We have just completed an article about repentance, a negative element of conversion. Now we will discuss the last element of conversion, according to Reformed theologians. It is a positive element, namely, “faith.”
Faith is usually the English translation of the Greek word πίστις, which is transliterated as pistis (pron. PIS-tis). Strong’s Concordance translates it as faith, belief, trust, confidence, and fidelity. In the Christian faith, it refers to the conviction or belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah or Christ. But before we discuss this, let’s take a moment to talk about “saving faith.”
SAVING (or JUSTIFYING) FAITH
This type of faith is called saving or justifying faith. It is okay, but they have slightly different meanings. Saving is a word used when looking at this type of faith from a long-term perspective. In fact, salvation occurs on the day Christ returns to Earth. This type of faith focuses on the ultimate goal: salvation. Justifying, on the other hand, is used for this type of faith when looking at the immediate aspect. This type of justifying faith gives the believer all that is necessary for God to declare this person justified. So, either term may be used for this kind of faith.
God gives the elect saving faith as a gift. It is not based on merit. It has been “defined as a certain conviction, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, as to the truth of the gospel, and a hearty reliance (trust) on the promises of God in Christ.”[1]
Charles Hodge, in his 3rd volume of Systematic Theology, writes about saving faith in this way.
That faith which secures eternal life; which unites us to Christ as living members of his body; which makes us the sons of God; which interests us in all the benefits of redemption; which works by love, and is fruitful in good works; is founded, not on the external or the moral evidence of the truth, but on the testimony of the Spirit with and by the truth to the renewed soul.”[2]
This quotation above is what the regenerated elect receive as a gift from God. The gift of saving faith can be described in many ways. This is one example of how one theologian explains it.
God implants saving faith in each regenerated human being who has completed conversion through repentance. This implantation means they receive saving faith as a gift from God and, as a result, can believe in Christ. God gives these humans the ability to believe in Jesus, the Messiah, or Christ, and they do.
FAITH
In his Institutes, John Calvin defines ‘faith’ as “a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favor toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts, by the Holy Spirit.”[3] He defines faith in chapter 7 and gives much more detail elsewhere in Book 3.
The Bible describes the activity of faith in several symbolic ways. One is a hunger and thirst for Jesus in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:6). A second is referred to as coming to Jesus Christ (John 5:40). Finally, there is the looking to Jesus found in the passage where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about being born again (John 3:14, 15).
Faith is a belief in Jesus as described in the Bible, and faith has more than one element. First, a Christian must know the biblical truth about Jesus. Second, it is not enough for a regenerate person to simply know about Jesus; they must believe it is true. Then a Christian must not only know about Jesus and believe this knowledge is true, but also trust it, which leads a person to act on it willfully.
The regenerated person who has accepted God’s call, received the Gospel, recognized sin, has godly sorrow for sin in their life, repented of these sins, and received the gift of saving faith from God, believes in Jesus Christ and is ready for reconciliation with God and justification.
Before we move on, let me explain something. Conversion is a process within the Plan of Salvation and not an individual event like regeneration or repentance. It refers to a time when God the Father deals with the elect person, beginning the process with regeneration and continuing until the person has come to believe in Jesus Christ through faith. The author of this article has not written about conversion since he has already written an article titled “Conversion” on this blog. You should read this article before you go on to the next one, called justification.
[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, combined ed. (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 522.
[2] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (Hendrickson, 2016), p. 68.
[3] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Hendrickson, 2017), p. 360.
