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Faith
You are saved by grace through faith.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — (Romans 10:17)
Jesus first preached the gospel of God in Galilee, saying: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15); repentance and faith.
Both repentance and faith are the necessary responses you must make to God’s gracious offer of salvation. They are inseparable, two sides of the same coin and linked in scripture, yet distinct acts that work hand-in-hand. Both are gifts of God’s grace and neither is possible without the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts you of sin and leads you to repentance and grants you faith in Christ.
You are not saved because you repent. You are saved by putting your faith and trust in Jesus because of what He did for you on the cross. Christ’s death is the only basis for anyone’s salvation.
However, repentance is still absolutely necessary. While it does not earn salvation, it is the required response of a heart that truly turns to God.
This is the human side of salvation—called conversion—where in the sense Jesus used it, repentance calls for a repudiation of the old life in sin and a turning to God for salvation.
You have a change of heart, with a Godly sorrow for sin—not just for the act of sin, but for the separation it caused from God, which leads to “a change of mind that includes a decisive turning from sin to God” in order to restore your relationship with Him. This leads to saving faith and trust in Jesus Christ for who He is and what He has done for you.
John the Baptist describes repentance as no mere academic change of mind, nor mere regret or remorse. He spoke of repentance as a radical turning from sin that inevitably became manifest in the fruit of righteousness. (from Matthew 3:2)
Faith is the belief, trust, and complete confidence—with absolute certainty— who Jesus is: the one true, sovereign God, with all authority in heaven and on earth and what Jesus has done: He died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and was raised from the dead to give eternal life to all who repent and put their faith and trust in Him.
Faith is turning to, trusting in, and relying on Christ alone.
The Holy Spirit grants this faith when He deems it to be genuine — not temporary faith, where you believe for a while and then fall away, or intellectual faith, where your faith in Christ is in your head, but not in your heart or dead faith, where there are no actions to show the evidence of your faith — but real, “genuine” repentance and “saving” faith.
It is impossible for you to deceive the Holy Spirit when it comes to Him granting your faith.
It requires a total surrender as you repent and put your faith and trust in Jesus.
Your conversion by faith leads to the divine side of salvation called regeneration and justification, where the Holy Spirit transforms you into a spiritual rebirth, ‘born again’ as a new creation in Christ and God declares you righteousness through the righteousness of Jesus.
By repentance, you give glory to your Creator, God the Father, whom you have offended over and over. By faith, you give glory to your Redeemer, God the Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save you from your sins. By your salvation, you give glory to the Holy Spirit who produced and applied it.
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3) and “No one can come to (Christ) unless the Father who sent me (Jesus) draws him…” (John 6:44)
The Character of Genuine Saving Faith
You are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
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