Dec 18
23
Scripture Reading: John 20:24-31
“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:24–31, ESV)
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters, I realize that this might seem like an unusual text to highlight on the Sunday prior to Christmas. In fact, if this text were to be associated with one of our traditional holidays it would be associated with Easter – the day upon which the church traditionally gives special attention to the resurrection of Christ – for here in John 20 we encounter the risen Christ.
The reason that I have decided to highlight this particular passage on this Sunday prior to Christmas is so that I might urge you to do more than remember the birth of Christ during this holiday season. Of course, I do hope that you would remember his brith. I hope that you would stand in awe of the wonder of the incarnation. In fact, if you join us on Christmas Eve we will give special attention to the birth of Christ by reading through the narrative of Christ’s brith from one of the Gospels. But as we remember the birth of Christ, I pray that we would also be mindful of his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension and all that he has accomplished thereby. And, having considered Christ in this way – that is to say, not only Christ in the manger, but also Christ in the world, on the cross, in the tomb, and in the clouds – I pray that you would understand what it is that he has accomplished on behalf of sinners and come to place your faith in him.
Friends, understand that Christ was born into this world in order to accomplish something. His birth marked the beginning of the accomplishment of a mission given to him by God before the world was created.
Christ himself spoke of this mission when he prayed to God before his disciples as recorded for us in John 17, saying, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word (John 17:1–6, ESV).
When this prayer of Christ is considered in its entirety it is clear that Christ was born into this world to redeem those given to him him by the Father from before the foundation of the world. This was his mission – to accomplish the salvation of God’s elect, to reveal himself to them, and to bring them safely home to the Father.
This is the work that Christ accomplished through his active and passive obedience. He actively kept the law of God. This he did on behalf of sinners like you and me who are unable to keep God’s law for themselves. And Christ also passively obeyed God. He suffered on behalf of sinners like you and me who deserve to suffer because of their sin. Christ suffered in the whole of his life, but particularly on the cross.
We might also say that Christ accomplished the redemption of God’s elect through his humiliation and exultation. He became low for us. He was born into this world and placed in a lowly manger. Indeed, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8, ESV). But having died, and having been placed in the grave, this same Christ was also exulted for our redemption. “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11, ESV).
Brothers and sisters, the Christ was born into this world in order to accomplish the redemption of people from every tongue, tribe and nation. Christ accomplished this redemption when he was born into this world, by his life, his death and resurrection. There is nothing more to be done, for he himself said, “it is finished.”
But the question remains, how do we come to partake of the redemption that Christ has accomplished for us? How does that thing that Christ has earned for his elect come to be theirs? How do lay ahold of, or benefit from, what Christ has purchased?
This question should sound familiar to you, for it is a question raised by our catechism. The answer comes in two stages.
Question 32 of the Batist Catechism asks, “How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?” And the answer given is that “We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us, by His Holy Spirit.”
This is a good and biblical answer. God the Father sent to the Son to earn our redemption. God the Son came to accomplished our redemption. And God the Holy Spirit is the one who applies the redemption that Christ has earned to the elect of God by his effectual calling.
Question 33 brings more clarity to the issue by asking, “How [does] the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?” And the answer is that “The Spirit [applies] to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.”
Notice two things about these questions and answers:
First of all, in order for a person to partake of the redemption purchased by Christ, the Spirit of God must do a work within them and upon them. This is the true teaching of Holy Scripture. Man, now that he is fallen into sin, is said to be spiritually blind, deaf, lame, and dead. Left to ourselves we do not naturally run to God, but away from him. Indeed, now that we are fallen, we are inclined by nature “to hate God and [our] neighbor” (see Heidelberg q. 5). Do fallen humans have the ability to make free choices and to act upon those choices? Yes they do! But do to they have the ability to run after God, to please him, or to believe upon him? No, we do not have this ability within ourselves naturally, now that that we are fallen into sin.
This is why Christ himself said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV). And again “he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65, ESV). If any one come to Christ it is only because the Father has granted this privilege to him. If anyone comes to Christ it is only because the Father has drawn that person to himself. And how does the Father draw sinners to himself? We know that it is through the preaching of the gospel and by the effective working and wooing of the Holy Spirit.
Do you remember the words of Christ spoken to that man Nicodemus as recorded in John 3? Nicodemus came to Jesus by night wondering about how he might enter God’s kingdom. And what did Jesus say to him? “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3, ESV). And again, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5–6, ESV). For a person to “see” and for a person to “enter” God’s kingdom the Spirit of God must do a work upon them. That person must first be born again. Why? Because we are by nature dead in our trespasses and sins and unable to do that which is necessary to enter into God’s kionghdom.
This is why Paul said what he said to the Christians living in Ephesus. In Ephesians 2:1 we read, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world… “ And a little bit later he says that these Christians “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1–7, ESV).
If a person is to partake of the redemption purchased by Christ the Spirit of God must do a work in them and upon them. The Spirit must make them alive to God. And the Spirit must draw them to Christ.
Secondly, notice that Baptist Catechism question 33 indicates that there is something we must do. It is true that God must do a work in us by the power of his Holy Spirit, but it is also true that there is something for us to do, namely believe.
Listen again to Baptist Catechism question 33 which asks, “How [does] the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?” The answer: “The Spirit [applies] to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.”
What is it that unites us to Christ? What is it that brings about our actual partaking of the redemption purchased by Christ? Stated differently, what is that turns a guilty sinner into a saved sinner – a child of wrath into a child of God? The scriptures are clear (and our catechism is correct) that faith is the instrument that brings about our enjoyment of the redemption that Christ has accomplished for us.
Christ accomplished the redemption of the elect long ago – this is true, and this is finished.
And the Spirit of God must regenerate and effectually call sinners if they are to come to Christ – this also is true, but this work is not finished. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”, Christ said. And the Spirit of God is still at work, renewing sinners and calling them to repentance.
And it also true that faith – that is, the ability to believe upon Christ – is a gift from God. Did you hear our Catechism? “The Spirit [applies] to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.” The Spirit is the one who works faith in us. This agrees with the words of the Apostle Paul who said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV). Faith – that is, the ability believe in Christ – is a gift from God. It is something that the Spirit of God works in us.
But let me ask you, who is the one that must do the believing? Is it God or man? The answer should be obvious to all. It is man who must believe if he or she is to partake of the redemption purchased by Christ. Faith is gift from God – this is true. But faith is something that must be exercised by the human if he or she is to be saved.
This is the clear teaching of scripture. We find the scriptures everywhere urging men and women, boys and girls to turn from their sins and to believe upon Christ for the forgivness of sins. Do you remember the question that the Philippian jailer asked of Paul and Silas? “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And what was their answer? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31, ESV)
And perhaps you noticed that this was very reason that the Apostle John stated for the writing of his Gospel when he said, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31, ESV).
The Son has accomplished our redemption according to the will of the Father. The Spirit is applying the redemption earned by Christ to the elect. But men and women, boys and girls must be urged to believe. And that is what I am doing on this Sunday before Christmas – I am urging you to believe upon Jesus the Christ who was lain in a manger at the time of his birth; who lived and died and rose again for sinneres; who ascended to the Fathers right hand, from wince he will one day return to judge the world in righteousness.
But let me raise another question – and this will be the question that we focus on for the remainder of this sermon. What does it mean to have faith in Christ? What does having true and saving faith involve. I have four brief points to make.
I. To have true and saving faith you must know the gospel.
First of all, to have true and saving faith you must know the gospel.
I wish for the emphasis to be upon the word “know”. To have true and saving faith a person must know certain things.
I have noticed that some in the world talk about faith as if the only thing that matters is that you have some faith, that is faith… in something. The important thing is that you believe… in something, they say. It is as if the act of believing in something… anything at all, is what matters.
But that is not what the scriptures mean when they say, “by grace you have been saved through faith.” True and saving faith is faith in something particular. Even more specifically, true and saving faith is faith someone particular, namely Jesus the Christ.
It should be recognized that the scriptures often use the word faith to refer, not to the act of believing, but to a collection of set doctrines. For example, when Jude wrote to Christians regarding their common salvation he appealed to them to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, ESV). This has always been the case for Christians. To have faith in Christ means, among other things, to enter into the the faith, that is to know (and believe) the collection of doctrines that Christ entrusted to his apostles, and they to us.
The simple point that I am making is that knowledge matters. Doctrine matters.
To believe in something does not bring you salvation if the something you are believing in is the wrong thing, even if you believe in that thing strongly.
To have true and saving faith you must know the gospel, which is is the good news of Jesus the Christ. And if the good new of Jesus Christ is to be understand, the story that is told in the Bible from beginning to end must be understood.
Let me state the gospel succinctly. The gospel is that Jesus the Christ has atoned for his death and resurrection so that sinners, through faith in him, might have their sins forgiven and be reconciled to God the Father. That is the gospel stated succinctly – very succinctly – perhaps too succinctly. But do you see that a person must know something of the message of the Bible from beginning to end if they are to understand even this succinct gospel message.
Without any knowledge of the Bible the will have to ask, who is God the Father? What is sin? Why must my sins be atoned for by another? Why through the shedding of blood? Who is this Jesus and why is he called the Christ? Etc., etc.
The point that I am making is that in order for faith to be true and saving faith certain truths must be known and understood.
And what in particular must we know for our faith to be true and saving faith? This is neither the time nor the place to give a thorough answer to that question. My intention here is simply to make that point that knowledge does matter. But some of the creeds and confessions of the church are helpful here.
Our Orthodox Catechism, which is very much like the better known, Heidelberg Catechism, asks this in question 22: “What then must a Christian believe? The answer: “Everything God promises us in the gospel. That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith–a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world.” And then question 23 asks, “What are these articles?” The answer: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (not Rome, but universal) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” This is the so-called Apostles Creed. It has provided the church with a brief summery of essential Christian doctrine for a long, long time now.
And so I ask you, do you know the gospel? Do know what the word of God teaches concerning God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Do you know what the scriptures have to say regarding our great sin and misery? Do you know what the Bible says about Jesus the Christ – his birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and the significance of these things? For some of you, now is the time for you to grow in you knowledge of these basic and essential truths.
You cannot say that you have faith if you do not know these things. It may be that you have true faith even if your knowledge of these doctrines is small and limited, but you cannot say that your faith is true if your knowledge of the teaching of holy scripture is non-existent. Furthermore, I wonder if there is not a correlation between strong faith and a deep knowledge of these truths, and weak faith and a meager knowledge of these truths.
Do you know the word of God? Do you know the gospel of God?
II. To have true and saving faith you must believe that the gospel is true.
Secondly, to have true and saving faith you must believe that the gospel is true.
Here I simply wish to point out that there are many in the world who know the teaching of Holy Scripture and yet do not believe it. These have knowledge, but they do not have faith.
It appears that our friend Thomas was in this place for a while. He had heard the word that Jesus had risen from the grave – he had been exposed to true doctrine having sat under the teaching of Jesus for three years – but he did not believe it, at least not for a time. “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’” (John 20:24–25, ESV)
I suppose there are many in this world who have been exposed to the teaching of Holy Scripture, perhaps by their parents, by some other, or by their own reading of the text, who refuse to believe that what it says is true. These have knowledge, but they do not have faith. These might even know a great deal about the scriptures. Perhaps their knowledge of the Bible is even greater than yours and mine, and yet they refuse to agree with its teaching. Knowledge does not save, friends. Faith does. Not only must we know the Bible, we must agree with its teaching and submit to it.
III. To have true and saving faith you must trust in Christ as offered in the gospel.
Thirdly, to have true and saving faith you must trust in Christ as offered to us in the gospel.
Let me quote R.C. Sproul here. He writes, “The crucial, most vital element of saving faith in the biblical sense, is that of personal trust… [that is] a fiduciary [trusting] commitment by which I put my life in the lap of Jesus. I trust him and him alone for my salvation. That is the crucial element, and it includes the intellectual and the mental. But it goes beyond it to the heart and to the will so that the whole person is caught up in this experience we call faith” (Excerpt from, “What Does It Mean to Believe?” by R.C. Sproul).
Friends, do you see that it is possible to know what the Bible teaches, and even to agree intellectually with what the Bible teaches, but to not have saving faith because there is no personal trust in Christ. If there is no putting your “life in the lap of Jesus”, to quote Sproul, then there is no true and saving faith. To have true faith in Christ is to say from the heart, I am in great need, and no one and nothing can meet that need except Christ alone. I set all of my hope and place all of my trust in him for my salvation.
I sometimes wonder how many people gather with Christ’s church even on a weekly basis who have this kind of false faith. They have head knowledge – maybe even a lot of it. And they truly think that the things they they know are true and factual, which is fine and good. But they do not trust in Christ and in Christ alone. Instead their hope is set upon some other thing – perhaps their own righteousness.
IV. Obedience to God’s commands is evidence of true and saving faith.
Fourthly, and lastly, obedience to God’s commands is evidence of true and saving faith.
Here I wish to very briefly address the question that some of you might be thinking, which is, how can I know that I have true and saving faith? This is the question of assurance. How can I have a sense of assurance that I really do know Christ, and that my faith is true?
In a way this question is not difficult to answer.
Let me ask you, do you know the teaching of Holy Scripture? Do you know the gospel? Do you understand it intellectually?
Furthermore, do you confess that the teaching of Holy Scripture is indeed true?
And more than that, have you placed your trust in Christ? Are you believing upon him for the forgiveness of your sins, resting and hoping in him alone and the work that he has accomplished for you? Have you confessed that Jesus is Lord through the waters of baptism according to the command of Christ?
If so, then it seems to me that your faith is true.
But you and I know that some who answer all of these questions in the affirmative may still struggle with assurance. True Christians may struggle with confidence concerning the genuineness of their faith, even after answering “yes” to the questions stated above.
How is it that we grow in our assurance that our faith is true and that we know Christ truly?
The scriptures do speak to this issue. In essence they say that obedience to God’s commands is evidence of true and saving faith.
I could take you to that famous Matthew 7 passage where Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–23, ESV). In that text Jesus is talking about how to identify false teachers, but the principle applies. Just as a good tree will produce good fruit, and a bad tree bad fruit, so too the one who is truly in Christ will produce Christlike fruit.
We could also go to that passage in James 2 where James says that faith without works is dead. Clearly, there is a kind of faith that is true and a kind that is untrue (dead). “Even the demons believe and tremble”, James says. In other words, even the demons have a kind of faith. They know all about God and Christ. But clearly they do not trust in and follow after Christ, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. Obviously the faith of the demons is not true and saving faith, but this is the kind of faith that many in the world have – fruitless faith; faith without works – this kind of faith is dead.
My favorite passage on the subject of assurance is 1 John 2:3-6 which says, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments…” And a little further on John says, “by this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked”. It is clear that the Apostle is addressing the issue of assurance here. “And by this we know that we have come to know him”, he says. If I were to rephrase that into a question it would sound like this – “how can a person know that they know Christ truly?” Or “how can a person be sure that their faith in Christ is true?” And what answer does the Apostle give? “…if we keep his commandments…” And again, if we “…walk in the same way in which he walked”.
The same Apostle is clear that true Christians do struggle will sin. No Christian is perfect in his or keeping of the commandments of God. None walk in the way that Christ walked perfectly. With that said, the point the Apostle is making is the same one that Jesus made – true Christians will be known by their fruits. Holy living is an evidence of a heart that has been made holy by the grace of God. Christlike living is a testimony to a true and lively faith.
Conclusion
As we consider baby Jesus this Christmas season may we also consider the whole of his life, his death, burial resurrection and ascension. May we stand in awe, not only of the virgin birth and the incantation, but also of all that Christ has accomplished for those given to him by the Father from before the foundation of the world. And having considered all that Christ has accomplished – namely, our redemption – may be never forget how it is that we come to partake of the redemption purchased by Christ. It is through faith in him. Faith it is a grace, this is true. But it is something that we must exercise.
Friends, I am calling you to place your faith in Christ. I am calling you, just as the scriptures do, to turn from your sins and to believe upon Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
If you are in Christ, I am calling you to persevere in the faith and to urge other to believe as well. May the Lord give us opportunity to do that very thing this Christmas season. As we set our attention upon the baby Jesus may we have opportunity to say to ourselves and to others, “behold the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world. Believe upon him for the forgiveness of your sins.”
