Does Genuine Repentance Save?

The question stated is a loaded one:  Romans 2:4 tells us that the goodness or kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance; God grants repentance according to 2 Tim. 2:24 according to His will and in Acts 5:31 He gives repentance to Israel;  likewise, in Acts 11:18 God grants the Gentiles repentance unto life; in Luke 24:47 the Great Commission is given in terms of repentance:  "[And] that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all generations."

What then is repentance?  From the Koine, metanoia means a change of mind or to rethink.  It is more than eating humble pie or coming clean or feeling sorry about something, or even of having remorse like Judas did.  There are attrition and contrition; God only honors contrition (cf. Psalm 51:17 about God not despising a contrite heart), which is a change of heart, mind, and will or in feelings, intellect and knowledge of it (i.e., changing your mind and attitude, not just opinions), and deciding and determining not to repeat it and go in the opposite direction--doing a 180, a U-turn, or a radical about-face, you might say. One needs emotion but repentance isn't emotionalism. He needs to agree with God about his sin and say the same thing and get a conviction, which is the domain of the Holy Spirit.

You can't do it part way, but must renounce sin making the commitment, to turn from sin which is the evil principle in us. Attrition is spurious and basically only feeling bad about the result and consequence--like what Esau had after selling his birthright to Jacob for a meal.  Repentance, it is agreed, is a prerequisite of salvation.  It is not the cause, but the result because God works it in our hearts with faith so that we become transformed from the inside out--He puts a new man in the suit, not a new suit on the man.  Attrition, on the other hand, is basically motivated by fear of punishment or getting a ticket out of hell, or fire insurance, you could say.

Repentance is an imperative or a mandate and there is no salvation without it.  Conversion consists of both repentance and faith, but they are the flip side of each other and can be distinguished, but not separated.  They say you have believing repentance or penitent faith!  Don't try to justify yourself or offer excuses, but make a resolution to turn to from your former ways to God's way.  Repentance is not a one-time event or experience but must be on-going and progressive--renewed daily to walk with the Lord. The command to repent is given in Ezekiel 18:30 as follows:  Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin."  Paul says in Acts 17:30 (ESV) in the same vein:  "...[B]ut now he commands people everywhere to repent."

We must see that repentance and faith go hand in hand and are complementary--the one is turning from sin and the other is turning to God!  Repentance is one of the recurring motifs of Scripture and Jesus opened His ministry preaching it as did John the Baptist. Jesus said, "Repent, or you will likewise perish" (cf. Luke 13:5).   In the final analysis, we must own up to our wrongdoing.  There is no genuine repentance without saving faith; therefore, if you have one you also have the other.  When one repents he sees himself as a sinner (the sinner's prayer in Luke 18:13 is relevant:  "God be merciful to me, the sinner.").  When one has done this, he is good to go!

Now note that repentance and faith are not conditions of salvation, but the result of it:  A man who is spiritually dead cannot do the work of God which takes the efficacious grace of God to melt his heart and make him willing to believe and change his life--a complete turnaround in repudiating sin!  Job confessed quite appropriately:  "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."  If he saw sin in his life, how much more should we in comparison to one of the three most righteous men in the Bible (Noah, Daniel, and Job according to the Word).

And in conclusion:  if you have genuine repentance, you must have saving faith simultaneously.  You can be assured of salvation, therefore, but it is God that saves through faith in Christ, by grace alone--it is the object of the faith, not the faith which saves (which would be fideism--faith in faith).  Repentance is the condition, but it is a work of grace in the heart, mind, and will of the sinner--"Apart from Me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).   The problem lies in the order of salvation or ordo salutis in Latin, all done by the grace of God so that God alone gets the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!): regeneration, repentance, faith, justification, sanctification, and the terminus is final glorification.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Why Isn't God A Woman?

"...[For] I am God and not a man...[God isn't even human!]"  (Hosea 11:9, ESV).
"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind..." (Numbers 23:19, ESV).
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth"  (John 4:24, ESV).

Doesn't woman mean that she came out of man?  Man was created first in the divine order and scheme of things and then Eve or the woman out of Adam's rib.  Our God is one of design and order and not of confusion or disarray.  Woman was made for the man, and not the man for the woman as a helpmate for him.  Woman is really the pinnacle and zenith of God's creation--the ultimate masterpiece and crown of all creation.  A woman is no way inferior to man but is his equal and counterpart.  I believe God saved the best for last!

Many men have likewise pondered why God isn't a woman and even New Agers believe in Mother Nature, so to speak; because they would rather lust after a beautiful woman than worship some "old man" as God is often stereotyped and caricatured.  If God were a woman hypothetically speaking, some would counter:  "Why isn't God a man?"

God cannot literally be an "it" or a thing, but He is in the sense that He is spirit and not flesh and bone like us--God has no body and can incarnate and make theophanies at will to appear as He wills--even as fire or an angel.  The reason God is referred to as Father is because Jesus asked us to call Him that and He was His Father. This is not a throwback to our need for a father-figure, but God is attempting to show us that there is a correlation between His relationship with us and that of a father to a child. Think on this and go figure:  If God is in you, what sex is God then? The issue is whether He indwells you or not, not what His gender is.

God has no sex like the angels, but He did say, "Let's create man in our image."   This implies that He gave us the ability to communicate with Him and have a living relationship.  We have a will, emotions, and an intellect.  And He has attributes like courage, strength, compassion, tenderness, humility, and condescension that are not necessarily that of any certain sexual persuasion. God transcends gender definition and is the source of all good attributes.   It is too simplistic to say God is a man; however, Jesus is the Son of Man or the "human one [not the Father, the human one]."  God may be masculine, but if He didn't have a feminine side, where did these traits and characteristics come from, if not God?  Soli Deo Gloria!

How To Explain The Trinity

DISCLAIMER:  NO ONE CAN FULLY FATHOM GOD'S DIVINE NATURE MANIFESTED IN THE TRINITY; HOWEVER, ILLUSTRATIONS AND REASON CAN GIVE INSIGHT AND FAITH.

The Trinity, a term coined by the Church Father and lawyer Tertullian, is terminology for our God who is one in essence (i.e., that they share the attributes of divinity such as omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence), and is three in person--i.e., uniting three personas.  You might say He is triune or has a tripersonality.  He is a threesome, that in one sense is three, and in another only one.  God is one in the sense of a union or of being one like one cluster of grapes (from the Hebrew Echad).  Each of the members of the Godhead work together for one purpose, goal, and will to accomplish it with different job descriptions or roles:  In our salvation, the Father planned it and authored it, the Son accomplished it and achieved it, and the Holy Spirit applies it and completes it; In creation as well as in salvation, the Father initiates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit regenerates.  This is like three functions of matter in the three states of solid, liquid, and gas. Water, ice, and steam are all the same element chemically, though they have different properties.

How can you say that there are three and one and not be contradictory?  If you mean it in a different sense it is no contradiction. According to the law of noncontradiction, something cannot be something and not be something in the same sense at the same time!  If you have three lights on in a room and behold only one light doesn't that mean there is but one light with three sources?  One person may say, from his viewpoint, that there are three lights, and another that there is only one!  It all depends upon perspective.  Charles Taze Russell, who founded the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, said this doctrine was illogical and therefore rejected it; however, God's nature isn't necessarily perceptible, apparent, nor lucid to our feeble minds.  You may say it is simple arithmetic:  1 + 1 + 1 = 3; however, 1 X 1 X 1 = 1.

No one can adequately explain the Trinity because the finite cannot contain the infinite, as the Latin maxim says.  We have to take it on faith that this is so!  God will give us enough to take the leap of faith, but He expects us to have faith and not let our cerebral doubts get in the way.  Our intellects can be a stumbling block to our faith, get in the way, and hinder true faith--God honors the faith of a child.

What I'm getting at is that you cannot fathom nor explain this doctrine, even if you have all eternity! We cannot peg God, put Him in a box, nor analyze Him to our specs or satisfaction!  Just accept it by faith and realize that God is infinite and you are finite and cannot comprehend God. God boggles our mind and just thinking about Him is mental gymnastics. There is always more to God than we apprehend--this is called the profundity of God.  God speaks to us in baby talk, or lisping, and is condescending to our level to have a relationship with us, who are in His image--that's why we are capable of it.

In conclusion:  I confess I cannot fully comprehend it, but I believe despite this.  You don't need all the answers to have faith, just go in the direction of the preponderance of the evidence like a jury is instructed to do.  God with the flow!  When the majority of the evidence suggests or dictates a conclusion--go with it!  Behold the "three-in-oneness" of God. "God in three persons, blessed Trinity."  They say the Trinity is not three ways of looking at God (like a man may be a husband, brother, and son), nor three persons or personas that together make up or complete God (this is called tritheism and is like the parts of an egg or apple together make up the whole egg or apple), but a threesome and a union incomprehensibly made one.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Is It Valid To Only Have A Higher Power?

Note well that just imagining a God or philosophizing about His existence or being superstitious and just thinking "He is there" doesn't satisfy:  Only a personal and secure relationship with Him can!  A one-dimensional God cannot fulfill our needs and meet us where we are.

Some people like to think of God as some higher power that influences them for good or bad in an impersonal way and the world at large.  They don't feel they know it or have any kind of living relationship with it, but only respect it and live by its rules.  It is a kind of mechanical fate to some and a cosmic energy or life force to others ("the Force be with you").  Some are convicted there is a God of some sort but call it or personify it by other names, such as "Mother Nature" or "Fate, Luck, or Chance."

There are no impersonal forces at work in nature and God is sovereign over all His creation.  What these deluded people need to realize is the vast chasm between Jesus Christ and the so-called higher powers that cannot be known.  Since we have a mind and are persons, a creator must have a higher mind and be a superior person, not a force or influence. Thinking of God as a mere higher power is a stepping stone or beginning to an acknowledgment of God in truth through a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christ claimed to be God Almighty in the flesh and rose from the dead to demonstrate it to live witnesses who became martyrs witnessing of their experiences, and the veracity of their testimony was their blood and death.  People will die for what they believe is true, but they won't willingly die for a hoax.   The resurrection is either the greatest single event in all of history or it is the biggest hoax and fraud ever perpetrated upon mankind.  The disciples were not deluded madmen and guilty of spreading rumors and lies.  They were not consummate liars at all but men of high moral integrity and their lives verified and were consistent with their testimony.  Jesus talked like no human ever talked and is not saying things you would expect of a madman; they are not the rantings and ravings of a lunatic.

Yes, Christianity is so vastly differentiated from "religion" that it is in a new dimension--viva la difference.  Only in Christianity is their assurance of salvation, and an existential personal experience that is based on objective, historical fact.   We would not be experiencing Christ if He were still dead in the grave. Religion is a "do-it-yourself" proposition and is basically "lifting up yourself by your own bootstraps."  Religion says "Do," while Christianity says, "Done." Our salvation is not earned, deserved, and able to be paid back, but wholly of grace and a gift of God to be received as a gift. Only in Christianity is the sin problem adequately dealt with and solved by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ--there is no more reason for guilt and shame, but a real hope.  The past is forgiven, the present is given meaning, and the future is secured. What purpose in life can a higher power give you?

Eternal life is about knowing God and having a personal, fulfilling, and rewarding relationship with Him.   We are assured of a God who loves us and cares about us and meets our needs adequately. We are not left out to fend for ourselves in a dog-eat-dog world that has the law of the jungle and the rule is the survival of the fittest.   The whole miracle of Christianity is how it changes lives and transforms from the inside out, making a whole new person in the suit, not putting a new suit on the person.   We are not free to imagine any God we choose and put Him in a box; we must find and deal with the God who is there.  God is here and He is not silent.

The uniqueness of Jesus is that He is especially known for who He is, and not what He said (though people quote Him all the time unawares).  He alone claimed to be the Son of God and His credentials backed it up.  His character was consistent with His claims, and His miracles were such that they were unique signs of His deity.  If you take the miracles out of Christianity you have nothing left--Jesus would only be a footnote in history; you can take the miracles out of the other faiths and you still have them intact.  Someone has said, "If you take Christ out of Christianity, you disembowel it and there is nothing left"--Christianity is Christ and Christ is God, which is the issue to be faced.

Christianity is a religion that God has revealed Himself propositionally, i.e., hundreds of times it says, "Thus saith the LORD" and this is not the case in any of the other "Scriptures."  Christianity is a revealed religion that we wouldn't have thought of ourselves like having 72 virgins and enjoying wine, women, and song for eternity.  Some disparities are:  All faiths encourage good works, but in Christianity, we are not saved by works, but unto works.  We don't do works in order to get saved, but because we are saved: not an "in order to" but a "therefore."  Only Christianity has an objective reason to solve the so-called guilt problem of man, which is real and exists.  Only Christianity offers an eternal life that begins as an abundant life in the here and now and is not provisional--a sure thing. Only Christianity offers grace instead of merit to gain salvation. We don't deserve it, can't earn it, and can never pay it back!

Many faiths claim to "work" and they say that that is proof they are true:  The unique distinction is that Christianity is not true because it works, but it works because it is true.  Every honest seeker of the truth owes it to himself to take a serious look at the claims of Christ and see that there is no comparison to any so-called higher power. Note well:  Only Christianity proffers a personal God that loves us and knows us and wants a personal relationship with us so that we can know Him.
    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Freedom And Bondage Of The Will

Right off the bat, I want to make you cognizant of the two sorts of will in us--temporal/mundane and spiritual or moral. God has uniquely made man a moral creature because he has a mind and a will, and man alone has the ability to make moral choices for which he is responsible and will be held accountable and judged unless he is redeemed. Spiritual choices pertaining to salvation are subject to the grace of God.  We have the ability to choose (or faculty of choice intact) of what sort of cola we want, but we don't have the innate or inherent ability to choose the Way of salvation in Christ apart from the grace of God (John 15:5).  If someone says he went to the altar and received Christ all by himself with no aid from Christ or the Holy Spirit, he probably also left the altar without Christ too.

When we are left to ourselves we don't choose Christ.  That is the problem, man chooses evil and God did something about it by choosing some (the elect) to be saved by predestination because of His purpose and grace--not because of anything we did (or it would be on the basis of works and merit and election is unconditional and made before we did anything).  God could have chosen to condemn everyone (He didn't have to save anyone!), but He decided to show mercy on whom He will show mercy and condemn those He chooses to pass over and withhold grace.  Some receive grace and some justice, but God is unjust to no one.  Grace and mercy are forms of non-justice, but not of injustice.

God is sovereign over all of creation and made us of a certain temperament and character without our input.  There is no maverick molecule, so to speak, in the cosmos.  We act according to our nature (choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine, bipolar, extrovert, introvert, antisocial, etc.).  As an analogy, why do you think a dove prefers seed and a vulture feasts on carrion?   So little of the factors of a decision is based upon our choice because God is able to manipulate all circumstances to bring about His will so that His sovereignty is not limited by our freedom.  Jesus said in John 15:5, "Apart from Me you can do nothing."

We cannot even believe apart from the grace of God (Acts 18:27 says,  "...he greatly helped those who through grace had believed").  "For it has been granted unto you to believe..." (Phil. 1:29).  Faith is a gift and not a work, or we would be saved by works and have merit before God to boast of.  We don't conjure it up but it comes "by the hearing and hearing by the Word" (Rom. 10:17).  Our ultimate destiny, therefore, is in the hands of God.  He decided whom to save apart from our input. This is a hard teaching to accept and Jesus said in John 6:44 that no one can come to the Father unless the Father "draws" him.  The wooing or enticing of the Spirit is essential, necessary, and sufficient. We cannot come to the Father unless it has been granted,

Martin Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will and said that freedom of the will is too grandiose a term to describe our state.  We don't need free will to be saved, but wills set free--we are not born free or innocent, but in bondage and enslaved to sin and our sin nature.  Philippians 2:13 (ESV) says, "For it is  God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."  God can make the unwilling willing at will per Psalm 110:3.

I do not believe in determinism, which is robotic coercion.  We are not puppets on a string.  God never forces anyone to do something against his will--He simply changes your will willingly--we are all voluntary slaves to sin.  We have input and are responsible moral agents for our choices.  We didn't cease to be men at the fall, but ceased being good--our inclination to good was lost and we are basically evil and sinful fallen creatures, not basically and inherently good.  Augustine summed up our state by saying we are free, but not freed (we have lost our liberty). The freedom of the will is a curse and poison because we are bound to choose against Christ apart from His divine intervention.   We all act according to enlightened self-interest and according to our God-given nature.  God doesn't force us to do anything we don't want to do (i.e., there is no outside force) which would make us robots or automata. We do have self-determination, which is real freedom, in that we make decisions ourselves.  The miracle is that God is able to change our heart and transform a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:27).

If we were really free, we would be able to say:  "Henceforth, I will only desire only good and not sin." (We are slaves to sin our will is fallen too and needs to be set free by Christ by grace.)  This is where our freedom ends and we suffer the consequences of our own nature.  The sinner retains the faculty of choice and will not be able to blame God for his bad choices--he will have no one to blame but himself at the Great White Throne Judgment.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Preaching Law And Gospel

"But, if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too are found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?  Certainly not!"  (Gal. 2:17, ESV). Though we are referred to as saints, we never cease to be sinners.

"...[Repent] and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).  This is Jesus preaching the Law and the Gospel.

"[A]nd that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations..." (Luke 24:47).  This is the Great Commission with Law and Gospel.

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ:  (John 1:17).  A proper dichotomy of the Word between Law and Gospel.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling [dividing] the word of truth"  (2 Tim. 2:15).  The Bible is mostly divided between Law and gospel or promises and we need to differentiate them in view of grace.

Luther said, "He who masters the art of distinction between the Law and the Gospel should be called a real theologian." Get them lost first and tell the bad news before the good news.

An anticipatory synopsis:  The purpose of the Law is to point out sin, restrain evil in the world, and to reveal God's will and how to live.  Note well:  "[Through] the law comes the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). The Gospel is to provide forgiveness and grace and to re-orient our lives ("Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" cf. Gal. 3:3).  By way of definition: The OT contains the Gospel (promises and pertaining to Christ), and the NT contains the Law (what God demands to convict and a code of conduct).  The whole of Scripture is one or the other in general. When the Law is preached people are "cut to the heart" (the accusations of the Law leads to repentance) like in Acts, and when the gospel is preached their hearts are turned from stone to flesh and renewed (it is the power of the Gospel that saves).  Caveat:  It is ill-advised to preach Gospel minus Law, as it leads to spurious faith, easy-believism, shallow faith, pseudo conversion, and worst of all: False assurance.

It is imperative that we distinguish these concepts and know when to apply them.  "[Preach] the Word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:2).  Preachers need to preach the Law and the Gospel well enough to be rejected as well (the average convert has rejected the Gospel 7.8 times before acceptance).  We are not under the Law, but we are not lawless!  The "Law is good," according to Paul, "if one uses it lawfully" (1 Tim. 1:8).  Too many preachers preach what the congregants want to hear or what is popular and gathers a crowd. This is a sign, though not proof, of a false teacher.  Some preach to scare people into the kingdom and some to make an emotional appeal that leads to an altar call--faith pleases God, not emotions according to Heb. 11:6. Preachers should preach both the Law (what God requires of us and shows us how far we fall short), and the Gospel (the good news about how God solved the sin issue through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ).

But the problem is that some don't preach in the proper sequence, perspective or balance--some people are already convicted and know they are unsaved and need to be comforted with the gospel; others are secure in their sins and may be self-righteous and need the Law preached to make them realize they do indeed fall short and need the gospel.  God says in Isaiah 40, "Comfort ye my people..." and this is because they have suffered double for their sins and are ready for it. Martin Luther called the Law the hammer of the Bible that shatters our self-righteousness, a mirror that shows us what we are, and a whip that drives us to God--he that is forgiven much loves much.

But we all need some Law and some Gospel because we need to keep on our spiritual toes and have spiritual checkups.  The power is in the Gospel to change our lives and the power is in the Law to show us our need.  To some, it may seem that the Gospel is too good to be true, but goodness is not the criteria for truth--it is either true or false.  We cannot be convicted too much (we are at the same time saint and sinner) by the Law; in fact, the worse off a sinner realizes he is, the more ready he welcomes the Gospel.  Paul thought of himself as the "chief of sinners" in 1 Tim. 1:15 and the author John Bunyan penned Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners!  This is resultant of preaching the Word, and the whole counsel of God and the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.  When the Law was given, Israel promised to keep it, rather than sue for mercy ("...We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey" in Exodus 24:8)--they were clueless!

One reason preachers don't preach this sequence is that they are not aware of it (God doesn't sanction nor place any premium on willful ignorance as an excuse),  and think the only way to save people is to scare them into the kingdom, talking about hell or the rapture. There is always a mix of terrified, convicted sinners and secure sinners in a church and that is why both must always be preached and the preacher must never assume his parishioners are all saved.  The Gospel washes, cleanses, heals and sanctifies, not the Law.  Most people, apart from the Law, think they are not quite so bad after all ("Woe to those who are at ease in Zion," says Amos 6:1).  The Law is our "guardian until Christ came" (Gal. 3:24) and after we are saved and have faith we are no longer "under the Law" and it has no power over us, to claim nor condemn us.

Many preachers get too bogged down with the Law and are not "grace-oriented" and have had no "grace awakening" to distinguish the two and if people think they are justified or even sanctified by the Law, they have "fallen from grace" or have become legalists and aren't being saved by grace, but by their own efforts.  We are saved by grace from beginning to ending and we don't need to become somewhat Jewish to be saved.   We use it unjustly to see it as a means of salvation or sanctification. Paul said in Gal. 3:10 that if we rely on the Law we are under a curse! We must realize what Jesus said ("Apart from Me you can do nothing..," in John 15:5) and not rely on the energy or power of the flesh to be saved ("Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit" says Zech. 4:6), but recognize that it is from "faith to faith" that we are saved (Rom. 1:17).

Now, "the law is holy, righteous, and good" (Rom. 7:12) and it must be used correctly--is meant for the sinner to convict him (2 Tim. 1:9 says:  "for the lawless and disobedient, for  the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane."  We never can say we don't need the Law to show us right living, God's will, morality, and ethics (I am not speaking of the ceremonial Law of Moses, but of the moral Law that God requires of us).

You cannot dichotomize the Bible so simplistically and say that the OT is Law and the NT is gospel because if that were so the Old Testament saints couldn't be saved, and the New Testament saints couldn't be convicted and know right from wrong.   There is Law everywhere (if I say this is a free park and it has no laws or rules, how free is it? It's chaos).  John Clare said that "in a madhouse, there exists no law."   We do need the Law and cannot lose track of it or become disoriented--but we must always learn to distinguish the two.  Rom. 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the Law," and this means He fulfilled it and we are not under its authority to condemn anymore.  "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," according to Rom. 8:1.

The curse was in Deut. 27:26 (ESV) et alia:  "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them...."  We come to the realization that "the letter [the Law] kills, but the Spirit [the Gospel] gives life, when we get saved and realize that we have a lighter yoke than the yoke of the Law to fulfill, and that is the yoke of the Spirit and being led by the Spirit.  "...For the letter [the Law] kills, but the Spirit [Gospel] gives life"  (2 Cor. 3:6 showing Law and Gospel again).  The Law has the power to kill according to Romans 7:11 because it can seize the opportunity and overcome us. We need to learn to live in the power of the Spirit and be free form the burden (we obey because we want to, not because we have to) of the Law:  "You shall, therefore, keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD" (Lev. 18:5, ESV).

The whole point in preaching is to make everyone, even the saved, realize their need for the Law and the gospel and not to lose track of these, but keep oriented and make regular spiritual checkups.  We don't want to get too comfortable or complacent and we don't want to despair. If people think they need to hear it that is good but if they think it was just interesting or "worth a few moments of their time," as if being entertained,  then they failed--preaching is meant to change lives.  Preaching is the methodology or M.O. of saving souls and it is "by hearing, and by hearing" that a person receives faith (Rom. 10:17).

Ovid was right about human nature:  "We strive after the forbidden things and always lust after the things that are denied us."  When the Law came, it aroused desire just like Eve desired of the forbidden fruit--this is the essence of sin. We wouldn't want to step on the wet paint if no sign said, "Do not step on wet paint." The nitty-gritty of the Law and the gospel is that it is the power of God unto salvation and it is a mystery, i.e., not self-evident.

The answer to the inquiry "What must I do to be saved?" is our fixation.  Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation.  Jesus answered this question in John  6:29:  "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  We can do nothing--that is the point!  It is God's work in us and we receive salvation as a free gift we didn't deserve, cannot earn, and can never repay."   This is welcome news to those wholly convicted of their sins and having spirits prepared by God to receive His grace message.   If we had to do something most people could accept that, but they cannot understand how salvation can be free.  God just wants us to believe in Him ("...he greatly helped those who through grace had believed" in Acts 18:27).  The statement "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" is nonsensical apart from the conviction of the Law.  Christ came to save sinners, and if you do not regard yourself as a real sinner, then Christ may not seem like a real Savior!  As for me, I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Judas Factor

We have a lot to learn from the arch villain, and nemesis of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, who even fooled his fellow disciples.  There are people in the Bible that are the paradigm of evil, as well as an exemplar of virtue, not to mention the paragon of character Himself, Jesus-- otherwise, we wouldn't know what to think about when we contemplate ourselves in light of God.  The fact is:  Some people are bad examples and some good, but all our examples, just like some are vessels of honor and others of dishonor.  The Bible pulls no punches, it tells it like it is and doesn't gloss over the evil when it happens or paint a pretty picture--that is evidence it is a true portrait without spin or bias like historians of the time were wont to be.

The Bible's main message of salvation in Christ is that we are all sinners and in need of salvation, and that no one is too far out there to be saved if they repent  (cf. Is. 1:18).  For example, consider the king Manasseh, who was probably Judah's most wicked, and yet he finally repented and knew that the LORD was God.  Judas' sin was not so bad that it was not redeemable, even though Jesus did divinely prophesy that it would be better had he never been born. Remember:  Jesus knew he was not going to repent and never did believe in the first place (he was a devil from the get-go).

We need to see the Judas in all of us, just like Robert Louis Stevenson saw Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in himself.  We are all totally depraved and every part of us is infected with evil--if evil were blue we would be all blue.  Our hearts are evil--i.e., our emotions, our wills, our intellects.  We can't think straight, we have wrong or bad feelings (that we shouldn't go by), and we have a disloyal, unwilling, and rebellious spirit or will.  We are not all as bad as we can be, but as bad off as we can be--this is God's perspective, not ours (humanists still believe man is basically good and even deify him).

Can any Christian honestly say that he has never betrayed someone or been interested in ulterior motives that may be financially rewarding--everyone wants a friend with benefits nowadays.  If we were one of the 12 would we have loved Judas? He is in the Bible for a reason, and not just to despise or look down on.  This is why there is a Judas plot or conspiracy in all of us--even Peter said, "It is I?" in conviction.  There is a latent Judas in all of us.

Judas was in it to cash in and had no real spiritual ambition or interests. The Word doesn't fully divulge his motives, the disciples, in fact, never saw it coming; but I would judge him as the opportunist in the motley crew or band of 12.  I believe that when he appraised the situation as only a spiritual empire or kingdom, and that they might have to go to their deaths following him, he wanted out, but out in an honorable way (to himself)--to save face, you might say.  We all have to pick sides and cannot forever remain neutral when it comes to Christ's beckon call on our soul's allegiance. 

Judas was surely a likable and trustworthy fellow that gain the approbation of his peers and this shows that personality should be discounted when it comes to spiritual competence and faithfulness and how much God can use a person.  He was the one in charge of finances and this showed a high level of trust from the others not to mention Jesus whom he likely ingratiated and kissed up to.   Remember that Satan was tempting Judas and we are probably have never been so tempted and are not in a position to judge (only Jesus knows all the criteria of judgment).

Judas ultimately chose his own way over God's way. We are all guilty of doing our own thing! "I did it my way" is a familiar philosophy today and everyone wants to be their own lord and run their own life, not giving up its ownership to God. Choosing our way is choosing death.   And the choice is between life and death that God gives us ("...Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death," says Jer. 21:8).  Jesus had claimed to be "The Life" just as Thomas a Kempis famously said, "Without the way, there is not going, without the truth, there is no knowing, and without the life, there is no living."  One of the biggest lessons in life and one of the facts of life is that we have to realize we don't know everything and do a lousy job of running our lives, with no input or counsel from people wiser than us.  There is a principle:  Education is going from an unconscious to a conscious awareness of our ignorance.

Judas failed in his scheme and realized it too late.  He was filled with remorse (which isn't good enough and this means he was sorry about the consequences of his actions, but probably still justified himself (2 Cor. 7:10 says the sorrow of the world produces death).  We need to be more than sorry or have regrets; we need to come clean and do a 180, a U-turn, or about-face--facing up to our wrongdoing.  In contrast, Peter's sin of denying the Lord was equally bad, but he truly repented and owned up to it and believed Jesus could forgive him.  Judas had absolutely no faith in the Lord and didn't think Jesus could ever forgive him of his dastardly deed.

Why did Jesus even give the invite to the Passover Meal?  Then again why did He even choose him?  Because Jesus loves the worst of us (cf. Eph. 3:19) and gives us all the opportunity we need to repent and it is us who gives up, not Him. The invite shows us that we should extend invitations to those who are searching and are even enemies whom we are commanded to love, in the hope that we will be able to reach out to them somehow--bless those who cannot pay back!  Jesus knew he was a devil from the beginning by divine knowledge from the Father, but He knew the Scriptures had to be fulfilled too. 

This was a wake-up call to the disciples to show that they can be fooled and to make them all the more aware of charlatans, quacks, bogus friends, sham believers, and false prophets under the guise of good (for even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light).  Doesn't it show Jesus' patience and love when he even honored him to the end by serving him the bread first--even saving him face as he left in case he changed his mind?  (Jesus knew all things were possible with God.)

Jesus is looking for disciples who love Him and are after His own heart like David.  Judas had no love, except for his own ambitions and plans, being a materialistic person who wanted to sell Jesus out to get "something" out of the deal and take sides.  We all have let Jesus down and his example is in Scripture to warn us that our old Adam has the tendency to "sell out" or "cash in" and take advantage of people or even manipulate them as we love things and use people, rather than use things and love people.  When you are this way, it only means that you are short-sighted and don't have a grasp on eternity or see life in light of eternity.  Things won't last, but people and relationships will!  Judas died with no relationship intact.

All in all, when push comes to shove, we must ultimately and willfully love the ones least worthy of it--they may even be more "un-lovable" than our enemies (cf. Jude 22,23)!  In conclusion, let's concur that Judas had no one to blame but himself and that is the way it will be at the Great White Throne Judgment.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Loving The Romanists

People can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity is important, it is not everything.  You can have a sound theology without a sound life, but not a sound life without a sound theology; however, it is more vital to have a heart in tune or in sync with Christ, and in the right place than to be orthodox and impeccably correct in one's doctrines--man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

Keeping our eyes, focused on the goal, which is to win them over and not be a stumbling block or artificial roadblock, that hinders one's search for the truth will set him free. Our goal should be to build bridges not tear them down. We may even have to pray for an open door. Caveat:  You can be dead right as well as dead wrong!  The only solution is one of mutual respect and love. What follows is my attempt to bridge the gap and put us on the same page.

We all may have Roman Catholic friends (22 percent of America is Roman Catholic) and colleagues that we are in daily or regular contact within our sphere of influence, that God has made us responsible for as a witness.  The key is to meet them where they are and get to know them first. I do not have an ax to grind against the Romanist tradition or feel vengeance to "get even" or "even the score" for the so-called bitter Thirty Years' War between Protestants and Catholics (1618-1648) that practically destroyed Christendom in Western Europe, and ended in a stalemate and an edict of "toleration" and mutual recognition (Treaty of Westphalia). At one point even the Jews and Christians decided to "live and let live," to "agree to disagree," and stop feuding with each other, but to cease fire and seek peace.  We must love others into the kingdom of God!  Jesus said we'd be known by our love!  The Protestant Church wasn't officially recognized by Charles V until the Peace of Augsburg (1555).

Catholicism and Protestantism split subsequent to October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the Castle Church of Wittenberg, and was promptly summoned to the Diet of Worms to recant by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Leo X, who declared him a heretic and excommunicated him.  He escaped by virtue of being kidnapped to Wartburg Castle and proceeded to translate the Bible into German (completed in 1534 and still a work of art in German prose to this day). And so the split in 1521, like that of the Western and Eastern Churches in 1054 to form the Orthodox Church, is almost 500 years in the making.

It was not the Protestants who condemned the Catholics, but vice versa (they were told to recant or be excommunicated).  Luther didn't intend to start a new denomination or church in his name--he only intended to reform, but this is what happened nevertheless.  The motto and spirit of the movement: I dissent, I disagree, I protest (how we get Protestant). Luther continued the Protestant movement (known as Evangelicals or Lutherans) along with other reformers.  He had held to the Word of God, plain reason, and his conscience as his guide--the former monk and theology professor never recanted but continued his reforms of Romanism until his death in 1546.

We are no longer at the mercy of church dogma.  Today, many believers in the Protestant faith have even already come full circle by submitting to everything their church says and decrees without question.  Remember the Bereans (cf. Acts 17:11), who were nobler than the Thessalonians who went home and searched these things out that Paul preached, and found out whether they were true. We are all believer-priests in the Christian church and have the Holy Spirit's illuminating ministry and the anointing to understand the Scriptures, and don't need a priest or teacher to tell us everything.

There is a fundamental difference between the way the Catholics and Protestants understand salvation which is called the doctrine of soteriology by theologians:  The former primarily see the instrumental means via the sacraments (viz., baptism and communion) of the Church, and the latter as through faith alone as the instrumental means.  The Catholics deemed the Church as necessary for salvation in Vatican Council II of 1962-1965.  Note that Catholics always refer to their denomination as "the Church" and NOTE:  Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me"(cf. John 14:6).   Roman Catholics declared non-Catholics to be "heretics," and that the "Church is necessary for salvation...  For it is through the Church alone...."  This Church likes to pronounce a curse on those that sincerely disagree or beg to differ, they cannot even agree to disagree by decree or council.

Grace is necessary, and faith is necessary, and even Christ is necessary, but not sufficient in Catholicism. They also acknowledge three varieties of merit that are being added to grace (at least congruous merit, but condign merit is obligatory to reward, and supererogatory merit is above and beyond the call of duty, such as martyrdom and can be shared with others to help them.)  They do not believe faith is adequate but works must be added to the faith to make it complete.  While Protestants generally all agree with the formula that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9)--which was one of the battle cries of the Reformation. However, the Catholics contradicted Jesus:  In 1891, Pope Leo the Twelfth declared, "No one can approach Christ except through the Mother [the Co-Mediator or Mediatrix and Co-Redeemer]."

Reacting: The Catholics were very upset at the Reformed dogma and summoned the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent from 1545-1563 to declare "anathema" or cursed anyone who believes in sola fide or faith alone (because they could not find the phrase "faith alone" in Scripture!). This council further alienated the Church by declaring tradition of equal authority as Scripture, and also that the Apocrypha was to be canonized.  In explanation:  James (cf. James 2:34), said we are justified by works and not by faith alone;  but he was saying that the kind of faith that doesn't produce good works or fruit is not saving faith, and is "dead."

Then the Reformers countered with their definition of saving faith with this formula:  We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.  This may seem like splitting hairs or nitpicking, but it makes you either a Protestant or Catholic by your stand on whether faith alone is adequate to save and consequently whether we have any right to "boast" in God's presence of any merit or work we have done. Faith is regarded as a meritorious work and not a gift, and this is the beginning of merit.   "Faith alone" became the rallying cry of the Reformation.

Now to get to our premise as to how we must love our Catholic friends:  We must not compromise our faith, water down, or domesticate the gospel to make it sound appealing to them, but we must stick to our guns and stand fast in the faith.  "The Lord's servant must not strive..." (2 Tim. 2:24).  We don't go out of our way to condemn them, but if the subject comes up we are to remain faithful to our credo and not try to gain their favor or be "people-pleasers" by sounding less abrasive or offensive to their standards.  Sometimes the truth hurts and convicts, and if we really belong to Christ, we must be willing to take a stand, willing to suffer the consequences of our cross to bear.

For example, in a Bible study, we don't go out of our way to point out the differences of doctrine, but if the subject comes up we are to tell it like it is in a loving way, and not waver or cower in our stand--there comes a time when we must and take our stand for Jesus--we must make it clear that it is not just our opinion, but that we can show from Scripture why we believe what we do; as another of the Reformer's mottoes was, sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), we must appeal alone to divine Scripture as our authority--not the Supreme Pontiff or the Pope, tradition, the Church, or even ourselves.

Most of all, we must realize that the best witness is a loving testimony that shows we aren't just trying to argue them into the kingdom (we can never argue someone into the faith), but we must wait for the open door that we have prayed for and take the cue to witness when called for, and do so humbly and honestly from the heart.  If they realize you really love them that is the best witness, not how brilliant we are. They don't care how much you know, till they realize how much you care.  The best way to love them is to tell them the truth and not live a lie or deny the truth.  By all means, never condemn them, nor tell them bluntly that they are not Christians, but let God do the convicting--John 16:8 says this is the Holy Spirit's domain.  We can never convert someone--only God can accomplish this task!

Note that I am not saying that you cannot be saved if you're a Catholic (I believe Mother Teresa of Calcutta is doubtless one of the closest saints to the Father), but some are saved despite their church dogma and not because of it (faith in the Catholic tradition means agreement or acquiescence with Church dogma or the official teachings of the Church per se). God has his "angels" in every church as a witness and testimony if people are looking for Him. Like Paul said to the Philippians:  "I want to know Christ ... [it is not our theory of soteriology that saves us, but Christ]."  It is the object (Christ) of faith that saves, not faith itself.  Feelings don't necessarily impress God, but faith does (cf. Heb. 11:6).!


In conclusion:   A word to the wise is sufficient. There is such a thing as "dead orthodoxy" or having a well-thought-out theology and no spiritual life to match! The Pietists arose during the Reformation to neutralize this same situation.  You can be orthodox in your creed and not be saved, and wrong in your doctrine and be saved, because salvation is a relationship (knowing and believing in Christ) not a creed per se.  Creeds change over time as the church is semper reformanda or always reforming according to the Reformers; however, Christ never changes, and is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Let us learn to love Him more dearly, follow Him more nearly, and know Him more clearly!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing Jesus

"I desired ... the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"  (Hosea 6:6).
"[Jesus] will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus"  (2 Thessalonians 1:7).
"Now that you know God, or rather are known by God"  (Gal. 4:9).
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"  (2 Cor. 13:5, ESV).

(Note:  If anyone says he knows God and doesn't obey Him, he is a liar, according to Jesus).

More important than understanding who Jesus is theologically, is to know Him personally as salvation, and the utmost value is in finding Him.  The result:  Do you love Jesus?  The ultimate question:  Who is He to you?  In summation, let's realize that to know Him is to love Him!


It is one thing to be content to just be theologically sound concerning Jesus, and quite another to know Him intimately and personally in a living relationship that grows, and doesn't stagnate or static. You can be saved knowing remarkably little doctrine; God is looking at the heart and faith of the individual in Him and not in himself--we are God-confident, not self-confident, relying on our acumen or cognition or intellectual prowess.

Extremely naive and simple-minded people can be saved, and those of great education can miss it entirely--miss the boat!  Christianity is not about a creed, but about knowing a person--how we are getting along--relationships are of utmost value.  Job 22:21 says, "Acquaint now yourself with Him and be at peace."  We must be willing to agree with God and see things His way, and not be stubborn and insisting on our way.

Faith is very simple:  Even a child can have it, but it is not simplistic--it is childlike (you must approach God in this way), but it is not childish (God wants us to grow up and become mature).   Subsequent to learning enough doctrine to become a renowned theologian we may lack people skills and not know our Lord hardly at all.   For example, John Bunyan didn't know very much compared to the likes of John Calvin, but he knew his Lord.  It is so much more important to apply what we know and realize that we will not be judged by what we know, but what we sow.

We are called to be lights in the world and that means we are ambassadors who represent our Lord in an evil world.  The world sees the gospel according to you--what your lifestyle and story testify of.  A man of simple faith who just knows Jesus is God and his Savior may utter simple prayers and have a constant dialogue with their Lord, while the scholar doesn't apply what he knows and just likes to be right or smarter than others.

Jesus said that eternal life is to "know Him" in John 17:3 and Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 9:24 that if we are to "boast" we should do so about knowing the Lord!  J. I. Packer alleges that we can know a great deal "about God" and not much "of God." He concludes that a little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal about Him--touche!  This only happens through a living faith and a vital relationship in a daily walk. A word to the wise:  God is pleased with faith more than feelings or emotions, and tests our faith.  We must learn to cultivate intimacy and get to know our Lord, basically through knowing others who know Him, the Scriptures, and ongoing prayer.

You can even know a lot "about" Christ, and not know Him as a living God, Savior, and Lord.  We are to "grow in the grace and knowledge" of Him according to 2 Peter 3:18, and as we do good works we do also "grow in our knowledge" of Him according to Colossians 1:10.  Doctrine can be "interesting" but some people are so assured of their relationship and know it must be put in its place--application is what it's about and the Bible was not written to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives. Jesus came to save us, not educate or teach us, though He did that too.  In the final analysis, it is not that we know Him, but He knows us (Gal. 4:9) that is significant.

What Jesus is really looking for is someone after His own heart who wholeheartedly follows Him and is yielded to His will (2 Chron. 16:9).   Theologians have their place, but this is not for everyone and we shouldn't expect everyone to have the same "interest" in the so-called deeper truths of the Word.  It is a good idea to keep our faith as simple as possible and not to have such a heavy yoke to bear, expecting everyone to be at our mental capacity--remember, the "common people heard Him gladly."

Immature believers balk at learning doctrine and we must remember that "solid food is for the mature" who have learned to distinguish good and evil (cf. Hebrews 5:14).  We must know where our listeners are and not go over their heads, meeting their needs where appropriate, as Jesus told Peter to feed the lambs.  Sometimes it is tempting to "wow" the congregants with our scholarship, but this is ill-advised and we need to not depend on impressive words, but to rely on the power of the Spirit.

The Order Of Faith

"For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes. 3:1, ESV).
"For God is not the God of confusion, but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:33, ESV).
"He has made everything beautiful in its time"  (Eccles. 3:11, ESV).
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent"  (John 6:29).
"For unto you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him..." (Phil. 1:29).
Our God is a God of design, order, harmony, beauty, and plan, and not of chaos or disorder, even in salvation.
EMPHASIS MINE.
He providentially makes everything beautiful in its time Ecclesiastes 3:11)--according to His timetable. Meditate on this as we discuss our salvation experience.

We are all a work of grace and had no desire for Christ apart from His grace, who made us willing and exchanged our heart of stone for a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26).  Our election is unconditional and not dependent upon anything we do, but God called us according to His purpose and grace and His divine good pleasure (cf. Eph. 1:5).  Our inability to believe apart from grace is due to our total depravity. Rome has turned faith into a meritorious work and believes we are capable of achieving it--it is granted, not achieved. The idea that God elects us because of our faith is called the prescient view and is in error, though some sincere Arminians subscribe to it out of ignorance or bias--this is the beginning of salvation by works and gives us merit to boast of.

Faith is necessary for our salvation, but not our election, and is a sure thing because it is decreed by God.  It is like God owing mercy to someone (that would be justice, not grace)--God is obligated to save no one--He could have saved no one!  In addition, dead people can't have faith or do anything that pleases God! "There is none good, no not one."  Our salvation is "...not of him who wills [sincerity], nor of him who runs [effort of the flesh], but of God [His sovereign choice] who shows mercy"  (Rom. 9:16).

According to the Reformed tradition, regeneration precedes faith in the ordo salutis (the Latin for the order of salvation).  If it was a prerequisite for regeneration, we could muster or conjure it up on our own and this would be the genesis of merit of some sort, and God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality.  Acts 18:27 says that God "helped those who through grace had believed."  2 Thess. 2:13 says God chose us "through sanctification of the Spirit [first in occurrence] and belief in the truth."  1 John 5:1 says that everyone who believes "has [past tense and occurring beforehand] been born of God."  In the golden chain of redemption of Romans 8:29-30 we see those who were called to be justified and there can be no justification without concurrent faith and repentance (penitent faith or believing repentance, if you will).

God calls us unto faith or quickens faith within us as His gift (Rom. 12:3) and it is our duty to act upon that faith.  We are not elected or called because of our faith but elected unto faith.  God does the choosing or electing, not us (cf. John 15:16)!  Our destiny is ultimately in His providential hands--thank God!  He reserves the right to save those whom He chooses.

We are not judged by our faith, but our deeds done in the flesh (Rom. 2:6).   However, Eph. 2:8-9 delineates the order clearly:  "...by grace, through [instrumental means] faith, it [the antecedent is faith in one sense as well as the whole phrase] is the gift of God [God's gift, but our act]."  If faith were our work and not God's work in us we would reason to boast in His presence.  We are not saved by works, even though we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation (cf. John 6:28). The phraseology of the Reformation was Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory!  Amen.  The whole of Reformed theology can be put in the synopsis that "Salvation is of the LORD" as Jonah said in Jon. 2:9.  It is not, therefore, any other combo, such as of us and the Lord, or of us alone; which would mean we have to work, earn, and merit salvation to some degree, and that it partially depends on us. Believe me, if our salvation depended on us, none of us would make it and we could have no assurance!

Now to the subject of the post at hand:  The first sign of faith as a seed planted is when a person becomes positively oriented to pay attention and listen to the preaching of the Word (1 Sam. 15:22 says, "...to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams"), even if he is neutral--he lets it sink in and then understands it only through the illuminating ministry of the Spirit. No one is the same after hearing the gospel message; they either get upset and are hardened, or they get convicted and are a step from salvation.  "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). After acceptance and comprehension, he must decide to agree or react and reject.  He can agree, or consent mentally and still not have saving faith though

The belief must go from head belief to heartfelt faith affecting the whole personhood of intellect, emotion, and will.  He must be willing to do His will to know the truth as Jesus said in John 7:17:  "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God...."  In short, God makes believers out of us by His wooing and grace to make the unwilling willing!  We are incompetent to meet the requisites of salvation and election, ergo it must be unconditional and by grace.

After ascent, no matter how much faith he has [it only takes a grain as a mustard seed to germinate--it is not the amount per se] he must still decide to surrender to God's will. This is the beginning of trust and obedience, which goes hand in hand with saving faith (John 3:36), and this is where faith grows in "good soil" and is saving faith when committed and one takes his stand, after finding his standing.  However, note that the faith must be correct faith in the right object (it is the object that saves, not faith itself) and if he is heretical in his knowledge, no amount of faith will save him and no matter how sincere (though sincerity is vital, it is not everything because you can be sincerely wrong). A strong but misguided faith will be of no avail (cf. Rom. 10:2).

To take the leap of faith we must give up, surrender and put trust in all God's will all at once, and not some to-do list or rules and regulations of legalism--we don't trust in a religion or a creed (creeds don't save, Christ only saves), but we rely on a person we deem as not only having died for us personally but living for us now and that wants a personal relationship with us.  In other words, we know Christ died for us, we reckon it true for us personally and real, and then we yield to God's will (Christ's yoke is not the Law of Moses, but an easier one; we submit to His will in obedience and fellowship)--we let God live through us!   We must really surrender our will (step off the throne of our life and put Jesus in charge, giving up the ownership of our lives as we count the cost), submit to His will and live for Him to get a changed life--the evidence and telltale sign of salvation.  This changed life is from a surrendered life, a substituted life, an inhabited life, an exchanged life, an obedient life, and a trusting life (cf. Gal. 2:20).  Knowing just the facts like the burial, death, and resurrection of Christ is only history, but knowing it is in your behalf and real for you is salvation.  

The conclusion of the matter is this:  grace is the sine qua non of faith and doesn't just facilitate it. That means it is necessary and sufficient and we cannot believe apart from the grace of God in our fallen state (called the primacy of grace), because we have no inherent virtue and cannot prepare ourselves for salvation, and must come as we are spiritually bankrupt, begging for mercy:  God be merciful to me, the sinner!   Soli Deo Gloria!