Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
Salvation is not for sale. You can’t buy it by being good enough, going to church or doing religion. It can’t even be bought with a pound of faith (or however you try measuring it by quantity). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Nothing can save apart from God’s unmerited love. “Nothing” means just that – not good works and not even faith. It’s true that faith is involved in the saving process, but it doesn’t in itself save. Think about a light bulb in your house. To turn it on, you need to flip the switch, but that only works when the electrical energy is flowing through the line.
God’s grace is like the generator (the power source), and faith is the switch (the connection). By believing the Word of God, you are simply agreeing with Him, and that is the basis of fellowship. This then allows Him to save and change your life.
Just as a person can’t boast about lighting up a room when he turns on the switch, so there is no reason to feel proud of his ability to believe. The strange thing, however, is that people do just that. They impress themselves with their capacity to trust and figure that they really made God’s day because they decided to believe Him.
How foolish. They don’t realize that they’re so totally destitute of the glory of God that they don’t even have faith they can call their own. If you have any faith at all, it is because the Lord Jesus gave it to you. He is the Author of your Faith, its source. Apart from Him, you have nothing.
Belief is born when you focus on Him. Looking to the person of Christ, His death on the cross and the power of His resurrection are each part of the activity of faith. It is not the technique of believing that matters; it’s the object of faith that’s all-important. Where is the boasting then?
There is none. We can’t boast because Jesus even installed the light switch of faith in us. Remember, He’s the Author of Our Faith.
July 3
