Those Who Received

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13 ESV)

What is faith? How do you get faith? We have all most likely heard these questions at some point in our Christian lives when discussing the gospel with an unbeliever. How do you explain faith? Is there more to it than the standard “well, you just got to believe.”?

In chapter 1 of his gospel, John makes something clear. Those who receive Christ are those who receive faith. Faith is not something we obtain through our own actions or decisions. Christ gave those who receive Him and believe in Him the ability to have faith in Salvation through his blood.

We must be enabled to see and savor the glory of God. If you remember before you knew Christ before you received Him, you most likely did not think of him or found him to be a roadblock, boring, mythical, a fable, or just a “good man.” Then something glorious happened to you. You were exposed to the gospel. After that exposure, something even more glorious happened: God enabled you to see His glory through Christ. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” (6:44)

So, when someone questions the depth of your faith, it is somewhat revealing. People have told me, “I do not have what you have in Jesus; I do not see him the way you do.” They ask, “How do I get that? What “that” is, I am assuming, is the hunger for Christ and the understanding that Jesus is to be treasured. When we are enamored with Christ and live Christ-centered lives, we see that treasure in Jesus. When Christ is not received as a treasure or need, He is being used and untrusted. You can believe in Christ yet be unable to trust Him in a saving sense. I know people like this. Mostly, it is those trapped in a works-based religion.

Your heat is broken, and it is freezing in your home, so you call to have it repaired. You know the service person and trust them. They are honest and competent. Once your heat has been restored, you no longer care for or need this person. So is the person who places a belief in Christ, and once they are "told" they have been saved, they no longer desire Jesus; so are those trapped in false, charismatic, word-of-faith churches.

We cannot save ourselves. To be saved, we must receive Christ, having been enabled by the Father. We receive him and believe He is who He said He is. Christ instills what John Piper calls saving faith in us. This saving faith is a mental acknowledgment of Christ's existence and a deep, personal conviction that He is our only hope for salvation. Spiritually, we see Christ as a treasure, and we see this through His spiritual affection for us. This spiritual affection is a deep, heartfelt love that Christ has for us, which is demonstrated through His sacrifice on the cross. We experience an indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and these spiritual affections cause us to trust in and see the treasure of Jesus Christ. I believe this affectional spiritual faith is essential for salvation.

Let me put it this way. If you want to believe in Christ because you treasure not going to hell, being forgiven, or getting rid of guilt, you are not experiencing affectional saving faith. You do not see Christ as the treasure of the things one gets as a result of salvation.  Salvation is not about going to hell. Salvation is about being reconciled to God, being able to trust in God, and being able to be in a relationship with God. The extra benefit of this salvation is the forgiveness of our sins and being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, no longer living in condemnation. This is the essence of saving faith, which is not just about avoiding punishment but about embracing a restored relationship with God.

There are people who go to worship services every week to get something other than Jesus. They go to check a box, so people see them in the service every week or to pray for something they want or think they need. One who possesses saving faith goes to a worship service to be edified and to glorify what they treasure above all things in their life: Jesus.

We do not create faith in ourselves; we receive faith from Christ through our trust and belief in Him when God enables us. Not only does God allow us, but He instills a driven love in us that overcomes us with a powerful faith so strong that we trust in nothing else and are accepting of the consequences of such a relinquishing of the desire to control our lives. We are no longer our treasure; our treasure is our Savior, in whom we have saving faith and hold dearly above everything else in our lives. We are then blessed as we receive His eternal spiritual love and salvation.

Have you received Christ, or are you still your greatest treasure?

Grace and Peace