16 Feb Saving Faith

Read: Romans 4:1-17

Last Sunday Pastor Jason preached a message entitled “Your Biggest Problem—and God’s Solution to it,” from Romans 3:21-31. This Sunday Pastor Ken will begin chapter four, and we will consider further what it means to be justified by faith in Christ alone. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let these words from Tim Keller spur you on to place your trust completely in Christ alone.

Heart Preparation

Abraham wasn’t saved by just believing in God. Verse 3 reminds us: “Abraham believed God;” he is the man of verse 5, who “trusts God who justifies the wicked.” Saving faith is not believing that God is there. Further, it is not believing in a God who saves. It is believing God when he promises a way of salvation by grace.

You can have lots and lots of strong faith that God exists, that he is loving, that he is holy. You can believe that the Bible is God’s holy word. You can show great reverence for God. Yet all the while, you can be seeking to be your own savior and justifier by trusting in your own performance in religion, in moral character, in vocation, in parenting, etc.

To say saving faith is a “trust transfer” is consciously to see where your trust is, to remove your hopes and trust from those things, and to place them on God as Savior in particular (not only on him as God in general).

Excerpt from Romans 1-7 For You, by Timothy Keller

Song List for Sunday

1. “All the Poor and Powerless,” Arr. by Shane and Shane
2. “All I Have is Christ,” by Sovereign Grace Music
3. “Hallelujah, What a Savior,” by Breakaway Ministries
4. “My Faith has Found a Resting Place,” by Indelible Grace (listen here)
5. “O Come to the Altar,” Arr. by Shane and Shane

Check out Crosspoint’s Sunday Set List on Spotify to listen to these songs!