Faith
Cairns defines faith “as the work of the Holy Spirit, His gift to God’s elect, enabling them to believe as true whatever God has revealed in His Word and to accept, receive, and rest upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. It is never alone, being always accompanied by repentance and producing good works.”1
Ryrie states, “Faith means ‘confidence, trust, holding something as true.’ Certainly, faith must have some content. There must be confidence about something or in someone. To believe in Christ for salvation means to have confidence that He can remove the guilt of sin and give eternal life. It means to believe that He can solve the problem of sin which is what keeps a person out of heaven.”2
When writing about faith in relation to salvation, Hodge states, “That faith, therefore, which is connected with salvation, includes knowledge, that is a perception of the truth and its qualities; assent, or the persuasion of the truth of the object of faith; and trust, or reliance. The exercise, or state of mind expressed by the word faith, as used in the Scriptures, is not mere assent, or mere trust; it is the intelligent perception, reception, and reliance on the truth, as revealed in the Gospel.”3
Critical to understanding the biblical definition of faith in connection with salvation is, understanding the three elements that are part of that definition:
(1) Faith is knowledge. By this we mean that faith knows the facts about something or someone, it rests upon evidence rather than it being a blind act taken because of a lack of knowledge (Ps. 9:10; Rom. 10:17).
(2) Faith is assent. In other words, knowledge of the facts results in believing those facts. Knowledge becomes conviction; knowledge goes from being mental to being heartfelt.
(3) Faith is trust. This means we appropriate those convictions and completely surrender and submit to the object of our faith. Trust is giving consent to the will to take action, to move, embrace, and receive (John 1:12) without reservation the Christ it believes. Faith takes us from knowledge about Christ to belief in Christ.
The Bible is very clear in teaching that God is the source of faith, faith is a gift (Rom. 12:3; Phil. 1:29), and it is given to those who do not resist the Holy Spirit who creates it in the hearts of men, leading them to repentance and enabling them to trust. The result of faith is salvation (John 1:12; Rom. 5:1; Gal. 3:26).
Repentance
Repentance is a prominent doctrine in the Bible. The importance of this doctrine cannot be overstated and the New Testament provides us with the reasons for why repentance should be central in the preaching of the Gospel:
(1) John the Baptist and Jesus both began their ministries with a call to repentance (Matt. 3:1, 2; 4:17).
(2) When Christ dispatched the twelve, as well as the seventy messengers to proclaim the Gospel, He commanded them to preach repentance (Mark 6:12; Luke 24:47).
(3) When it came to apostolic preaching, repentance was central (Acts 2:38; 20:21).
(4) God’s desire and command to all men is that they repent (Acts 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). Failure to do so will guarantee man’s condemnation (Luke 13:3).
True repentance touches man’s:
(1) Intellect. By this we mean that repentance causes man to change his mind, views, and/or attitude towards a matter, be it, the Person of Christ, sin, etc. (Luke 15; 18; Acts 2:14-40).
(2) Emotions. (Ps. 38:18; 2 Cor. 7:7-11).
(3) Will. The idea here is that repentance will not only cause man to see sin for what it is and be broken hearted over it, but to turn from it (Ps. 38:18; Isa. 55:7; Luke 15:21; 18:13), and turning to God (Isa. 55:7; Acts 26:18); 1 Thess. 1:9).
Repentance results in:
(1) The repentant sinner being pardoned and receiving forgiveness of his sin (Acts 3:19). It is important to note that nowhere does the Bible teach that pardon and forgiveness come apart from repentance.
(2) The repentant sinner receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The Spirit of God will not enter the heart of an unrepentant sinner.
The Death of Christ
Atonement
Cairns defines atonement as “The satisfaction of divine justice by the Lord Jesus Christ in His active and passive obedience (i.e., His life and death), which procures for His people a perfect salvation.”4
Unger states, “…the atonement is the covering over of sin, the reconciliation between God and man, accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the special result of Christ’s sacrificial sufferings and death by virtue of which all who exercise proper penitence and faith receive forgiveness of their sins and obtain peace.”5
Enns writes, “The foundational meaning of the death of Christ is its substitutionary character. He died in place of sinners that He might purchase their freedom, reconcile them to God, and thereby satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God.”6
In Scripture, we find other words that help us gain a better understanding of atonement, words that cast light upon its meaning. We will look at these words more closely in order to come to a better understanding of the meaning of His death.
Substitution
Ezekiel 18:20 (ESV) tells us that the soul who sins shall die. This is the law of God, a law He cannot set aside, yet because of His indescribable love for mankind, a way was provided that would satisfy the righteous demands of God. God provided a substitute, One who would die in the place of sinners, in their stead. The Incarnate Word of God came to bear the punishment due sinners, their guilt was imputed to Him. He died in our place in order to satisfy the demands of the offended righteousness and holiness of God. Jesus died as the sinners substitute, in the sinners place (Isa. 53:4-6; Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 22:19, 20; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18).
Redemption
The general idea for redemption from the words used in both the Old and New Testament is basically the same, the freedom that results from the payment of a price. The word redeem means to buy or buy back again, to purchase in the marketplace. In the New Testament, the words translated redeemed, redemption, and bought carry ideas that show progression.
(1) The first idea is the concept of the believer being bought by Christ (e.g., 2 Pet. 2:1). The purchase price of the believer was the blood of Christ (Rev. 5:9, 10). Because we have been bought, we now belong to Him; we have become slaves of Christ (1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 7:22, 23). Morris states, “The redeemed are paradoxically slaves, the slaves of God, for they were bought with a price…Believers are not bought by Christ into a liberty of selfish ease. Rather, since they have been bought by God at terrible cost, they have become God’s slaves, to do His will.”7
(2) The second idea is the concept of security. Paul stated that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). Not only did Christ purchase us, but once purchased He removed us from the market never to be on sale again. The believer has been set free from bondage to the law and from the curse of the law or its condemnation.
(3) The third idea is the concept of freedom (1 Pet. 1:18). The word redeemed here carries the idea that the one purchased has been set free, he has been ransomed. He is no longer a slave to sin and/or the devil, we were bought by the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18) in order to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works (Titus 2:14).
Propitiation
The righteous demands of God the Father were satisfied by the death of Christ. Man’s sin offended the holiness of God and all men have sinned (Rom. 3:23). The only thing that would meet His righteous demands would be a sinless sacrifice. Christ provided that sinless sacrifice by providing Himself and shedding His blood in the place of sinful man. The death of Christ allows God to act in love toward sinners without violating His justice, righteousness, or holiness. Love was what motivated God to send Jesus as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). First John 2:2 tells us that it was all-inclusive, but also for those of the whole world. Romans 3:25 tells us that those who put their faith in Jesus find mercy for Christ has become our “mercy seat,” He is the place where Holy God can meet sinful man.
Enns writes, “Propitiation is related to several concepts. (1) The wrath of God. Because God is holy, His wrath is directed toward sin and must be assuaged to spare man from eternal destruction. (2) God provides the remedy. God provides the solution to sin by sending Christ as a satisfaction for sin. (3) Christ’s death assuages the wrath of God. The gift of Christ satisfied the holiness of God and averted His wrath.”8
Johnston states, “The biblical meaning of propitiation is that God’s wrath has been turned away from the sinner because of the supreme sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.”9
Reconciliation
Cairns states, “In terms of biblical doctrine, reconciliation is the removal of the enmity between God and the sinner, and the establishment of a new relationship of peace and friendship between them, on the ground of Christ’s payment of everything due to God and His holy law because of sin.”10
Ryrie writes, “To reconcile means to change. Reconciliation by the death of Christ means that man’s state of alienation from God is changed so that he is now able to be saved (2 Cor. 5:19). When a man believes, then his former state of alienation from God is changed into one of being a member of His family. The extent of reconciliation affects the entire world (2 Cor. 5:19) in the sense that trespasses are not imputed and God is able to offer man His love in Jesus Christ; but it affects believers in a saving sense so that when that gift of love is personally received we are saved (Rom. 5:11).”11
The parable of the prodigal son helps to illustrate reconciliation. The relationship between father and son had been ruined by the son’s rebellion. When the son returns, the father celebrates his return because reconciliation has occurred: because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate (Luke 15:24). It illustrates reconciliation because as in the parable, our relationship with God was ruined because of sin which resulted in us becoming enemies of God (Rom. 5:10). The death of Christ and our trusting Him as Lord and Savior fixed our broken relationship with God. Our sin was erased and the relationship was restored resulting in us now having peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
Paul tells us that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19), that Jesus’ death was the means of our reconciliation (Rom. 5:10), and that Christ, the sinless One, was made to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). It was man who needed to be reconciled to God and God who initiated that reconciliation.
Forgiveness
When a sinner trusts Jesus for his salvation and receives Him as his Lord and Savior, at that moment that sinner receives forgiveness for his sins. Since Christ has made atonement for those sins, the penalty due the repentant sinner is erased. Colossians 2:13 teaches that our debt has been cancelled and we have been made alive in Christ. Our debt was nailed to the cross; the charge against us no longer stands, for Christ has already paid the debt by dying in our place. When God forgives us, He releases us from judgment. We are no longer indebted to God for our sins, for God has now judicially forgiven us all our sins (Acts 10:43; Eph. 1:7; Col. 2:13).
Positionally, God’s forgiveness extends to all sins; past, present, and future (Col. 2:13). Practically, in order for the believer to continually experience the joy of his salvation and uninterrupted fellowship with God, there must be daily cleansing (1 John 1:9).
Justification
Without a doubt, the doctrine of justification is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith. In forgiveness something is taken away, in justification something is added to the believer.
Geisler states, “Justification is the act of God by which we who are unrighteous in ourselves are nevertheless declared righteous before God. It is a judicial (legal) act of pronouncing one to be right in God’s sight.”12
Ladd declares that “The root idea in justification is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be, is righteous—is viewed a being righteous, because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God.”13
So, because of our position in Christ, God declares us righteous (Eph. 2:13), for the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us (Rom. 5:17; 2 Cor. 5:21). It is not, as some often believe, God now seeing us as if we had never sinned, but rather as sinners to whom the righteousness of Christ has been added. In justifying us, God doesn’t pretend we are something we are not. His righteous demands were met in Christ, therefore He remains just while justifying us (Rom. 3:25-26). Our sins were imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness credited to our account.
It is imperative to note that the Bible is very clear in teaching that man is justified by grace alone (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8), through faith alone (Rom. 3:22, 28; 5:1; Gal. 2:16), in Christ alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6).
Adoption
The word adoption as used in the Pauline epistles is a declaration by God in which He accepts those who have been born-again, as sons who have the legal rights of inheritance in Christ. Geisler states, “Adoption means ‘placing as a son’; it signifies, literally, ‘a legal child’ (Ex. 2:10)…Theologically, adoption (Gal. 4:5) refers to the act of God that places a person as a son in God’s family. Adoption is a term of position whereby one becomes a son by the new birth (John 1:12-13), is redeemed from the bondage of the law (Gal. 4:1-5), and, although only a child, is by adoption made an adult son, which is fully manifested at the resurrection of the body (Rom. 8:23; cf. 1 John 3:2).”14
The New Testament commentator William Barclay states that in the legal Roman ceremony of adoption, four things happened, “(a) the adopted person lost all rights in his old family, and gained all the rights of a fully legitimate son in his new family. (b) He became heir to his new father’s estate. (c) The old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out. For instance, legally all debts were cancelled; they are wiped out as if they had never been. (d) In the eyes of the law the adopted person was literally and absolutely the son of his new father.”15
In his epistles, Paul describes the believer’s new status in Christ by using the Roman background.
The Christian shows evidence of sonship by his submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:14), by his separation from the world (2 Cor. 6:14-18), by overcoming (Rev. 21:7), and by the Father’s discipline in his life (Heb. 12:6-8).
Regeneration
In the New Testament, the word regeneration appears only twice. In Matthew 19:28 it is used eschatologically, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, and in Titus 3:5, where it is speaking of the rebirth of the redeemed person, …He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Geisler defines regeneration as “the impartation of spiritual life by God, to the souls of those who were ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1 KJV) and who were ‘saved’ made alive by God ‘through faith’ in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8 NKJV).”16
Grudem, as “… a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. This is sometimes called ‘being born again’ (using the language from John 3:3-8).”17
Erickson states, “conversion refers to the response of the human being to God’s offer of salvation and approach to man. Regeneration is the other side of conversion. It is God’s doing. It is God’s transformation of individual believers, his giving a new spiritual vitality and direction to their lives when they accept Christ.”18
In the New Testament, John 3:3 and Titus 3:5 are the two passages that talk about the impartation of new life to those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. John 3:3 does not use the word regeneration, but regeneration is referred to as the new birth. Unlike our first birth, our physical birth, when we believe, the Holy Spirit regenerates us; He causes us to be born from above. This second birth is a spiritual one and John 3:5 teaches us that this new birth is not something done by us but rather it is something done upon us by God.
Scripture is clear in teaching that we are regenerated or born again by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God (John 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:22). At regeneration we become the children of God (2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 3:26) and literally become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We become heirs of God (Gal. 4:7) and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). God regenerates us so that we may be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures (James 1:18), that we may become heirs of an inheritance (1 Pet. 3, 4), and so that we may be doers of good works (Eph. 2:10).
Enns states, “The result of regeneration is the impartation of a ‘divine nature’ (2 Pet. 1:4). The believer has received a ‘new self’ (Eph. 4:24), a capacity for righteous living. He is a ‘new creature’ (2 Cor. 5:17)…The believer has received a new mind (1 Cor. 2:16) that he may know God; a new heart (Rom. 5:5) that he may love God (1 John 4:9); and a new will (Rom. 6:13) that we may obey God.”19
Eternal Security
As with salvation, the eternal security of a believer does not rest on the individual but rather it is entirely a work of God. Just like we cannot save ourselves or even contribute to our own salvation, neither can we do anything in and of ourselves to stay saved. It is God who saves us and keeps us. Eternal security is a work of all three Persons in the Godhead. The Father’s work can be seen in passages like John 10:28-29; Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 5:7-10; 8:28-30; Jude 24. The work of the Son can be seen in passages like John 6:39-40; 17:24; Rom. 8:33-34; Heb. 7:25 1 John 2:1. The work of the Spirit can be seen in passages like John 14:17; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30; Titus 3:5.
1 Cairns, 175.
2 Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation (Wheaton: Victor, 1989), 118, 119.
3 Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), 29.
4 Cairns, 44.
5 Merrill F. Unger, The New Ungers Bible Dictionary, R. K. Harrison, ed. (Chicago: Moody, 1988), 123.
6 Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody, 1989), 323.
7 Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 54.
8 Enns, 325.
9 Wendell G. Johnston, “Propitiation,” The Theological Wordbook, Charles R. Swindoll, ed., (Nashville: Word, 2000), 282-283.
10 Cairns, 366.
11 Charles C. Ryrie, Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody, 1972), 122.
12 Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (Bloomington: Bethany House, 2004), 227.
13 George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 437.
14 Geisler, 226.
15 William Barclay, The Letter to the Romans (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1957), 110-111.
16 Geisler, 225.
17 Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, Jeff Purswell, ed., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 300.
18 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985), 942.
19 Enns, 340.
Copyright © 2006–2021 by Miguel J. Gonzalez Th.D.
Dr. Miguel J. Gonzalez is the Founder and President of Reasons for Faith International Ministries. He served as a pastor for ten years in Charlotte, NC and has taught in churches and conferences throughout the United States. He currently hosts the Time in the Word and Truth To Live By podcasts and writes at KnowingChristianity.blogspot.com.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
