As the honest reader has by this time concluded, salvation is not an instantaneous event, but rather a time-oriented process that lasts from the moment of conviction until the return of Jesus Christ to take control of the earth and what is left of its inhabitants, set up the Kingdom of God and rule it with His saints. During the salvation process one spiritually travels through a number of phases, three of which–conviction, grace and repentance–we have discussed. The next phase–faith–is extremely important in that without true faith all other phases are meaningless. Faith is also the phase that the two billion plus proponents of Christianity are lacking, as this website and my YouTube site point out repeatedly. Now let us see what God has to say about faith–what it is, from whence it comes and how it fits into the salvation process.

Simply put, faith is taking God at His Word. This means that not one Word, not so much as a jot or tittle, is to be altered in any way, not one Word added, not one Word removed and every Word believed and obeyed. This is forcefully brought out in a statement made by Jesus Christ Himself: “… man shall LIVE BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEDES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD (Mat. 4:4). Every Word from Genesis to Revelation was spoken by God to His prophets and apostles via His Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21/2 Tim.3:16). After they had spoken His Words to the people of their day, either they or their scribes recorded them for future believers to learn, believe and obey. The New Testament Church is built upon the foundation of the teachings of both the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles (Eph. 2:20).

In Romans 10:17 the Apostle Paul, speaking the Words of God delivered to him by the Holy Spirit, said: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith is the hoped-for result of hearing God’s Word. Notice that faith “comes by” (from) hearing God’s Word. Note also that hearing does not automatically result in faith. Many people listen to the Truth; few actually hear it. Faith is the combination of hearing, believing and obeying God’s Word. In the preceding verses, Paul recalled how Israel heard the Truth but, not having listened to it, rejected it, thereby creating dead faith. Recall that the Apostle James, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, asked: “Can faith (alone) save?” The answer is “No.” James explains that faith must be followed by WORKS–the result of listening–in order to be real faith. Faith without commensurate works profits nothing, and is in fact dead faith (2:14,20.) Faith combined with works (expressions of one’s faith) produces righteousness and justification (2:21-23). James summarizes the faith-works connection by stating that one must prove his faith by his works. The children of Israel proclaimed to Moses that they would believe (have faith in) the Words God would speak to them from Mt. Sinai, and that whatever He said, they would do. But that did not happen. The result of their dead “faith” was 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert while the Lord physically killed off an entire generation of “believers.” Only the type of death has changed among the “people of the Book (Bible).” Today, two billion “believers” are proclaiming their faith in Him while dying spiritually, proving James’ statement to be true: “Faith without works (faith demonstrated) is dead.” In that man must live by faith, dead faith means that the holder of such faith is equally dead. God is dictatorial and specific–either we take Him at His Word totally, or we reject Him and His Word totally (Jn. 12:44-50). With the Lord it is all or nothing. The church has chosen the latter. L.J.