What does it mean to be a Christian? Paul’s specific two-fold description is in Ephesians 1:1: to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. We examined “saint” in our last installment.
Second, a Christian is a true believer in Jesus Christ. The phrase [the] faithful in Christ Jesus actually involves two things according to the Greek word behind faithful (pistos). The primary meaning is “exercising faith.” This is the act of putting our faith, trust, and commitment in Christ alone for salvation. Faith is not “religion” or just “believing in Jesus.” It is a total trust in Christ to save us from our sin. Paul calls the recipients of this letter “believers.” Just as they were not saints because they lived saintly lives, neither were they believers because they lived faithful lives. Rather the opposite was true: they lived saintly lives because they were saints by position, and they lived faithful lives because they had truly believed.
The second aspect of the word faithful, however, is “trustworthy.” Not only has the true Christian put his faith in Christ, but he is now one who is trustworthy, consistent, constant, reliable, and faithful. God not only demands faith; He also demands fidelity. There is a great lack of faithfulness in Christianity today, faithfulness to the Word of God, the house of God, and service for God. We better take a look at our profession and see if it is true possession. The true saint, the true believer, will remain faithful. True faith is evidenced by practice.
It’s vitally important that we also understand the phrase in Christ Jesus, a phase (along with “in Him”) that occurs twelve times in Ephesians. Further, it’s so important that Paul uses it some 160 times in all his letters.
The main significance of this phrase is it definitively defines what the object of faith must be. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only object of saving faith. In our day, the word “faith” is used in a virtually meaningless way. Faith is made to be it’s own object. Thus we get the popular concepts of “my faith,” or “my faith helped me,” or “I have faith in faith,” or “I was so troubled that I lost my faith.” The problem with all these is that faith is made to be its own object. This is not only poor grammar, but it’s also ridiculous. What’s the point in saying “I drove,” for example, unless we say, “I drove my car.” “Drive” is the verb—“car” is the object. Likewise, faith is a verb, so without an object, the entire concept is incomplete.
So, any definition of faith is meaningless without a consideration of its object. In contrast to today’s “faith in faith” concept, saving faith has Christ Jesus as its object. While some people do go beyond “faith in faith,” they merely put their faith in other things (money, fame, etc.), but the only sure object is Jesus Christ. As Paul makes clear in this Epistle, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (2:4-9).
19th Century London preacher Charles Spurgeon illustrated the importance of faith’s object by telling of two men in a boat. Caught in severe rapids, they were being swept toward a waterfall. Some men on shore tried to save them by throwing them a rope. One man caught hold of it and was pulled to safety on the shore. The other, in the panic of the moment, grabbed hold of what looked to be a more substantial object, a log that was floating by. That man was carried downstream, over the rapids, and was never seen again. Faith, represented by the rope linked to the shore, connects us to Jesus Christ and safety. Good works apart from true faith, represented in the story by the log, leads only to ruin. Many today are like that. They look to their works and think them more substantial than “just faith in Christ.”
What then is a Christian? This verse declares this: A Christian is one who has trusted totally in Christ as Savior and Lord and who has therefore been set apart from sin and set apart unto holiness of life and obedience to Scripture.
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