Sep 11
18
How Sincere is Your Faith?
It’s a phrase I’ve heard too often to let it go unchallenged: “I can believe whatever I want, as long as I’m sincere.”
Do you see the problems with that question? The first part – “whatever I want” – assumes that I can somehow sort through all of the possible “beliefs” out there and sift out only those that are the best for me. But all I need to do is look at the track record of bad moral decisions that litter my history to know that such an attitude is spiritually naïve.
The second part of that question – “as long as I’m sincere” – puzzles me. The emphasis on sincerity makes me think you are using faith and belief differently than my Bible uses them. If you think that any kind of faith – as long as it is sincere enough – ought to earn God’s approval, you’re probably thinking of faith as a human virtue.
Biblical faith, however, has no earning power before God.
Think of it this way: faith is like the grasping of a drowning man. Everything depends upon what you are grasping. Sincerity is an issue, sure. But what you are holding on to with your faith clearly comes first. Only after that is settled does the matter of how sincerely you cling to it. A saying among Christians helps tie it all together: “Faith does not save because of itself, but because of Christ, to whom it clings.”
Here’s how it works: The death of God’s Son completely paid for the sins of the entire human race — including yours. Jesus confirmed that fact with his cry of “it is finished” from the cross (John 19:30). Jesus’ resurrection on the third day proves it. God holds out the promise now to you: “your sins are all forgiven in Christ Jesus.” Faith believes this promise.
Faith does not complete the work of salvation nor add any merit. It simply grasps on to what God has already done.
People who decide to believe “whatever they want” have no certainty in what they’ve chosen. They can be as sincere as they want, but without a sure object to cling to – salvation in Christ Jesus – they are clinging to empty promises; promises that have no power to save. Your hope of salvation anchors itself on the sure promise of God, not some empty philosophy of the world that continually shifts and changes with the ebb and flow of pop culture.
When you look for comfort anywhere but Christ crucified, you will only find endless uncertainty. Always look away from yourself to Jesus. Always. By a power not your own, find yourself gripping onto Jesus’ promise: “Be of good cheer. I have taken your sin away” (Matthew 9:2).
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