Together, we have faith

Sep 16, 2025
Week #37 — Day 3
The Necessity of Faith
Q. 85. What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God, due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
Acts 20:21; Prov. 2:1-5; Prov. 8:33-36; Isa. 55:3.
“And yet there is one supreme act of faith that stands out and above the rest: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because faith, joined with repentance, is the means God has provided for us to escape His all-consuming and eternal wrath. In other words, if you want to avoid hell and enjoy heaven, faith is necessary. It’s not optional. In the language of the catechism, it is something that God “requireth” of us. It’s a demand from almighty God.”
Excerpt From Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Boekestein & Cruse & Miller)
The necessity of faith. As Wayne Grudem says in his Systematic Theology — “saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God. This definition emphasizes that saving faith is not just a belief in facts but personal trust in Jesus to save me.” Salvation is more than just knowledge that Jesus Christ can save me. Salvation is more than belief that Jesus Christ can save me. Salvation trusts Christ to save me. Faith establishes a personal, living and ongoing relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ.
“John 3:16 tells us that “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Here John uses a surprising phrase when he does not simply say, “whoever believes him” (that is, believes that what he says is true and able to be trusted) but rather, “whoever believes in him” (see also John 6:35, 40; 11:25–26). The Greek phrase pisteuō eis auton could also be translated “believe into him” with the sense of trust or confidence that goes into and rests in Jesus as a person. Leon Morris can say, “Faith, for John, is an activity which takes men right out of themselves and makes them one with Christ.”(Grudem)
A Puritan Prayer —
“MY FATHER,
When thou art angry towards me for my wrongs
I try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin;
But teach me that I cannot satisfy thy law,
that this effort is a resting in my righteousness,
that only Christ’s righteousness,
ready made, already finished,
is fit for that purpose;
that thy chastising me for my sin
is not that I should try to reform, but only
that I may be more humbled, afflicted, and
separated from sin, by being reconciled,
and made righteous in Christ by faith;
that a sense of my sufficiency and ability in him
is one means of my being immovable;
that I can never be so by resting on my own faith,
but by trusting in thee as my only support, by faith;
that if I cast away my faith I cast away thee,
for by faith I apprehend thee,
and as thou art very precious,
so is my faith very precious to me;
that I fall short of the purity thou requirest,
because in thinking I am holy
I do not seek holiness,
or, believing I am impotent, I do no more.”
Excerpt From
The Valley of Vision
Edited by Arthur Bennett