Are You, 'in the faith'? Tues/Thurs Weekly Series, 'In the Sanctuary', Post 7, August 6, 2019

Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. It is a highly predictable geothermal feature, and has erupted every 44 to 125 minutes since 2000.

[Further along in this series, you will understand 'the fierce wrath' of God.  Please stay tuned.] [Acts 17:11 audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html]​

Welcome, welcome, welcome my friends. 

Coming in from my recent travels and observations, let me venture with you into a 'series' of posts for a Tuesday/Thursday series here in the 'quiet and solitude' of 'Sanctuary' on matters dear to my heart.

'Faith' is central to Christianity. You and I know this, right?

The New Testament repeatedly calls people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But, since there is a definite body of content to be believed, which is part and parcel of our religious activity, what exactly is - 'saving faith'.
Let's explore this topic together. 

For the purpose of clarifying 'what we believe', let us all do some examining of exactly what it is we believe - What is - 'Saving Faith'? A Little History, First.  Post 1, July 16, 2019; Post 2, July 18, 2019; Post 3, July 23, 2019; Post 4, July 25, 2019; Post 5, July 30, 2019; Post 6, August 1, 2019; Post 7-AM/PM, August 6, 2019, Post 8, August 8, 2019 - No new information on the post.  Time for a personal review. 

What are the constituent elements of saving faith?

Yes, believing in Jesus is enough to be saved. However, for the sake of clarity, we must explain a few things.

In addition, you must believe the gospel or 'good news' (Mark 1:15) that is defined as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4); so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but, have eternal life, and be a member of the eternal family of God, the kingdom that is to come, to be headed by - Jesus the Christ, and ultimately God the Father.. [John Chapter 3]  But then ......

What is true belief? audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

Not only must you believe in the true Jesus, but you must also have true faith. In theology, we talk about two kinds of faith: ascentia and fiducia.

Ascentia is nothing more than mental acknowledgment. The devil, for example, acknowledges that God exists (James 2:19). But he does not have fiducia. That is, he does not have a trusting faith in God. It is fiducia that Christians are supposed to possess. We are to have a faithful, independent trust in the work of Christ upon the cross who cleansed us from our sins. We don't just have mental acknowledgment that Jesus lived and died on the cross. We not only believe that, but we also trust in the sin sacrifice that Jesus made on that cross.​

​The Protestant Reformers recognized that biblical faith has three essential aspects: notitia, assensus, and fiducia.

Notitia refers to the content of faith, the things we believe. There are certain things we are required to believe about Christ, namely, that He is the Son of God, that He is our Savior, that He has provided an atonement, and so on. [More shall be added in this series as we go forward.]

Assensus is the conviction that the content of our faith is true. One can know about the Christian faith and yet believe that it is not true. We might have a doubt or two mixed with our faith, but there has to be a certain level of intellectual affirmation and conviction if we are to be saved. Before anyone can really trust in Jesus Christ, he has to believe that Christ indeed is the Savior, that He is who He claimed to be. Genuine faith says that the content, the notitia, is true.

Fiducia refers to personal trust and reliance. Knowing and believing the content of the Christian faith is not enough, for even demons can do that (James 2:19). Faith is effectual only if one personally trusts in Christ alone for salvation. It is one thing to give an intellectual assent to a proposition but quite another to place personal trust in it. We can say that we believe in justification by faith alone and yet still think, say and do things, believing  that we are going to get to heaven by our achievements, our works, or our striving.

It is easy to get the doctrine of justification by faith into our heads, but it is hard to get it into the bloodstream such that we cling to Christ alone for salvation.​

There is another element to fiducia besides trust, and that is affection. An unregenerate person will never come to Jesus, because he does not want Jesus. In his mind and heart, he is fundamentally at enmity with the things of God. As long as someone is hostile to Christ, he has no affection for Him. Satan is a case in point.

Satan knows the truth, but he hates the truth. He is utterly disinclined to worship God because he has no love for God. We are like that by nature. We are dead in our sin. We walk according to the powers of this world and indulge the lusts of the flesh.

Until the Holy Spirit changes us, we have hearts of stone. An unregenerate heart is without affection for Christ; it is both lifeless and loveless. The Holy Spirit changes the disposition of our hearts so that we see the sweetness of Christ and embrace Him. [This is also called regeneration first, then, conversion.] None of us loves Christ perfectly, but we cannot love Him at all unless the Holy Spirit changes the heart of stone and makes it a heart of flesh.

My friends, a 'summation' shall post on August 8, 2019.  This material is for your earnest review.  Are YOU in 'the faith', FOR REAL, FOR ETERNITY.  BE CERTAIN.  Amen. Amen.

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