Faith Is Necessary, But Not Sufficient
An acronym for faith is Forsaking All I Trust Him. We look away from ourselves to the Lord Jesus for salvation from the consequences of our sins. This focus on Christ includes a basic understanding of who He is and what He has done for us, a conviction that this is true, and an entrusting of ourselves to Him alone for our salvation (Rom 10:17; Jas 2:19; Heb 5:9). We cannot be saved (Gal 2:16; Jn 3:36), please God (Heb 11:6), or make spiritual progress apart from faith (Rom 1:17). Yet, our faith does not save us. Jesus saves us through our faith. Faith is necessary but not sufficient. We are saved through or by faith – not on account of faith (Phil 3:9; Rom 1:17). Faith does not merit God’s favor (Eph 2:8-9).
Obedience is a necessary aspect of faith. The apostle Paul refers to an obedience resulting from our faith (Rom 1:5, Weymouth cf. CJB). Likewise, he speaks of faith-inspired obedience (Williams) and that believers should display an obedient faith (Rom 16:26, NJB). In a number of places, faith and obedience are interchangeable ideas (Rom 1:8; 15:18; 16:9; 1 Thess 1:8). Similarly, unbelief can refer to disobedience (Rom 2:8; 10:16; 11:30; Eph 5:6; 2 Thess 1:8). Furthermore, faith will necessarily lead to obedient service (Gal 5:6; 1 Thess 1:3; Jas 2:14-17).
Faith can and should enable us to have an assurance that we now have eternal life (Jn 5:24; 1 Jn 2:3; 3:14; 5:13). Faith can also provide us with a confidence concerning specific assured promises. After all, faith is likened to the title deed of that for which we are hoping (Heb 11:1, Montgomery). (This is not the same as thinking faith is the title-deed for what we merely want). Thus, let us strengthen our faith by listening to and studying His Word (Rom 10:17), obediently using what faith we have (Mt 25:21), and being around people who will inspire our faith (Heb 10:24-25).
Comforting others is costly but worth it.