Our Faith in Christ

Ephesians 6:14-18a
February 16, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Thanks be to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As you wait for the return of your King, you have his armor. You have his strength. And in Christ you can stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

The war has already been won by Jesus. But it is not yet over for you. Therefore, you are to put on the full armor of God and take up the shield of faith. I command you in the name of Christ Jesus: In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

I am very thankful today for the opportunity to talk about faith. I’ve come to learn that this topic is a source of great concern and great confusion for believers in Christ. People often worry about the strength of their faith. People often wonder if their faith is a real faith or not. Perhaps you worry and wonder as well.

But may all worrying turn into worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may all wondering turn into just wonder - wonder over his gift of faith.

What is faith? Faith is this. And I have here four parts to the answer to this question.

First, faith is a belief in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for you. It is a belief that Jesus saves you from sin. More specifically, faith is the act of accepting and receiving and resting on Jesus and on his righteousness for your salvation. It is an abandoning of any attempt to earn forgiveness and eternal life by your own good works. Paul spent his entire old life trying to be righteousness enough in order to be right with God. But Paul understood that his righteousness was really rubbish, and that it is all loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord (Philippians 3:2-11). This is faith. Faith is you saying, “Jesus is my salvation and my righteousness! I trust in him!”

This is a great shield for you as you stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. When the enemy throws the fiery dart of doubt at you, when you are not sure about your status or your standing before God, when you wonder if God really loves you, may you look at the righteousness of Christ and may you rest in his work of salvation.

Second, faith is a belief in Jesus’ promise of life even in the face of death. It is a belief that Jesus will resurrect you from death. When Abraham was tested at Moriah with the sacrificial death of his son Isaac, he had faith (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham took two massively irreconcilable facts - the fact that God had promised him numerous descendants through his son Isaac, and the fact that God had ordained that Isaac die by sacrifice - and he considered, he reckoned, he thought and he believed in an answer that he had never seen in his life, in an answer that could never be provided by any human sinner. Abraham had faith that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. And in a very real sense, God did raise Isaac from the dead that day at Moriah. This is faith. Faith is Abraham saying, “The Lord will provide! The Lord will raise my son Isaac back from the dead!” Faith is you saying, “I believe that Jesus will resurrect me from death! I believe in his promises!”

This is a great shield for you as you stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. When the enemy throws the fiery dart of fear at you, when you are not sure if there is life after death, when you are scared of dying yourself, may you remember the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead and may you remember the promise that Jesus will resurrect you from the dead as well.

Third, faith is a belief in what is unseen and eternal. It is a belief that we will one day see Jesus face to face in the new heavens and new earth. We may be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down in our lives. But we are not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken and not destroyed. We do not lose heart as we wait for Jesus’ return. And the reason why is because we do not look to the things that are seen and earthly. We look to the things that are unseen and eternal (2 Corinthians 4). Faith is an assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is an acknowledgement that we are strangers and exiles on this earth who desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:13-16). This is faith. Faith is you saying, “I look forward to the new, eternal, and unseen world that is to come! I can’t wait to see Jesus face to face!”

This is a great shield for you as you stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. When the enemy throws the fiery dart of worldliness at you, when things are good in your life and you feel like this world is great or when things are bad in your life and you feel like giving up, when you are sad or lonely or weary or lost, may you lift your hopeful eyes to the things that are above and may you look assuredly forward to things unseen.

This is faith. Faith is belief in his person and work. Faith is belief in his resurrection. Faith is belief in his future. This is your faith in Christ. But what is really amazing about your faith in Christ is that… it is not really yours.

Here’s what I mean. Your faith did not come from you. Your faith was a gift to you. From God the Father. By his grace. You do not get to take any credit for believing in Jesus, as if your faith was your decision. It did not come from you. It came from the work of the Holy Spirit. You did not believe in Jesus because you have what it takes to get it. You did not believe in Jesus because you are better at believing in Jesus than others who do not or cannot. You did not believe in Jesus because you love him. You believed because God loved you. Because God showed you grace. Because God chose you. Your faith is literally a gift that came from outside of you. This is made clear in Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This is made clear in Hebrews 12:2. Jesus is the author and the founder of your faith, not you.

This means that you shouldn’t worry too much about your faith. Too many Christians worry way too much about their faith. I’m talking about an unhealthy fixation or obsession over the quality of your faith, as if you are supposed to regularly judge or evaluate or assess the condition or health of your faith. As a result of this, a very strange thing happens. Believers in Christ want to put their faith… in their faith. And they waver in their belief or unbelief… of their belief. Please don’t do that. Don’t ask, “Is my faith sufficient?” Instead ask, “Is my Savior sufficient?” Don’t focus on your faith. Instead, focus on the object of your faith: Jesus Christ. Faith is not the act of embracing faith itself. Faith is the act of embracing Christ and Christ alone. You waver in your faith. If you think your faith is weak, you despair. If you think your faith is strong, you boast. You waver in your faith. But the object of your faith never wavers. Having faith is about having a healthy “fixation and obsession” over the quality of your Savior, over the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is your shield (Genesis 15:1).

Psalm 28:7. The Lord is my strength and my shield. Psalm 3:3. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Psalm 18:2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. So Christian life is not like a space movie where a spaceship is under attack and someone says to the captain, “Deflector shields down to 50%! We’re sustaining heavy damage!” Jesus is always at 100%. He has already won the war. All you need to do now is stand… and believe… in him.

Soli Deo Gloria