JESUS’ FAITH OR MY FAITH?

Hugo McCord

A respected elder writes about an error new to me, but being proclaimed by a veteran gospel preacher now 90 years old. The elder writes:

It seems he holds the view that the faith which saves is not the faith of the believer, rather the faith of Jesus. This would seem a bit bizarre to me, or am I simply ignorant of the position? Did or does Jesus have faith?

Jesus had faith (“the faith that is in Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 3:13), but his faith will not save sinners. If it does, then salvation is universal, for his faith, exhibited on the cross in his blood, was not for a select few but “by God’s grace” he tasted death “in behalf of everyone” (Hebrews 2:9, FHV).

The faith that will save me is not his but mine: “He who believes and is immersed shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16, FHV). The faith that will save me is not from Jesus to me, but from me to Jesus: “faith toward Jesus our Lord” (Acts 20:21); “faith that is in one another, both yours and mine,” said Paul (Romans 1:12, FHV); not “the sincere faith that is in” Jesus, but in Timothy and in Lois and in Eunice: “dwelling first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I am confident that it is in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5, FHV); not Jesus’ faith in you, but “your faith” in Jesus (Colossians 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 5, 6, 7, 10; 2 Thessalonians 1:3, FHV).

Jesus not only has “faith,” but also “love” (1 Timothy 1:14). As with faith, so with love: his faith and his love will not save me, but my faith in him (“saved through faith,”

Ephesians 2:8, FHV), and my love for him (“If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” John 14:15, FHV) will result in my salvation.

This “Jesus’ faith, not ours” fallacy is comparable to the “grace only, no obedience” fallacy.