TEXT: Jeremiah 31:31-34, 32:40

SUBJECT: The Passion of Jesus Christ #15: Faith and Faithfulness

Tonight we come to Chapter 14 in our study of John’s Piper’s little book, The Passion of Jesus Christ. Published about a year ago, it explores why our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross—and what His death did for us.

Most of the topics are rather familiar; we don’t get tired of hearing them, but we have heard them over and over. The Savior died to show His love for us; he died for the forgiveness of our sins; he died to take away our condemnation.

These are the benefits of His death—the blessings we receive because of what He did for us. How do we receive them? By faith. I never tire of saying, ‘faith is not a work, but an anti-work’. Offering God nothing, it takes what He offers us. Francis Schaeffer spoke of The Empty Hands of Faith. Empty hands are no good for giving, but they’re just the thing for taking. And that’s what salvation is: The Lord giving and sinners taking.

All very simple.

Until you think about it. If all I need to be saved is faith in Christ, where do I get that faith and how do I keep it? On a sheet of paper, ‘faith’ is neat and clean. But we’re not sheets of paper, we’re sinners, and with sinners everything is messy.

How do I know there even was a Jesus? Or that this man is also God? Or that He died for me? Or that He rose from the dead? Or that His death and resurrection can save me? Maybe a good book or a powerful sermon will convince me . But what about when the book has been put away and the sermon mostly forgotten?

What happens when my faith is challenged by skeptic who is smarter than I am? Or by a Muslim who believes his book as firmly as I believe mine? And then, what about other things? How can I believe I’m forgiven when I feel guilty all the time? How can I believe God is for me when my health and family and job are against me?

Where does faith come from and how do I keep it? This is what our chapter is about. The title speaks for itself,

The title assumes two things, the first of which we all know, but, on the second, we’re a bit fuzzier. First, we must believe in Christ. There is no salvation outside of Christ and no way to get into Christ but by believing in Him.

I fear that not everyone here has done this, but if you’ve read your Bibles at all or listened to my sermons, you know it. To be saved, you must believe in Christ.

The second assumption is less well known and sometimes muddy in our minds. You must keep on believing in Christ. The faith you had in 1963 will not save you; the decision you made in 1997 will not save you. The only faith that saves is a living faith, the faith you presently have. It was our Lord Himself who said, he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved.

His parable of the four soils teaches that not everyone who receives the Word holds onto it for salvation. Hebrews 10:39 implies that not everybody who believes believes to the saving of the soul.

If you want to be saved, you must believe in Christ—and continue believing. These are the assumptions of our chapter. And the plain truth. Before going on, I need to ask:

Your belief does not have to be strong—no less perfect—but it has to be real and it has to be now.

Therein lies the rub. Where does ‘real faith’ come from and how can you be sure of holding onto it until you die?

The two questions have one answer: the cross. At the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ, not only gave us something to believe in (Himself), but also the grace to believe and to keep on believing. To explain all this, Piper turns to the Old and New Covenants.

There was nothing wrong with the Old Covenant. It told the people of God what the Lord expected of them in detail. It promised life to the obedient and death to the disobedient. If they made ‘mistakes’ and committed ‘small sins’, it even offered mercy through the sacrifice of sheep, goats, doves, and so on.

As far as it goes, the Old Covenant is perfect. But that’s the problem, it doesn’t go far enough. It told them what to do it and gave them motives for doing it, but it did not give them the power to do it.

Take idolatry for example. The Law forbade it in every possible way. First there was a doctrine: the Lord is the only God, which means, idols are not gods, and to pretend they are is stupid. Then, there was the command: Make no graven image! There was an experience: when Israel worshiped idols, twenty three thousand died in a day. There was also a promise: if they stayed clear of idols, they would keep the land. And a threat: if they worshiped idols, they would be beaten in battle and scattered to the four winds. Finally, there was a proof: when Baal and the Lord faced off on Mount Carmel, Baal was powerless and the Lord sent fire!

The Law did everything in its power to wipe out idolatry in Israel. But it flopped! The Israelites never quit their idols.

Because, for all the Old Covenant did for the People of God, it did not change their hearts. It did not make the True God lovable to them, or false gods hateful. To borrow from Paul, it’s what the law could not do…

The Old Covenant was God-given, glorious, and good. But it was missing something. That ‘something’ was faith.

What the Old Covenant left out, the New Covenant put in. Piper says,

If the Old Covenant gave Israel everything it needed to serve the Lord—except new hearts—the New Covenant gives new hearts.

What do ‘new hearts’ do? They believe in Christ, of course! Piper says,

Have I made myself clear? The Old Covenant gave the Law; the New Covenant gives both the Law and the spiritual life to keep it! Faith, therefore, is the gift of God, and He gives it to us because Christ died for us. The argument is not hard to follow:

Everyone Christ died for believes.

But I believe.

Therefore, Christ died for me.

Everyone Christ died for is saved.

But Christ died for me.

Therefore, I am saved.

Thus, in dying for me, Christ not only secured my forgiveness, but also the faith to take the forgiveness God has for me. My salvation is sure, therefore, because my Lord has worked both sides of it. He has given me something to believe and the belief to believe it. The hymn is truer than we think,

What did Christ buy with His death? Everything I need to be saved. God’s favor and my willingness to accept it. Some theologies agree with the first part: Christ has won God’s favor for sinners. But they leave the rest to sinners. Now it’s up to us—take it or leave it! If this were true, we’d all leave it, and the death of God’s Son would do nothing but make salvation possible. But what good is a possible salvation if nobody wants it? How does that differ from an impossible salvation? Practically, they’re the same thing.

But the death of Christ has done far more than make salvation possible; it has made it sure because by satisfying God’s justice, it makes us acceptable to Him, and by giving faith it makes Him acceptable to us.

The death of Christ, therefore, has won faith for sinners.

This almost gets the job done. But not quite. At the start of the sermon, I said we must both believe in Christ and continue believing. If the Lord has given us faith, what else do we need? We need perseverance.

He gives us that too. Piper says,

The death of our Lord not only wins faith for me, but it also makes me faithful. Therefore, the believer cannot fall from grace and be lost. Because the cross secures our salvation.

What must you do to be saved? You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you must endure to the end. While the first seems hard enough, the second seems nothing less than impossible. And so it is. With men. But with God all things are possible. Even your keeping the faith.

Therefore, praise the Lord for what He has done. And never take the credit yourself.