The Necessity Of Faith In Christ    

Hebrews 11:6

 

     Why is faith in Christ necessary? Why must sinners trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as Savior and Lord? Much needs to be said in this regard, but three facts will suffice to show the necessity of faith.

     1. THE ONLY WAY FALLEN MEN AND WOMEN CAN EVER PLEASE THE HOLY LORD GOD IS BY FAITH IN CHRIST (Heb. 11:6). No man since the fall of Adam has ever pleased God, or done anything acceptable and pleasing in God's sight, except by faith in Christ. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and all the great champions of faith listed in Hebrews 11 were pleasing and acceptable to God, not because of what they did, but because of Christ whom they trusted. You and I, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, are accepted in the same way and in the same measure. Every sinner who trusts Christ alone as his Savior and Lord pleases God and is accepted in the Beloved, because we fulfill the law of God by faith in him (Rom. 3:31; 8:4), giving him everything he requires from men: righteousness and satisfaction.

     2. THERE IS NO TRUE HUMILITY APART FROM FAITH IN CHRIST (Zech. 12:10). God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). But the only truly humble person in this world is one who trusts Christ alone for salvation. Everyone else proudly holds some work, feeling, or goodness by which he imagines himself worthy of God's acceptance. Only believers are truly humble. We come to God as empty-handed, bankrupt paupers, knowing that we must have grace, knowing our need of a Substitute. We receive Christ and the grace of God in him as a free gift, not a wage or reward. We trust Christ alone for our total, everlasting acceptance with God (I Cor. 1:30).

     3. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FOR A SINNER TO COME TO GOD AND BE SAVED (Acts 4:12). Salvation is by "faith that it might be by grace" (Rom. 4:16). Christ alone is the Door by which men enter into life (John 10:9). Christ alone is the Way in which to walk to God and with God (John 14:6). You cannot be saved by legal obedience (Gal. 3:10). You cannot be saved by religious works, rituals, and sacrifices (Isa. 1:10-15). You can only be saved by faith in Christ.

 

Don Fortner