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All of Grace
Why are we Saved by Faith?
WHY
IS FAITH SELECTED as the channel of salvation? No doubt this inquiry is often
made. "By grace are ye saved through faith," is assuredly the doctrine
of Holy Scripture, and the ordinance of God; but why is it so? Why is faith
selected rather than hope, or love, or patience?
It becomes us to be modest in answering such a question, for
God's ways are not always to be understood; nor are we allowed presumptuously to
question them. Humbly we would reply that, as far as we can tell, faith has been
selected as the channel of grace, because there is a natural adaptation
in faith to be used as the receiver. Suppose that I am about to give a poor man
an alms: I put it into his hand--why? Well, it would hardly be fitting to put it
into his ear, or to lay it upon his foot; the hand seems made on purpose to
receive. So, in our mental frame, faith is created on purpose to be a receiver:
it is the hand of the man, and there is a fitness in receiving grace by its
means.
Do let me put this very plainly. Faith which receives Christ
is as simple an act as when your child receives an apple from you, because you
hold it out and promise to give him the apple if he comes for it. The belief and
the receiving relate only to an apple; but they make up precisely the same act
as the faith which deals with eternal salvation. What the child's hand is to the
apple, that your faith is to the perfect salvation of Christ. The child's hand
does not make the apple, nor improve the apple, nor deserve the apple; it only
takes it; and faith is chosen by God to be the receiver of salvation, because it
does not pretend to create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content
humbly to receive it. "Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which
receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price which buys
it." Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests all her argument
upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good servant to bring the riches of the
Lord Jesus to the soul, because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns
that grace alone entrusted her with them.
Faith, again, is doubtless selected because it gives all the
glory to God. It is of faith that it might be by grace, and it is of grace that
there might be no boasting; for God cannot endure pride. "The proud he
knoweth afar off," and He has no wish to come nearer to them. He will not
give salvation in a way which will suggest or foster pride. Paul says, "Not
of works, lest any man should boast." Now, faith excludes all boasting. The
hand which receives charity does not say, "I am to be thanked for accepting
the gift"; that would be absurd. When the hand conveys bread to the mouth
it does not say to the body, "Thank me; for I feed you." It is a very
simple thing that the hand does though a very necessary thing; and it never
arrogates glory to itself for what it does. So God has selected faith to receive
the unspeakable gift of His grace, because it cannot take to itself any credit,
but must adore the gracious God who is the giver of all good. Faith sets the
crown upon the right head, and therefore the Lord Jesus was wont to put the
crown upon the head of faith, saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in
peace."
Next, God selects faith as the channel of salvation because
it is a sure method, linking man with God. When man confides in God, there is a
point of union between them, and that union guarantees blessing. Faith saves us
because it makes us cling to God, and so brings us into connection with Him. I
have often used the following illustration, but I must repeat it, because I
cannot think of a better. I am told that years ago a boat was upset above the
falls of Niagara, and two men were being carried down the current, when persons
on the shore managed to float a rope out to them, which rope was seized by them
both. One of them held fast to it and was safely drawn to the bank; but the
other, seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and clung
to the log, for it was the bigger thing of the two, and apparently better to
cling to. Alas! the log with the man on it went right over the vast abyss,
because there was no union between the log and the shore. The size of the log
was no benefit to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to
produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works, or to sacraments, or to
anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction
between him and Christ; but faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord,
is in the hands of the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the
connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction. Oh the blessedness of
faith, because it unites us to God!
Faith is chosen again, because it touches the springs of
action. Even in common things faith of a certain sort lies at the root of all. I
wonder whether I shall be wrong if I say that we never do anything except
through faith of some sort. If I walk across my study it is because I believe my
legs will carry me. A man eats because he believes in the necessity of food; he
goes to business because he believes in the value of money; he accepts a check
because he believes that the bank will honour it. Columbus discovered America
because he believed that there was another continent beyond the ocean; and the
Pilgrim Fathers colonized it because they believed that God would be with them
on those rocky shores. Most grand deeds have been born of faith; for good or for
evil, faith works wonders by the man in whom it dwells. Faith in its natural
form is an all-prevailing force, which enters into all manner of human actions.
Possibly he who derides faith in God is the man who in an evil form has the most
of faith; indeed, he usually falls into a credulity which would be ridiculous,
if it were not disgraceful. God gives salvation to faith, because by creating
faith in us He thus touches the real mainspring of our emotions and actions. He
has, so to speak, taken possession of the battery and now He can send the sacred
current to every part of our nature. When we believe in Christ, and the heart
has come into the possession of God, then we are saved from sin, and are moved
toward repentance, holiness, zeal, prayer, consecration, and every other
gracious thing. "What oil is to the wheels, what weights are to a clock,
what wings are to a bird, what sails are to a ship, that faith is to all holy
duties and services." Have faith, and all other graces will follow and
continue to hold their course.
Faith, again, has the power of working by love; it
influences the affections toward God, and draws the heart after the best things.
He that believes in God will beyond all question love God. Faith is an act of
the understanding; but it also proceeds from the heart. "With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness"; and hence God gives salvation to faith
because it resides next door to the affections, and is near akin to love; and
love is the parent and the nurse of every holy feeling and act. Love to God is
obedience, love to God is holiness. To love God and to love man is to be
conformed to the image of Christ; and this is salvation.
Moreover, faith creates peace and joy; he that hath it
rests, and is tranquil, is glad and joyous, and this is a preparation for
heaven. God gives all heavenly gifts to faith, for this reason among others,
that faith works in us the life and spirit which are to be eternally manifested
in the upper and better world. Faith furnishes us with armour for this life, and
education for the life to come. It enables a man both to live and to die without
fear; it prepares both for action and for suffering; and hence the Lord selects
it as a most convenient medium for conveying grace to us, and thereby securing
us for glory.
Certainly faith does for us what nothing else can do; it
gives us joy and peace, and causes us to enter into rest. Why do men attempt to
gain salvation by other means? An old preacher says, "A silly servant who
is bidden to open a door, sets his shoulder to it and pushes with all his might;
but the door stirs not, and he cannot enter, use what strength he may. Another
comes with a key, and easily unlocks the door, and enters right readily. Those
who would be saved by works are pushing at heaven's gate without result; but
faith is the key which opens the gate at once." Reader, will you not use
that key? The Lord commands you to believe in His dear Son, therefore you may do
so; and doing so you shall live. Is not this the promise of the gospel, "He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"? (Mark 16:16). What can be
your objection to a way of salvation which commends itself to the mercy and the
wisdom of our gracious God?
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