Paul did not speak of having faith until he had lost all confidence in his flesh. He took all his education, self-confidence, abilities, doctrines and zeal and cast them aside. He spoke of faith only after he had said, "I cannot trust my flesh." The same is true for us.
Before anyone is capable of true faith, he must come to a sense of how lost, helpless and utterly hopeless he is. We do not have saving faith until we come to the end of believing that someone or something other than Jesus can save us.
Saving, justifying faith involves submitting your life to Christ with all your heart. It includes a repentance that says, "Jesus, I have got nothing to offer You. I come to submit to Your lordship!"
In Romans 10:9, Paul characterizes saving faith as believing with your heart and confessing with your mouth. He is saying that faith is more than merely giving mental assent. Rather, it is submitting your whole life to Him — with all your heart.
In Acts 8:37, Philip said to the eunuch, "If thou believest with all thine heart . . ." and the eunuch replied, "I believe. . . ." This was not simply a mental "yes" to Jesus — he really believed with all his heart and he was saved.
In contrast, Simon Magus believed Paul's preaching. Yet he had only a temporary faith because his heart was not in it. Indeed, multitudes of people in Jesus' day believed temporarily in the name of Christ, but Jesus would not commit Himself to them because He knew their hearts were not fully committed (see John 2:23-24).
So, you ask, who is truly justified by faith? It is the one who knows he is lost and helpless and he has tried everything and failed. Now he commits his whole life into the Lord's hands — with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. He cries out, "Lord, I am Yours! You are my only hope." And he is saved!
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.