What Is Saving Faith
Saving faith is more than believing God is real. It is trusting Jesus, surrendering your life to Him, and being changed by Him.
I am a pretty concrete thinker. Words like sanctified, glory, salvation, hallelujah, atonement, propitiation, and faith seem to float around my head, cloaked in a misty cloud.
I have a general understanding of what they mean, but their true and deeper meaning often gets lost in the midst of church speak. It is important for all of us, believers and seekers alike, to know these words. We need to clear away the mist and let their true meaning sink right into the marrow of our bones.
Faith is one of those words. Do you really know what it means? Let’s work with the Holy Spirit to blow the fog off of it and get to a real and meaningful definition of faith.
What Is Saving Faith?
Saving faith is trusting Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sin. You know the good news of the gospel, you believe it is true, and you place your whole life in His hands.
Bible teachers have long described saving faith with three simple words: knowledge, agreement, and trust. Knowing the facts about Jesus is the starting place. Agreeing that those facts are true comes next. But only trust, the kind that leans your full weight on Jesus, is faith that saves.
Faith And Belief
When I think of the word faith, I also think of the word believe. They are close cousins. Faith is the noun, and believe is the verb. Here is an easy way to picture it: faith is the person, place, or thing, and believe is the doing word.
To understand saving faith, look closely at the word believe.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for believe is pisteuo. Its noun form, pistis, means faith, so the two are really two sides of the same coin. To believe means to have trust or faith in something, to accept something as true, to accept the word or evidence.
But Christian belief carries an even greater and deeper meaning. The definition cannot stop there. There must be something more!
Even The Demons Believe
James 2:19 says…
YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD IS ONE. YOU DO WELL: THE DEMONS ALSO BELIEVE AND SHUDDER.
Here’s what James is saying.
When you believe God is the one true God, you are right in your thinking. Even the demons believe this, and it makes them shake in their fiery shoes! And here is the really important part: they believe in God, but that belief does not save them from hell.
They know who God is, but merely knowing Him does not grant them grace, forgiveness, and a ticket out of their eternal position. Acknowledging that God is real, and even firmly agreeing that He is God, does not save them. It is the same for you and me. You can believe in God, which is true, but simply believing He exists does not guarantee your entry into heaven.
There is more to saving faith. Here is a good working definition of the kind of believing that leads to salvation…
1. A Strong Conviction Of The Truth
A strong conviction is a deeply held, unshakable belief that cannot be swayed. It is a firm, steadfast certainty about something.
The Holy Spirit reveals the truth about Jesus through the Apostle Paul…
Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith]. By this faith you are saved [reborn from above–spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold], and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold]… 1 Cor 15: 1-4 AMP
In other words, Jesus, God in the flesh, loved you so much that He came to earth to take on your sins and die in your place. He led a perfectly sinless life, then died on the cross and spilled His perfect blood, accepting the punishment of death instead of you. His death was a complete payment for the sins that kept you from God, and the proof is that Jesus rose from the dead.
Even the demons recognized Jesus and believed the gospel above, knowing in their minds that it is true. But that is where their belief stops.
I’m afraid that so many people think they are Christians, yet their faith stops right there, too.
2. A Personal Surrender
Once you believe the gospel and all it says, you can see yourself as you really are. We are all sinners, falling so short of what God intended us to be, rebellious and out of His will.
Seeing yourself in the light of God’s truth should bring you to repentance.
The Hebrew word most often used for repentance, shuv, simply means to turn back or return. Repentance is less about running away from sin and more about running back to God, because we have wandered so far from Him to swim in the cesspool of sin. When you run toward the Lord, you leave sin and the old life behind. What a serious and beautiful truth. You can read more in What Is Repentance: Its Truth And Beauty.
Repentance begins your personal surrender.
We call Jesus Lord, and so He is. Lord means master and owner, the One who has every right to rule your life. Once you repent of your sins, you can ask the Lord to take your life and use it. You hand yourself over to Jesus, and only in His nail-scarred hands do you begin to really live!
This is the step of belief the demons are not willing to take!
Here is the great dividing line between life and death. Eternal life and death!
3. A Lifestyle That Reflects That Change
The next thing that happens when you truly have faith is beautiful.
Once you have a firm conviction in the truth of the gospel, have asked God to forgive your sins, and have surrendered the right to run your own life, you will begin to change.
It’s nothing you do. God does it in you and through you.
You begin the lifelong process of sanctification, the process of becoming holy, set apart from common things to be used by God. What that really means is that little by little, you will look more and more like Christ. It is a lot like a garden that fills in season after season. You may not see the growth from one day to the next, but God is always at work.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
Saving Faith And Good Works
Good works do not earn your salvation, but they do follow it. Works are the fruit of saving faith, never the root. A faith that changes nothing is not the faith the Bible describes.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 NASB
That is the difference James was pointing to. The demons believe and shudder. Saving faith believes and then walks with God.
Abide And Obey
You simply keep believing, surrendering, and obeying. God will change your life.
I love the saying Abide and Obey. The more time I spend with my Savior, the more I want to be like Him, and the more I want to obey Him.
I became a Christian at the age of 33, and I can hardly recognize the girl I was before I believed. I did not change myself. God changed me. I just kept believing the truth of the Bible and surrendering my will to Jesus by obeying Him, and God began to change me, little by little.
I am nowhere near perfect. Not at all! Faith is a lifelong journey, and God promises to finish what He starts.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 NASB
🌿 TIP BOX: Read the Gospel of John this month, one chapter a day. John wrote it so that you would believe Jesus is the Christ (the annointed Savior), and it is a lovely place to watch faith take root and grow.
A Free Gift
Whether or not you accept God’s free gift is up to you. God will never force you to believe or to have a faith that saves, but He offers it to everyone.
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, lived with our Lord during His public ministry on earth. He saw the miracles Jesus performed, and he called them signs. They point to Jesus as the One who saves us from an eternity without God. John wrote about these miracles and the importance of believing in Jesus and said…
Many other signs therefore Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these (signs) have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:30-31
In these two verses, John wrote about true belief. Saving faith in Jesus leads to eternal life. Eternal life with God!
Do You Have Saving Faith?
I have saving faith, a sinner among sinners! It is the same faith our great and good God offers to you. Now is the time to receive the gift of eternal life through saving faith. You will be eternally glad you did!
Iff you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Romans 10:9 NASB
If you want to know for certain that you belong to God and pray a simple prayer to begin, How To Be Certain That You Are A Child Of God will walk you through it.
Verses to ponder…
Many other signs, therefore, Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:30-31
More Sunday Scripture To Grow Your Faith
If this post encouraged you, these Sunday Scripture posts go a little deeper into grace, belief, and the new life God gives.
The Level Playing Field
Everyone stands on the same ground before God. This post walks through the bad news of sin and the good news that anyone can be made right with God through Jesus.
What’s So Amazing About Grace
Learn the story behind the beloved hymn and what grace really means. You may never sing Amazing Grace the same way again.
What Is Repentance: Its Truth And Beauty
Repentance is a turning back toward home. See what the Bible teaches about returning to God and the mercy waiting there.
How To Be Certain That You Are A Child Of God
You can know for sure that you belong to God. This post shows you how, from 1 John, and closes with a simple prayer.
Words To Live By
What is your life really about? This post shares a life verse and invites you to find one to build your days around.
Happy Sunday, friends…
Wonderful post, Yvonne! Very well explained. I’ve grown up in church and struggled with whether or not I was saved for years. “Church speak” as you put it (so true) had me confused as a young person- I thought I was saved because I believed in Jesus Christ with all my heart, but I had not surrendered to his will for so long. It’s definitely a life long process of sanctification. Your post explains it so well. Bless you and prayers that it touches others.
Could you email me? would love to talk…[email protected]
Of course!
Dearest Yvonne,
Thank you for proclaiming the Gospel SOOO clearly! May God use your testimony to draw someone to salvation .
What a blessing you have been in my life since I found your podcast DTT early on. I will take time one day to write you more, but, like thousands of other women, I found a “friend” in you, though we’ll probably never meet this side of Heaven. May God keep showering you with the grace and strength you need to continue on in this ministry. How I do miss your voice and in-put on DTT, but understand being your age and living on my 8 grandkids. Have a GLORYous day worshipping our Savior Jesus Christ.
Thank you Cathy! I am a friend! We don’t have to meet to have a bond! I miss DDT too but I really love the freedom I have now that I don’t have to be at home on taping days.
Such a truthful and powerful post Yvonne. I, like you, didn’t fully understand what my faith in Him truly meant until the total surrendering of my will was given over in all circumstances and situations. The scripture, Proverbs 3 : 5 – 6 ,in the bible image was what He gave to me as a new believer and it took a long time to understand what the trust was , the surrendering of my will and my life totally. I have been so blessed by that passage for over 35 years.
Yvonne, you stated that you were 33 when you embraced saving faith. What circumstances led up to your decision to repent and obey?
Hi Linda, It was the Lord wooing me and calling me from the time I was in my early 20’s. I have a very interesting testimony. Maybe sometime I’ll share it.
Thank you for this teaching- you have many gifts but your gift of spiritual teaching has such eternal signifificance!
God Bless You!
Amen!
I look forward to your Sunday devotional I should say we, because I always read it has a part of our Sunday devotional .has I was reading todays devotional …Hebrew 11:1 kept going over in my mind. .What is Faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainly that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. ..Faith through Jesus Christ,gives us that blessed hope,confident and assurance…
We are caregivers for my 95 year old mom, she needs content care now so we don’t get out to church anymore. …
It feels good to be conected to a sister in the Lord even if it is through a blog. Amazing own that is when we are one in Christ. ..
Thank you again for sharing your wonderful insight ..looking forward to what you have for us all next Sunday. .have a wonderful God blessed week. .
Love you with the love of the Lord. ..
Daphne, God bless you for your sweet care of your mom! God bless you!
Yvonne, thanks for sharing! You explained everything so well! I’m somewhat new to your blog and it’s great to know you’re a fellow sister in Christ!
Welcome to the StoneGable family, Tracy!
Thank you, Yvonne for the reminder of the saving Faith Christ has offered us. I pray your words today will plant seeds in the hearts of many that are searching for fulfillment in this life. He is our true and only answer.
Keep Shining!
Yvonne—
Your Sunday posts are so full of our Lord’s message. Thank you for sharing!
Yvonne,
Your Sunday devotional posts always touch my soul, and make me think and reflect. I think the important distinction you make is that faith requires a series of actions, believing, surrendering, following. It is not a yes or no, check the box. This journey of actions is what connects us with God. Happy Sunday!
I typed a comment, but it was deleted by your website. Thank you for your insight on saving faith and belief.
Father God, Thank you again for these words of wisdom from Yvonne. Each week as we read her words, let all who are believers come together in prayer, that those who read her column may but have not yet accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, be drawn to her words. May your Holy Spirit prepare them to have eyes that long to see and hearts that are open and hungry for you. Let these word plant seeds that will be watered and fed so that they will long for You and be convicted and desire to turn their lives over to your care and salvation. Bless Yvonne overflowing for her desire to share you with the world through her blog.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus life and washing of His blood we pray, Amen ??
Amen. Thank you, Glenda. Please continue to pray for me and for those who read StoneGable. God bless you!
Yvonne, I think we do need to be reminded about saving faith and know that it is this faith that makes us whole. I enjoy reading the Mitford series of books about the fictional Father Timothy Kavanagh, written by Jan Karon. In her books, many things happen but Father Tim often shares his faith and leads simple prayers with the people who character Karon’s novels to lead them to Christ.
Here is that simple prayer: ” ‘Thank you, God, for loving me, and for sending your Son to die for my sins. I sincerely repent of my sins, and receive Christ as my personal savior. Now, as your child, I turn my entire life over to you. Amen.'”
Can’t get much better than that, can we? Nothing to lose and everything to gain. 🙂
Thank you for posting and sharing your heart,
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
What a beautiful “sinner’s prayer”!
Yvonne, I can’t believe I have been following Stone Gable for so long and have never realized you have a Sunday Scripture? I flip through my email on Sunday and somehow I have totally bypassed your messages. This morning for some reason, I opened this message. So blessed to have received this message as you have a way with words that helped me so much to have a better understanding. Thank you and God bless you, Sharon
I’m so glad, Sharon. God bless you this beautiful October day!
So good to see this post. I enjoy all the recipes, design and decorations and while scrolling through my email this caught my eye on a beautiful Sunday Morning. Thank you for being you and sharing faith with all your readers.
God Bless
Hi Donna, I share my faith every Sunday morning.
My Dear Yvonne, my daughter and I are new to your blog and cannot tell you how much your teachings inspire us and we are so grateful to have found you. I saw a shirt that says it all, it says “I want to be so full of Christ that if a mosquito bites me it flies away singing, There is power n the blood of Jesus”. May God bless you and al your faithful readers.
I’m so thrilled you found us too! What a fun saying!
Beautiful. Thank you.
Wonderful, as always. Thank you for sharing The Word which so many need to hear during these difficult times. Blessings!
Just think if everyone could hear and believe God’s great truth instead of man’s imaginationings!
Thank you for boldly testifying of God’s saving grace! It was a blessing to read of your salvation at 33. I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents were saved when I was two years old. So with that exposure I was saved at 11.
To me this is more important than how you decorate and it is the reason I follow you!!
You are right, Sandy. Although I love decorating Sunday’s post are the most important posts of the week!
I’m finding I look forward to your Sunday Guidance, Yvonne more and more each week and they are much appreciated and important to me as well. Thank you for your help in His teachings.
I’m so glad you find Sunday Scriptures helpful, Sue
Thank you for sharing your faith on your blog. It is comforting to hear your testimony of faith. Blessings to you and your family.
Thank you for this post.
I froze when I read this comment about the reader caring for her 95 year old mother. We just lost our precious 95 year old mother. She has met her KING!! We celebrate that eternal blessing…but I will admit that I am very much grieving the loss. I greatly appreciate your gifts of ministry in all that you do. Continue. May I ask your prayers for comfort and peace. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing the good news that Jesus saves! As a Christian, I am so grateful to Jesus for saving my soul and I appreciate you being strong enough to publish this blog unashamedly. ❤️❤️❤️
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written the righteous lives by faith. Romans 1:16 and But whoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father. Matt 10:33
God Bless YOU, Yvonne….!! Praise our RISEN LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST..!! I thank God for my FAITH..!!
I thank GOD for your FAITH…!! Glory be to GOD…!!
I do too Diva! God bless you!
I know my Savior Jesus. I am very thankful for your encouragment. You are a special person. Love that you know Jesus. May God Blesss You. My favorite scripture is Jeremiah 29:11.
Thank you Bettyanne, I love that scripture too
Hi Yvonne,
Thank you for Boldly proclamation your faith in Jesus Christ.
we pray many who do not know God personally will realize Jesus is what is missing in their life.
Salvation is free & available to ALL who believe in Him.
I agree, I would absolutely LOVE to hear your salvation experience when you feel is the right time.
Your insight on home & my spiritual daily walk journey has helped me more than I can say!
You are an answer to prayer.. we recently moved & have no local friends yet.. you kindness through your blog has helped fill my day with joy!
God bless you deeply! ❤️
This is a very inspiring and useful teaching , I myself will take inspiration from here to build a teaching also. God Bless You , Your family and Friends and Keep Giving more Wisdom. You are blessed.
Thank You for your Sunday Scripture. I love how you put your thoughts into a lesson and bring it right to the point. This topic draws my attention because it isn’t just about believing. You have to walk the walk. He is our only way into eternal life.
Amen! Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.”
Yvonne, I would love to hear your personal testimony! Thank you so much for your encouraging word from God’s Word!
Yes, I really need to write it in a post.
Happy Sunday! Thank God for the gift of salvation through Jesus!
Amen!
Beautifully written, Yvonne. I think one of most simple things we can do for someone is lead them in the. sinner’s prayer. It helps open the door to believing, receiving and bonding with our Lord and Savior. I think sometimes church speak’ is so confusing to people that they miss the most simplistic part of being saved by grace.
Lovely post- have a blessed day.
ps. Would love to hear your personal testimony someday. xo Diana
Hi Diana, so nice to hear from you! Yes, I think I’ll write it soon.
Thank you. I have forwarded this post to people who have faith (I think), but not saving faith (unfortunately). I love the Lord (but, would like to know and love Him more) and hope to live my life with saving faith.
Amen, me too Annie. Thanks for spreading the gift of saving faith!
Beautiful post!
Thank you Lynda.
Yvonne, you have done a wonderful job of explaining everything and the need to accept Jesus as our personal Savior. I pray that God will continue to bless you as you share with us each Sunday. I continue to thank God for you!
Mary Ann, I thank God for you too! I love your connecting through your beautiful comments.
Thank you Yvonne! I have been a Christian since I was 19. I have believed in Jesus all my life. Yes, I have strayed from God, but I love my Lord and Savior and I know that we can only trust in our Lord and Savior! I love my Savior and strive to love my Lord and his love for us!
You are so blessed Babette!
Wonderful to share with family and friends! Can i print out What Is Saving Faith?
Of course! Please share.
Thank you for this excellent article. I have saved it as so many people think just believing in God is enough to qualify them for Heaven. God bless you. Toni
Than you, Toni. God bless you.
Thank you again for this encouraging post (and life changing post for those who don’t know the Lord as a personal Savior.). God bless you as you continue to be a witness for Him!
Thank you, Judy. Please pray these posts reach those who need to hear.
Faith is indeed a powerful word!, and it is expressed so perfectly in the original Hebrew. The Hebrew root אָמַן (‘āman) does not simply mean “to believe”. The core concept of אֱמוּנָה (‘ĕmûnâ) is one of having steady hands. For example, “But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady [אֱמוּנָה] until the going down of the sun.” (Exodus 17:12, KJV) The Hebrew noun אָמָן (‘āmān) is an artisan or skilled craftsman, that is, a person who works carefully and diligently with their hands. It is also a nursemaid, that is, a person who nourishes and supports a child, literally one with steady hands who does not drop the baby! In other words, to have אֱמוּנָה (‘ĕmûnâ) is to have steady hands. Faith is not what you believe, faith is what you do. Or, as James put it so eloquently, “faith without works is dead”. (James 2:26)
How refreshing it’s been to find you. I love how you have used your platform of decorating to share Jesus and the Word.
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you found StoneGable too!