But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)
We’ve heard as Christians over and over that God saves. We don’t earn or merit our salvation from God.
If that is the case, then HOW we get there must be extremely important! We cannot expect to get to heaven unless we know the way, as we cannot get to any destination without the proper directions. Otherwise, we will miss the mark entirely.
In addition to the Gospel bringing salvation, it also serves as the basis for how we are to live. We as Christians are to live considering this Gospel (by faith) as we go about our daily lives. I think there is a tendency for Christians to add to the Christian life. We seem to think that we are going to be more secure if we add to our already difficult lives. Maybe if I create my own Christian community and separate from the world my kids won’t be atheists or if I homeschool my kids God will accept me. Fill in the blank.
Yet are we really doing what God has laid out for us to do if we add to our lives inappropriately? Am I really living by faith in light of the truth God has set forth? Christians love to bring judgement on others based on their personal preferences, as if those things are on par with the law of God, all the while ignoring what God has already told us to do. The Gospel is not some once and done suave that we add to our souls. It continues to redeem us even in our lives as Christians. This is to be distinguished between the judicial elements of the Gospel whereby we are made right before God once for all. I am referring to sanctification. Before we can even know how the Gospel provides the foundation for our living, we need to see the Gospel’s work in salvation.
The Gospel Saves from Sin
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Corinthians 4:6 NKJV)
Let us look at the context first:
7But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. (II Corinthians 3:7-11 NKJV)
The distinction is made between old and new covenants bringing out the further distinction made in Hebrews 8.
6But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:6-7 ESV)
God saves according to this new covenant that entailed Christ fulfilling the requirements of Adam (perfectly loving God and neighbor). Adam failed his duty of obeying God perfectly and brought the whole human race into sin and death. He could no longer represent his posterity for eternal life. However, there was a promise given to him that one would come who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Our first parents believed that promise and were saved. And those benefits are then given to us when we are united to Christ by faith. This is distinct from the covenant with Moses which by virtue of itself could not save. One condemned, the other saved.
God displayed Himself to us by blinding us with His light. There was no light that He did not leave out when He was shown in our hearts, obliterating the darkness. There is no room here for boasting, as God is the one who showed this light to us, we didn’t find it ourselves. God burst forth His light proactively. All we could do was receive. The initiative was God’s alone.
The Gospel Sanctifies
Now we turn to the Gospel’s work in us.
Notice here in our passage from Hebrews 11:6 that the writer tells us that we cannot even please God unless we have faith. Faith in what? In God. And this is not some bare acknowledgement of God’s existence or that He merely rewards people. This is saving faith. This is a faith that embraces the Gospel, one that rests in what Christ has done. We see this in the very next verse where the writer gives the example of Noah’s faith.
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV)
He believed and was justified. This is Noah being made righteous before God, so this isn’t any kind of faith but one that embraces the Gospel. This is the same faith that is exhibited in Romans and discussed in 2 Corinthains 4:
19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [f]and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:19-26 NKJV)
We were dead in our sins, and God gave us faith to believe in His Son. This is the faith that Noah exhibited. And in doing so, he was enabled to live rightly before God. He built his ark in light of believing God. In the same way Abraham was saved, so was Noah. In fact, the Scripture says that the Gospel was preached to Abraham:
7Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:7-9 NKJV)
Noah was given the Gospel of God through shadow form, meaning it was revealed to Him in promise, and he was justified before God. God did not reveal who Jesus was and the death of Christ as we have today in the full revelation of Scripture, but God gave the gospel in some form, nonetheless.
Noah was in a predicament with his own spiritual life along with all mankind:
5Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:5-8 NKJV)
Man’s condition is utterly hopeless.
Yet, Noah found grace! Even here in the Old Testament we see shadows of the New Covenant in that God showed mercy to Noah. God pulled him out of the fire. Noah would have certainly stood out if there were those around him observing. He may have even been mocked by his fellow countryman. Why was he making this big boat when there was no water to lift such a boat? But even with no water in sight, Noah obeyed the voice of God. This was by faith. He believed, was united to Christ, made a new creature, God put His Word and Spirit in him, and he lived accordingly.
The writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 brings out multiple examples of how faith begets action. The example of Abel in verse 4, of Abraham in verse 8-10, etc. Proper action that is pleasing to God flowed from their faith. They were not able to act outside of that basis. This is the natural result of the Christian. These saints weren’t wandering aimlessly as if their initial faith in the Gospel was all they had. No, they lived as a result of the faith they *continuously* had with the work of the Word and Spirit.
Notice what the 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith says on sanctification:
“They who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and personally, through the same virtue, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts of it are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
2LBCF, 13.1
We live by virtue of the death of Jesus and His resurrection. In other words, our union with Jesus Christ, which is by faith, is the foundation of where we find the power to live righteously before God. Our faith is the tipping point from our perspective where that happens. There is no union without faith. And as we live by faith we will live differently since we have embraced that precious gospel.
Benjamin Keach, who was one of the signers of the Confession, says this from his “Gospel Mysteries” 3:39:
“Tho a person may be never so filthy, and unclean before his Union with Christ, yet this Union doth not leave him filthy, and polluted; for he hath the Righteousness of Christ imputed to him, to his Justification, and Remission of Sin, so he hath also reciev’d the Holy Spirit, creating in his Soul new Habits, and gracious Dispositions, by which he is enabled, and influenc’d, to Dye unto Sin, and so to Live unto God.”
Benjamin Keach
Our union with Jesus Christ not only brings us justification, so we are made right before God’s judgment seat, but we are also receiving the Spirit who works effectually in our hearts to bring about fruit so that we live in a way that is pleasing to Him. Apart from union with Christ, there is no holiness or sanctification.
4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 NKJV)
John Gill says this in his Bible commentary:
“nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. Nothing is to be done ‘without Christ’; without his Spirit, grace, strength, and presence; or as ‘separate from’ him.”
John Gill
Without the Spirit’s work in us and our being united to Christ by faith, there is no fruit. Apart from Him, we can do absolutely *nothing*. You cannot do what is pleasing to God apart from being grafted into the vine. This is why a mere faith in the historical Jesus or a mere mental nod to the fact that God exists is not enough to live rightly before Him. We need to be united to Christ. This is where true obedience is found.
Even our repentance unto life, meaning that sorrowful state where we abhor our sin and turn from it in godly sorrow, is done by faith as the Confession says in chapter 15.3.
The opposite is that one who does not have faith cannot please God. Our condition as sinners leaves us with no other way of pleasing God in our lives so much so that our “righteous” acts are sinful. This is not to say that the action itself is bad but the form of it. It is not directed to the right things. It is sinful, so that man is in hopeless state, not able to do anything good or obtain the eternal life that Adam would have won for us had he obeyed God perfectly.
The Christian Life Isn’t Complicated
Now that I’ve laid the basis for how we live the Christian life, we should look at how we should NOT live the Christian life in line with the theme of this article. I wonder if the reason we complicate it is because it is in fact so simple. We may be afraid that we are missing something or not doing it properly if in fact we don’t add to it. Well, it really is that simple.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1 NKJV)
Just previous to this verse, Paul discusses the two covenants: one under bondage which is the under the law that being the Old Covenant and then the New Covenant which is what Christians are under. One makes us slaves under the heavy yoke, and one makes us free.
28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. (Galatians 4:28-31 NKJV)
Notice what Paul is doing here. He’s contrasting the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Since we are free under the New, there is the imperative in chapter 5 to live according to that freedom. That freedom means that we aren’t bound to law as a means of meriting our salvation before God. There is no need to add to what has already been given to us in Christ. We have it all.
What more do I need to add when I have it all? Adding to the Gospel does nothing but hinder us and turn us away from God. If continued, it will bring us to damnation because one who adds to the gospel never really understood it. This is the essence of legalism. You will never do enough. You will never meet the mark, even after being saved. Do not think that you will reach some threshold with your own rules and works for salvation.
This was so important that Paul said this:
As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:9 NKJV)
If one goes around perpetrating another Gospel, at the very least unrepentantly, they are condemned. They are damned to hell. Our eternal souls are at stake when dealing with these precious doctrines.
Another way that is not living in light of the Gospel and complicating the Christian life is focusing so much on secondary matters that we lose sight of what is truly biblical.
Christian liberty is good and biblical. We are able to have our own convictions that do not contradict the Scriptures in any way yet might differ from other brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe I have a TV and another brother doesn’t. Maybe I like to play video games and another brother feels it is sin for him to do so. These are in themselves inconsequential things. Yet not everybody has their conscience with knowledge like that. And Scripture says that is ok to some extent.
1Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:1-4 NKJV)
Paul here is making clear that we should not be making too much of preferences. The strong should not despise the weak and the weak should not pronounce judgement upon the strong. What bretheren must do is love one another and be patient. How can one say they are loving God while hating their brother?
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (I John 3:15 NKJV)
If Christians are to live by faith, we are to love the weak and strong alike without the root of bitterness taking hold.
Paul does contrast the “weak” with the “strong,” so it is not ideal for a Christian to be in a place of scruple, and they should not stay there. They should grow in their knowledge of the faith as a Christian:
1Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (I Peter 2:1-3 NKJV)
If someone claims Christ, and there is no growth, that is where we get concerned, since growth is the natural result of one changed by the Spirit. This would include our understanding of scruples. What the strong are to do is be patient with the weak. But the weak should seek to grow and not stay where they are either. Not living by faith could mean we would may be abusing this gift of Christian liberty. The weak brothers are spying out each other’s lives, always judging people who do not meet THEIR conscience and treating them differently as a result. This is living according to the flesh and not the Spirit.
The strong are also not to abuse their liberty. One way this could be done is by parading their freedom in front of a brother who has made it clear what is being flaunted could cause them to stumble.
Conclusion
This is by no means an exhaustive treatment of what it means to live by faith. The whole of Scripture is by nature to equip the man of God for “every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). All of Scripture is helping us live by faith and walk according to our union with our Lord Jesus Christ. This also means that observing the Christian Sabbath, being in the house of God worshipping by hearing the Word, talking to one another in song, and taking of the table are crucial to well-rounded growth in our lives. How could I expect, for example, as an athlete to be able to perform as I should if I neglect the tools at my disposal? The same is with the Christian life. If we cut ourselves off, don’t expect to grow where you should be. You will remain stagnant, grow slower than you should, if at all, or you may even fall into unrepentant sin. Christian, be encouraged that God will grow you as you honor Him by using the means he has given us. But also, be afraid if you neglect them as it could indicate you don’t know him at all or, at the very least, have fallen into complacency. Look to Jesus! Rest in His work and live in light of that. God will bring His work to completion as promised in Philippians 1:6.
The Particular Baptist team reviewed and made edits to this article.
The Particular Baptist 
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