It’s a truth that’s transformed not only my evangelism, it’s transformed my life. It has lifted countless burdens and focused me on what’s most important. The truth is this: faith is not a thing.
Here’s what I mean. Faith is not a substance that I summon up. It’s not a muscle that I flex. It’s not a contribution that I offer to God. And that really needs saying because we’re often tempted to think in those terms. Here’s how it happens…
We are taught the precious gospel reality: we are saved by faith, not by works. But then we imagine that, instead of working our way up to heaven we must believe our way up to heaven – and so we swap a ladder of ethical fervour for a ladder of spiritual fervour. We are warned away from thinking that external acts can save us (good!), but what is taught implicitly – and sometimes explicitly – is that, instead, we are saved by internal acts, or at least one internal act: this thing called faith. And so we remain enslaved to works; it’s just that the new works are mental and/or emotional.
The elderly and bereaved: a growing gospel need
“Let me put it this way. I don’t expect there to be many people at my funeral.”My new friend …