Martin Luther, following the Diet of Worms in April 1521 came to the conclusion that the central issue that he had with Rome was the doctrine of ”sola fide” – faith alone. This is the instrumental cause or the means by which justification comes to the believer. So, for Luther the doctrine of justification by faith alone was the preeminent doctrine on which the whole of the Gospel stood.
“The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness” (Martin Luther, What Luther says: An Anthology, ed. Ewald M. Plass, 3 vols , St Louis: Concordia, 1959, vol. 2 pg 705-705).
As I noted earlier (Part 1 and Part 2) this doctrine comprises the doctrines of repentance, satisfaction or propitiation, and reconciliation. The individual’s personal faith in the Gospel then stands at the forefront. Is the so-called faith of the individual saving or something else? When I was discussing the doctrine of repentance in Part One I stated;
“True repentance will always bring a person to a volitional response which will mean a change of direction and a transforming of the will.”
This description of repentance is also an apt description of saving faith. Although faith alone is the condition for salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10; Acts 16:31), repentance is bound up with faith as a gift from God (Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25; II Peter 1:1; Ephesians 2:8-9) and inseparable from it, since without some measure of faith no one can truly repent, and repentance never attains to its deepest character till the sinner realizes through saving faith how great is the grace of God against whom he has sinned.”
But in our culture we have redefined “faith” often to mean a simple belief that something is so or is relational with little to no propositional truth under pinning it. What we are looking for in saving faith is the quality that is called by theologians as “fiducia” meaning “holds in trust.” It is a real faith or a faith with fidelity. True saving faith will demonstrate elements to it that set it apart from what is often called faith in our day.
First there is an assent to information or knowledge. This is called “notitia,” Latin for knowledge. No real faith takes place in an intellectual vacuum. When critics devalue faith it usually starts here. To many, faith is a belief in something that has no intellectual evidence. They see faith as ignorance or superstition. Often this element of faith is reduced to “sincerity.” If you sincerely believe, then that’s OK and it is sincerity that gives this kind of faith a counterfeit value. But sincere belief in something that doesn’t exist has no saving value and is a faith that lacks objective information or knowledge.
Second, there is the element of assent (assensus). This is an intellectual assent that involves the assurance or conviction that the proposition or object of faith is true. This means that you agree that Jesus Christ was a historical figure or that you go so far as to agree that He is the Savior and died for you but does not place you in a saving relationship with Christ. This is intellectual assent but falls short of saving faith. That is the exact position of the devil and demons (James 2:19). This is an element of belief that may even elicit a decision but not full trust. Again, let me stress that assent to something that is not true and belief and trust in it does not make the faith true. The value of faith is the object it is placed in. That is why our Lord over and over again made such a case as to who He was (Matthew 16:15; 22:41-44; Mark 8:29; 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; John 6:69; 11:27).
Third, is the element of volitional trust (fiducia). Once the other two elements of faith have been realized then the individual places full trust in it. The Swiss-Italian Reformation theologian, Francis Turretin explains fiduciary faith as follows:
“The third act is fiducial and practical assent or a persuasion of the practical intellect by which we judge the gospel to be not only true, but also good and therefore most worthy of our love and desire; also the promises of grace to be most certain concerning the remission of sins and the bestowal of salvation upon all believers and penitents and so also upon me if I shall believe and repent” (Francis Turretin, Institutes Of Elenctic Theology, Vol.2, pg. 562).
These are NOT three steps necessarily for saving faith but three essential elements to the character of saving faith. It is not a faith for self improvement but one that see that we have offended a holy God and that our sin, in light of God’s justice demands satisfaction, and that through the work of Christ that satisfaction is met in His substitutionary death. It is a faith that bring us to a repentance of sin and full trust in Christ as Lord and Savior ( Romans 10:9).
I think the Apostle Paul described saving faith best when commenting of the repentant, saving faith of the Thessalonians he said;
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (NKJV) 9For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
-Michael Holtzinger