Made by God to be a Vessel of Faith
Salvation is union with Christ. The life of God dwells in the soul of man. Man is grafted into Christ, adopted into the family of God. He has become a citizen of the city of God. He is identified as a child of God because the Spirit of adoption indwells him (Rom 8:9, 11, 15). He bears the mark of Christ (Holy Spirit), His Master. How does one enter this mystical union?
First, Christ comes to His elect people by way of the Gospel. It is the Spirit who gives life to God’s chosen people (Jn 6:63; 2 Cor 3:6). He causes them to be born again of God (1 Pet 1:3). The proclamation of the Gospel is the declaration of God’s will to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).
The indwelling Spirit of Christ, in the preacher, calls all men everywhere to repent and believe the message (Acts 17:30). God grants repentance (Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25), turning every one of His redeemed from their wicked ways (Acts 3:26). The Word of God comes near by preaching (Rom 10:8). As a sower sows his seed, so the preacher sows the Word of faith (Mt 13:23).
The Word of faith finds good soil in the heart opened by the Spirit to respond to the news, the command, and the call (Acts 16:14). The will of God for union means that some receive Christ by the will and work of God (Jn 1:12–13; Phil 2:13).
The Gospel is the knowledge of Christ, who is the truth (Jn 14:6). Preaching is truth delivered, while faith is truth received. Gospel preaching and saving faith are both essential in salvation.
True saving faith savors Christ, as one savors bread or wine. Faith is not an assent to mere facts, nor is it an avoidance of hell or punishment. It includes these, but true faith fully embraces Christ — holiness, as well as forgiveness of sins. The primacy of Christ in the believer is like a hunger and a thirst that can only be satisfied by Christ. The message and the Person of Christ are synonymous. He is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14).
Faith in Christ is also a full embrace of the Trinity. Not only do Christians believe in the facts about the Triune Godhead, but the work of each Person is trusted. Self-reliance or the trust in man is replaced by trust in the Lord with one’s whole heart (Ps 118:8). The converted mind and heart convince the will to lean on God. Paul was able to affirm, “I know” and “I am convinced.” There is no leap of faith, and man can do nothing of his own initiative (Jn 5:30).
Faith in the blood of Christ, and the grace given to a soul, justifies that person (declares them “not guilty”). Once right standing before God has been granted (imputed righteousness), one’s entire life — in scope and length — becomes a life of faith. It is called, “a walk of faith.” This means the Christian life is all grace because we walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 25). It is the Spirit who gives the gift of faith (Phil 1:29), as He wills and does His good pleasure to work out our salvation (Phil 2:13), that is, our sanctification (1 Thess 4:3).
Faith trusts that He who began a good work in me will complete the work to perfection (Phil 1:6). Holy living is all of God (Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 6:11; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2). The Christian says, “The life I now live is by faith in the Son of God, who has begun a good work of making me holy, and who I trust will finish that work by His Spirit.”
It is an error to trust in one’s obedience to the Law, or good works as a condition for one’s sanctification. This is to revert to the fallacy of salvation by works. Union with Christ means one rests in the will and work of the Lord, pouring His pure life into one, as a vessel of receipt. A Christian has His life — new, abundant, and eternal. We are clothed with Him, rooted in Him, filled with Him. Christians received Christ, and they keep on receiving Him.
Faith is the apparatus that receives Christ. It is the instrument that apprehends Him. Faith is nothing, unless Christ is the substance taken in. Faith does nothing to earn grace. Faith is crafted by God to be the perfect vessel to take possession of Christ and hold Him. By way of example, a coffee mug without coffee in it is nothing. It is expressly designed and personally hand crafted to hold the desirable substance. So faith holds Christ.
Faith is a self-emptying grace. It will hold nothing apart from Christ. Christ is what faith craves. It counts everything else as loss (Phil 3:7). Every thought is captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Love for Him is with the whole heart (Dt 6:5). The will is fully given over to Him, as it prays, “Not my will but Thy will be done.”
Only one source can fill the mug of faith, and that is the Word of God. Faith comes daily by hearing, and faith wants to hear the voice of Christ. When blessed with grace upon grace, the believer exclaims, “My cup runneth over!” Desire is met with power. His grace is sufficient for holiness.
Faith cannot generate obedience. Only the Gospel can do that miracle. It is the Spirit who causes us to walk in His statutes (Ezek 36:27). Faith walks as the Spirit leads and guides on the path of righteousness and holiness. Faith pleases God because it trusts God to take the believer wherever the Lord desires.
Faith manifests good works produced by God, to be displayed in the clean vessel of mercy. Are you washed in the blood? Faith boasts in the Lord and His wonder-working power (Ps 20:7; 1 Cor 1:31). He has done great things and faith bears witness (Acts 1:8). Faith, like a coffee mug, claims, “He made me, and I am what I am by the grace of God. He will accomplish what concerns me (Ps 57:2; 138:8), for He is my Author and Finisher (Heb 12:2).”
Finally, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith. He is the gift of God that fills us (Rom 5:5). He is the power of God that manifests faith in the vessel being made holy. This is God’s design as the Potter having power over the clay (Jer 18:1–6; Rom 9:21), to make it to be what He wishes (sovereign right). As believers in Jesus, we are vessels of faith. Thus, faith reveals the grace that made us vessels of faith, to receive Christ by His design.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 3, 2022
