The Empty Hand of Faith
One of my favorite authors, Dr. James R. White, made a good illustration about why faith comes to God with an empty hand. Not empty in the sense that it’s producing no fruits (or bad fruits), of course, but rather in the sense of knowing it has nothing to boast about before God’s holiness and perfection that can ever merit salvation. The possessor of such faith despairs of anything other than free, unmerited grace as the cause of his/her salvation. The sinner who clings upon Christ alone as Savior (not Christ and self) could not allow his/her heart to rear its ugly head and say, “I have done this or that to bring about my salvation.”
The hand that still clutches onto its own “good works” (or that carries within it any ideas of self-merits) will not find the hand of grace. Only the empty hand of faith fits into the powerful open hand of God’s grace.
“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
June 16th, 2007 at 8:19 pm | Permalink
Jessica,
To your -
“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
Made we add:
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God.” - Romans 10:17
“[F]ixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” - Hebrews 12:2
Full well Julia Johnson understood when she penned:
“Grace Greater than Our Sin”
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out poured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Darkness is the stain that we cannot hide,
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! there is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.
Marvelous grace, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe;
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?
Grace (marvelous) grace,
God’s (infinite) grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace (marvelous) grace,
God’s (infinite) grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
What a glorious and loving God that can forgive a sinner like me! When I think of what it took (2 Corinthians 5:21) for God to redeem my soul - how could I ever truly boast of anything other than Christ my Lord. Praise HIs holy name!
June 20th, 2007 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
Pastor Bruce,
Thank you for adding those! Yes, Romans 10:17 is a logical verse to add following Eph. 2:8-9. Thank you also for sharing Julia Johnson’s words. I just posted a new entry of a hymn by Isaac Watts recently. I hope you may enjoy it!