“The Faith Of God’s Elect”
Titus 1:1
There are many who have faith who do not have “the faith of God’s elect.” Theirs’ is a faith like what James describes as the faith of devils, a mere factual, mental faith, a faith which will only increase their guilt at the bar of God. In the light of that fact, you and I ought to constantly bring our faith to the touchstone of Holy Scripture and prove it. We ought to ask ourselves, as we read the Book of God, “Do I have the faith of God’s elect?”
The Gift Of God
True faith is
the gift of God. It is not merely a logical or emotional decision, though it is
both logical and emotional. It is much more. Saving faith is created in the
heart by the power of God the Holy Spirit. It is the gift of almighty grace. We
"believe according to the working of
his mighty power” (Eph.
One Object
True saving faith is concerned with but one thing; the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe on the Son of God? That is the one issue which is of eternal importance. "What think ye of Christ?" Nothing else really matters. True faith is taking God at his Word. It is believing what God says about his Son. It is submitting to the revelation of God in the Scriptures. It is trusting, believing, receiving Christ as He is revealed in Holy Scripture. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God ... He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:1, 13). Yet saving faith is much more than mental assent to the truth of divine revelation. The Puritan, John Owen, wrote, "Of all the poison which at this day is diffused in the minds of men, corrupting them from the mystery of the gospel, there is no part that is more pernicious than this one perverse imagination, that to believe in Christ is nothing at all but to believe the doctrine of the gospel!"
Heart Work
Saving faith is
a work of the heart (
Persevering
True faith, the
faith of God's elect is persevering faith (Heb. 3:6,14). That is to say, if a
person truly believes on Christ he will continue to believe on Christ. Faith is
not an event in the believer's life. It is the believer's continual way of
life. "The just shall live by
faith" (Gal.
Don Fortner