"A Saving Faith"

Guilt eats at the heart of many of those in Christ Jesus. Guilt drives people into faking their lives and covering up who they are. Guilt brings memories of shame and failures. Guilt is like a wave that rolls over the top of a person, making their esteem little to nothing. Guilt drives many to depression. Guilt is powerful and can be good, provided the response in our guilt to our Lord is by faith.

Faith, saving faith is a personal commitment to the death and life of Jesus. Without this saving faith, this complete trust in His work on our behalf, we can't be saved. Read Mark 16:15-16 and see the saving faith Jesus spoke to His own apostles He sent into all the world. Saving faith is more than believing in the Lord, it is a commitment to Him! We commit ourselves to Him because we trust Him 100%.

That means there is no no cause for guilt feelings unless they reflect our indifference and lack of commitment. Take some time and read II Peter 1:1-11 followed by I Thessalonians 5:23-24 and you will see the point. To have a saving faith in Jesus means we believe with all our heart that Jesus can and does forgive sin, our sin completely!

Jesus not only forgives the "little" sins but also those "big" sins we have committed. Saving faith believes that Jesus does not just denounce our sins or uncover them in us but He forgives, wiping them completely off our slate because His blood removed them. It's not that He CAN forgive but to the humble and sincere confessed sinner, He forgives completely. To have a saving faith means we embrace these things about our Lord and have committed our lives back to Him.

Saving faith means we live our lives, in every thing we do, to the glory of the Father. We live to reflect His salvation in our lives. We rejoice, even in pain, because of His marvelous grace we received when we were baptized into Him (Rom. 6). That saving faith means we realize Jesus destroyed sin and is working to keep it out of our lives as we live in a trusting relationship to glorify Him. Saving faith is embracing Him as our Savior and living under His Lordship. That removes us out of the way and exalts the heavenly Father.