Faith From Above: Is Faith All You Need?
3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:3-4,6 NIV)
I’m going to say something that might sound like heresy to a Luthera, but be patient. You will see my point by the end of this devotion. Ready? Just having faith isn’t enough to save you. You are probably thinking, “but don’t we believe we are saved by faith alone?” You are right, but let me explain.
Have you ever heard these sayings? “Just have faith.” “You just have to believe.” “I’m just glad that they believe something. It’s better than believing in nothing.” Notice all of these sayings focus on faith. How can they be wrong? They’re inspirational, uplifting, and encouraging. Or maybe your familiar with one of the greatest offenders, the motto of nearly every children’s movie, “Believe in yourself.” Perhaps now you are seeing what the issue is.
Faith is certainly something important to have. Faith is essential to be saved. But billions of people who believe in a god or gods who will end up in hell. While it is necessary to have faith, what you place your faith in is crucial. Take the children’s movie motto. Sure, it is good to have confidence, but life is not about believing in yourself. We fall short and fail all the time. If our salvation were up to us, we would be lost. So what is missing?
While faith alone saves, we also know grace alone saves, and scripture alone saves. What we believe in is most important. We are saved by faith in Christ alone. A faith in anything else is not saving faith. Abram struggled to know what to believe at times in his life. At times, he put his faith in his own ways, plans, and thinking. He did that when he complained to God, “You have given me no children.”
But as the Lord speaks to him, he shifted Abram’s focus from trusting in himself to believing the Lord and his faithful promises. Here, by faith alone in the Lord’s promises, Abram is counted as righteous. Like Abram, we are saved by faith in the promised descendant of Abram: Jesus. Through faith in his saving work alone, God declares us righteous.
Prayer: Lord, in a world of many faiths, help me trust only in my Savior, Jesus. Amen.
From Mediations – written by Pastor James Enderle
