What Is Real Faith?

Charles Spurgeon said, "Temporary faith is no faith at all." Jesus spoke of "those who believe for awhile, and in time of testing fall away" (Luke 8:13). Real faith can stand the test. Also, real faith is an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). Real faith remains, abides, continues through all manner of testing. 

Jesus taught those who fall away only believe for awhile. This is recorded in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:11-15). The problem in this case is recognized in the person's heart. Those who fall away have a heart that has not been changed by the grace of God. It leads to apostasy, or falling away (1 John 2:19).

When a person is born again, God takes away the heart of stone and gives a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). The new heart is like rich soil for the seed of the Gospel of Christ to bring forth fruit unto salvation. True believers have a heart changed to become a new creation in Christ (Romans 2:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Real faith is a gift of the Spirit of God known as abiding or continuing faith.

We are saved by the grace of God through faith, trusting in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:8-9). Our hearts are changed with new desires. The heart is the mind, will, and emotions, as the term is most often used in the Bible. God works in us "both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). A new heart includes a will changed by God's grace. God began the work of salvation in us and continues unto completion (Philippians 1:6). 

One Way to Please God

There is only one way that you can ever please God. That's by faith. When you have faith in God and His Son, be assured that God is working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

You please God, because He is the one who gives you faith. It is by the grace of God that you are enabled to live by faith. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8). It's all of grace as the gift of God.

When you please God, faith abides in you as a gift from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). The gift of faith is from God the Father, through the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. It is anchored to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead. The Spirit of grace enables you to believe the gospel of Christ.

The gift of faith is not just mental assent nor human effort. It is a result of the Holy Spirit bringing you to a point of confidence, assurance, and trust in the living Christ. It's faith that the world didn't give you, and the world can't take it away. Faith pleases God, the very gift of faith that He works in you. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). When you please God, it's because God is working in you.

How God Works In You

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The Holy Spirit works in us according to God's pleasure. If God's Spirit is working in you, then you have the abiding gifts of faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). That is Christ in you according to God's good pleasure. 

God works in you through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit changes your heart. That's called regeneration or new birth. He gives you a renewed will with a desire to do God's will. That's God's good pleasure working in you.

God works in your heart. That is your mind, will, and emotions. He is doing more in you than you can understand. He is always doing more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). God works in your heart to bring glory to His name. The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to do God's good pleasure. That includes your ministry gift and power to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

As a believer, you may rest in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will never leave nor forsake you (John 14:16-17; Hebrews 13:5). Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, at the coming of Christ (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). It was God's pleasure to begin a good work in you. God will complete that work in the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6; 2:13).

If God Chose You

If God chose you, it's in Christ alone. He foreknew you as justified and glorified in Christ. God foreknew your salvation as done. In Romans 8:28-30, God's purpose in salvation is a prolepsis (i.e., to see before). God foreknew all who shall be in Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

If God chose you, it's through the gospel of Christ. That includes everyone who repents and believes the gospel (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 16:31). Only those who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. As believers, we experience the gospel in power with assurance. That was the Holy Spirit working in our hearts (Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).

If God chose you, it's unto faith in Christ. You are justified through the death of Jesus Christ for your sins. Justification is by faith in the power of his resurrection. Justification means all your sins are taken away through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). The righteousness of Christ is accounted to you (2 Corinthians 5:21). God declares you justified by faith in Christ. "It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33).

If God chose you, it's to be glorified into the image or likeness of Christ. Glorification is salvation complete. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). What is future for you as a believer in Christ is now in the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, God foreknew you as glorified in the very image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30).