1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

As discussed in my previous post, faith is NOT merely believing in something. It flying without wings, walking blindly, it removes all conditions and anxiousness and questions. It the “substance” of things hoped for as Hebrews 11:1 states. A substance is defined as “a particular kind of matter with uniform properties.”

The substance the writer of Hebrews is speaking about in context is saving faith, the substance is Jesus Christ. It is the placing faith in Him alone. Blindly believing, following, and being obedient to Him and His promises of righteousness and perfection.

The faith which saves a Christian is one which rests in the redemption and resurrection of Jesus Christ, nothing else. As mentioned in the previous post, by ADDING faith in anything else fully NEGATES faith in Jesus Christ. So adding faith to works, church activity and attendance, sacrament participation, repentance, etc. eliminates faith in Jesus Christ. The substance is only Him, not in those other things for saving faith to be true.

Why can’t we naturally just place faith alone in Jesus Christ? Our fallen nature rejects this notion. The substance of Him is contrary to our fallen nature. We cannot naturally believe that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. This is why God’s divine intervention, one must be born again, is necessary for this faith. God changes the fallen creature to a new creature, only then a saved sinner will place their faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Many world religions grope in the dark because they will NOT submit to the reality that man is fallen, and that faith comes from God. So they then naturally teach other things are necessary to be saved. “Place your faith in yourself” is the battle cry of every world religion. The problem is, it isn’t faith for one thing, it is unbelief in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

If you have been granted by God saving faith, the natural place you place this faith is only in Jesus Christ! There is no other place more deserving! The substance being Jesus, we hope only in Him. We put on the blindfolds so to speak and rest that He alone redeemed us from our sins, that He rose from the dead and we shall to rise in Him. That we won’t come into judgment, because our faith is what saved us.

There is a great example of this in Luke 7. There were many in a room who thought they already had saving faith. That they were heaven bound by it. A woman came in and attended to Jesus while they sat there. She was granted saving faith in that she KNEW her sins were to be forgiven only by Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 7:Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” It was simple, she placed her granted faith in Him, Jesus said that this faith saved her. It wasn’t merely believing, she walked blindly, not by sight.

Faith is not a quid pro quo cooperative system. We can never demand anything from God by our works. Faith comes by grace, it is granted. If you find yourself in a religion which is telling you to do something or walk by sight, instead of placing faith alone in Jesus, it is NOT faith they are exhorting.