Saving Faith Only Saves in Christ

The writer of Hebrews gives us the most direct definition of faith: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen." (Heb 11:1).  Pair this with Paul's letter to the Christians in Ephesus: "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not of you own doing, so that no man may boast." (Eph 2:8-9).

The story of faith is one full of nuance and complexity.  Many feel that faith is nothing more than an ineffable experience, some power that is an individual, personal experience that lies beyond the ability of language to express accurately.  This is insufficient, for faith is not to be considered of any worth whatsoever apart from the content of faith.  For it is the content of faith that faith finds its value and merit.

As an analogy, think of an IV.  It is used to impart medicine into the patient.  It is a necessary medium, the instrument for the transfer of the necessary medication or nutrients to enter the body of the patient.  But, in truth, the IV does not save the person; the IV is simply the vehicle of the medicine's transmission into the one who is hooked to the tube.  It is the medicine that saves.

Similarly, it is not faith in and of itself that saves, but it is through faith that salvation is appropriated.  Saving faith, then, is not a matter of the experience of the faith but is dependent on the content of the faith.  Essentially, the effectiveness of faith unto salvation is based solely on what or whom that faith is in, which in the case of Christianity is Christ Jesus, the Son of God.

There is a number of colloquial proverbs that deal hands of language indicating that all one needs is faith.  But these hands are trumped, in the end, by their own deficiency; betrayed by the reality that faith is useless without the content of faith being able to save.  Only God is capable and able to save.  Only God has given us the means of salvation.  Faith is how that salvation is applied to each person.  But faith apart from Jesus is not and cannot be saving because it woefully neglects the aspect of faith that is saving.  Let us then never forget the need to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the need to aim our faith at Christ and Christ alone, for He and He alone is our salvation!