Saving Faith

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
Luke 7:47–50
When the woman the Bible describes as “a sinner” came and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and poured an expensive ointment on Him, she was expressing something remarkable—her belief that even though she was rejected by the religious leaders of her day who wanted nothing to do with her, Jesus offered her hope for a different life than the one she had known. There is only one source of salvation and deliverance from sin, and she was placing her faith completely in Jesus. In response, He told her that she had received the salvation she desired.
W. H. Griffith Thomas wrote, “Faith is the acknowledgment of our own inability and His ability. Faith includes intellectual perception as well as spiritual reception. The assent of the mind and the assent of the heart.” Everyone trusts in something. Even atheists rely on their faith that God does not exist. Far more important than the quality or nature of our faith is the object of our faith. It is only when we trust in Jesus that we find salvation.
It is natural for our faith to not be completely certain. We see this in the response of the father of a demon-possessed boy to Jesus. “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When we believe in Jesus with all that we have, God helps whatever unbelief remains so that we can receive what we most need from Him.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Only through faith can we find the salvation that Jesus promises to those who believe in Him.

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Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.   --Hebrews 4:14-15 Yesterday we talked about Jesus’ tears in John 11:35 revealing his humanity. Today we’ll see how his tears represent his sympathy as our High Priest. When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?” After all, he had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care? Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay? There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me? Yes, he does! The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you. His tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest. And not only that, Jesus went to the cross for you. He died for your sins. He’s prepared a place in heaven for you. What more could he have done to show his love and care for you? In his own time and his own way, God will make a way when there seems to be no way. Whether you’re well or whether you’re sick… whether the answer comes as we expect it or not. Yes, Jesus is your sympathetic High Priest! So trust in his love and care for you today.   JESUS’ TEARS REPRESENT HIS SYMPATHY FOR US AS OUR SAVIOR AND HIGH PRIEST.