we must pass into the eternal world, into heaven or into hell. One question which may exercise our minds is this: Is my faith strong enough to meet with death?
Yet the fundamental question is: Do I have faith? More specifically, Do I have true, saving faith? No doubt everyone has faith of one kind or another; there is something operating in most minds which prevents them from plunging down into deep despair. Often it is just the assumption that life will go on into the indefinite future, in much the same way as at present – that everything will go on in a way that will, more or less, prove reasonably satisfactory. But such a faith has no foundation; people are closing their eyes to the fact that life will not go on indefinitely. The Most High has made an appointment for us, one which cannot be broken. It is an appointment with death. How necessary that we should be ready! It is significant how solemnly Jesus spoke about cities which would reject the message of His disciples: “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement, than for that city” (Mt 10:15).
If we consider also the uncertainty of time, we should surely realise that we ought to be ready now, however long it may please God to spare us yet in this world. Besides, it is surely highly inappropriate – indeed irreverent – to wish to go on in a course of sin and unbelief for as much of our lives as possible, and then to slip into heaven just moments after conversion. God directs us to live to His glory, which means that we are to live holy lives, seeking to flee from sin, throughout our lives. The thought that one can turn to God at some future date, rather than now, involves a form of faith which has no foundation – certainly a foundation which is altogether insecure. And faith most surely does need a secure foundation.
Others may exercise what is often described as historical faith, the belief that the Bible is true – that, in particular, the incidents recorded there are part of actual history. The question is not merely: Do these people believe that Jesus is an actual historical figure? It is this: Do they believe in Him as the Saviour of lost sinners? Yes, no doubt they do believe in His existence and that He did all that is told about Him in, for instance, the Gospels. But do they trust in Him as the One who died for sinners and is now “exalted . . . a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance . . . and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31)? Are they willing to receive Christ, and salvation through Him, as a free gift? It is one thing to believe that the various statements made in Scripture are true; it is another matter altogether to trust in the One who is there revealed as the Saviour of sinners. Critically, those who have nothing more than historical faith do not treat Christ as a sure foundation for their guilty souls to rest on. And Christ most certainly is a sure foundation for the guiltiest of sinners.
What then is saving faith? The Shorter Catechism sums up the teaching of Scripture with characteristic conciseness: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel” (Ans 86). Saving faith not only receives Scripture testimony about Jesus Christ as true, but receives Christ Himself as He is made known in that testimony. Faith receives Christ as the One whom God the Father provided as the Saviour of sinners, the One who satisfied divine justice in their place – when the righteous One took the place of the guilty. Thomas Boston speaks of faith receiving Christ (1) “as a Prophet to be our Teacher, Guide and Leader, renouncing our own wisdom”; (2) “as a Priest, renouncing all merit and confidence in oneself, [one’s] duties and sufferings, and betaking oneself to Christ, His obedience and death”; (3) “as a King, renouncing all strange lords and receiving Him for absolute Governor in the soul and over the whole man, yielding to bear the yoke of His commands and the yoke of His cross”.
Boston follows the same scheme in speaking of resting, or trusting: “The soul has a burden of weakness and ignorance and therefore rests on [Christ] as a Prophet; a burden of guilt, but rests on Him as a Priest, laying the weight on His blood; a burden of strong lusts and temptations, but rests on Him as a King. Boston also states that “the spiritual marriage-tie betwixt Christ and the soul is made” by faith. “Christ gives His consent in the gospel offer, and the sinner gives his by faith closing with the offer.” Boston is clear that Christ is the foundation on which faith rests, for such is the testimony of Scripture: “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Is 28:16), a verse that is quoted in two places in the New Testament, including 1 Peter 2:6. This verse is part of Peter’s teaching that the “spiritual house” – that is, the Church – is built on this sure foundation, Jesus Christ.
Works, vol 2, pp 403-4.
But who truly rest on this foundation? Jesus Himself answers, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Mt 7:24,25). It is to a wise man who built his house on a solid foundation that Jesus compares those who believably obey what He has said. The wise man, Jesus emphasises, not only listens to the truths of Scripture, but also obeys its commands.
The Saviour contrasts this wise man with a foolish man who built his house on sand. So, however solid the foolish man’s house seemed, it could not withstand a deluge of rain accompanied by strong winds, resulting in severe flooding. The force of strongly-flowing water must inevitably undermine the walls of a house without a sound foundation – a picture of the one who hears what Christ says but does not obey. In particular he does not obey the call of the gospel; there is no saving faith. So when strong winds of temptation blow, or floods of troubles flow against such people with tremendous force, they are not able to stand; their faith is undermined and they fall into sin or unbelief.
How clear it should be that we need to rest on a sure foundation! And there is only one safe foundation, “for other foundation can no man lay”, Paul stresses, “than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). Christ is the only foundation on which a sinner can rest and be safe, in view of our solemn passing, through death, into the eternal world, or in view of the varied temptations and difficulties we experience in this world. Day by day we must trust in Christ if we are not to be overwhelmed by the temptations and difficulties that confront us all, in one degree or another.
At the beginning of the Christian life, the sinner is enabled to yield obedience to the command, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). And a further command follows believers until they reach the gateway to heaven: “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Is 26:4). Here is strength (or, a rock) which will support everyone who trusts in the Lord. So those who, by God’s grace, go on obeying the call to trust in Him will be safe even amid the fiercest of temptations and the most disconcerting of troubles. What is more, they will be brought at last into the perfect safety of heaven, where they will eternally enjoy the presence of the One of whom they will then be able to say without the least degree of doubt: “Who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Then, of course, it will not be a question of strong faith or weak faith – though believers are to seek earnestly to have their faith strengthened – for then faith will have passed into the wonder of perfect sight.