Faith alone in Christ alone

This saying is the heart of being in Christ and inheriting with Abraham the promises made to him. Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." We must first hear the word of God before we can have faith. Hence the necessity to preach Christ and distribute his word to a world enslaved by sin and controlled by Satan. But what is faith and what are the effects and benefits of faith? The writer of Hebrews plainly defines faith and its results.

Hebrews 11:1 - 10,
"1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith. Faith is believing totally without proof in that which is hoped for and knowing for certain that what is not seen is real. Faith is a function of the heart not the mind. The mind seeks proof but the heart receives God's promises without proof. Romans 10, "9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Faith is a function of the heart not the mind.

1 Corinthians 1 "22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;" The natural person seeks one of two options both of which want visible proof. The Jew wants a visible sign as proof, the Greeks or Gentiles want human wisdom to demonstrate proof. Neither will believe what cannot be seen and proven. 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." Being able to see and prove something is the way of human wisdom. It is not the way of faith. Those who believe do not seek proof; they simply trust and obey.

The human mind is a wonderful and powerful creation of God. Increased learning by Christians can and has been used to help their fellow humans. The problem is that God has not chosen the human intellect nor increased learning/wisdom to provide and proclaim salvation through Christ. Neither has he chosen to effect salvation to the sinner through these means. The plain reading of scripture dispels reliance upon the human intellect provided with increased learning/wisdom to assist in salvation. Salvation is totally of the Lord. Those who preach the gospel of Christ must be called of the Lord and rely upon the agent God has chosen and that agent is the Holy Spirit. " But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians 1:27-29. God does not want the intellect of man to boast.

Some well educated and zealous individuals exercise their intellectual prowess by using scientific tests to prove that the world is created rather than the result of evolution over millions or billions of years. Using their scientific test results as evangelistic tools they try to convince evolutionists who do not believe. Paul said of the Jews in Romans 10:2 "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge". This is also true of those who use scientific tools in their attempt to prove God created the earth. Their efforts are spiritually without merit because the writer of Hebrews declares without reservation that such knowledge is only available through faith. Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. The knowledge that everything was created by God's word and not the result of anything which is seen is obtained through faith alone not through scientific tools. True science is not evil but using science to prove creation is to replace or add to the eternal word of God with temporal works of mankind's intellect. This is misplaced zeal using the wrong tools to present Christ as savior. God does not need or want mankind's scientific proof to save sinners and punish the wicked.

Throughout the scripture there are many passages which declare God is the creator of all that exists. Paul states in his letter to the church in Rome that there is plain evidence shown in the creation that God is God. However nowhere in the scripture is the focus on the creation instead of the creator. The focus is always the creator as shown in Romans 1, "19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." What God himself has already shown is sufficient to condemn those who deny God and to justify the believer by faith alone (Romans 4:1 - 6).

Scientific tools used to analyze fossils and living matter in an attempt to prove that God created the world is valuable only as a display of the human intellect. These efforts demonstrate a walk by sight rather than a walk by faith because they seek "a sign" or "wisdom" which are the results of scientific tests. Such efforts are a distraction from the gospel of Christ because they focus on the creation instead of the creator who is the savior. These endeavors result in reliance upon what can be proven by science. The preaching of the gospel leads to reliance upon faith alone. Paul did not use human wisdom to preach Christ because he wanted the faith of the Corinthians to stand in the power of God. "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:5 UKJV. The efforts and money spent on scientific proof would be better spent on the simple proclamation of the gospel of Christ without proof other than God's word. The fact that God is the creator of all is stated repeatedly in scripture and does not need scientific confirmation. God desires faith in what he has said instead of what scientific tests might prove. God does not want us to desire "a sign" or "wisdom" to show him as creator and savior. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, "For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Believing is living by faith; seeking proof is living by sight.

The claim is made that results from scientific tests bolsters faith. Faith is God's gift, Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,". Grace shown through faith is the gift of God. Faith is the result of God's grace and the result of faith is salvation. God imparts knowledge of himself through his word that can only be received by faith alone, not through the works of the human intellect. How can man made scientific tests add to that which God alone can give? Science cannot add to faith because faith is not the result of the human intellect, rather it is the gift of God. 1 Corinthians 1:21, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." God can be known only by faith alone. Human wisdom, science, education cannot produce nor procure faith. Scientific proofs are without spiritual value because God does not use such means to bring salvation to sinners or condemn those who do not believe; God uses his word which produces faith alone. Human scientific wisdom and faith are completely different. Science and wisdom of the world are the product of the human intellect. Faith is the exclusive work of God. Faith comes from hearing the word of God which is God's breath. 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,".

Faith of those who believe in and receive Christ produces evidence within the life of the believer but this has nothing to do with the human intellect/wisdom. Hebrews 11:8-10, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." The evidence which faith produces is obeying God's word. Faith produces action which shows plainly that we truly believe what God has said. Abraham was not given any visible proof of the promise of God but he obeyed by doing what God directed him to do. Abraham believed God's word by faith alone and he acted to obey God's word without visible proof that what God promised was true. Faith alone is the conduit by which we understand God's word and receive the Lord Jesus. The evidence which we should seek is the fruit of the Spirit in our life.

John 4:46-53
"So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except all of you see signs and wonders, all of you will not believe. The nobleman says unto him, Sir, come down before my child die. Jesus says unto him, Go your way; your son lives. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Your son lives. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Your son lives: and himself believed, and his whole house."

In the above passage from John chapter 4 we see a perfect example of faith. The nobleman met Jesus and asked that the life of his son be saved. He asked Jesus to come but Jesus did not go to the man's house. Jesus simply spoke the words, "your son lives" and the nobleman "believed" the word of Jesus. He could not see the healing of his son because the context tells us that it was the next day before he arrived home. The reward for his faith was the healing of his son by Jesus. He simply believed the words of Jesus. He was fully convinced that the words of Jesus alone were absolutely true. He believed in "things not seen". He never asked for nor sought proof.

Hebrews 11, "6 And without faith it is impossible to please him,". God has no pleasure in mankind's scientific tests because such works come from the human intellect and are human wisdom. God is only pleased when one believes in him by faith alone without visible physical proof. Faith alone produces obedience to God's word. Faith alone produces action to obey God's will. 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight:". Scientific proofs which are the results of mankind's wisdom do not please God. The angels of heaven rejoice when a sinner is saved. Faith alone in Christ alone pleases God and this is the only way a person can be saved and live forever in Christ.