“And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (vs16).
Faith is the means God uses to save, sanctify, and make men whole; it's how He gives salvation! Christ did the work, while we rejected and despised Him, desiring a murderer, even Barabbas, instead. “Then Pilate said to them, Why, what evil has He done? But they cried out all the more, Crucify Him! So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified” (Mark 15:14-15). We refused Whom God anointed, but God raised Him from the dead, because He finished the work of redemption and obeyed God perfectly, putting away our sins. Now, by faith, we receive the atonement, receive the Lord as Master and Ruler, and we RECEIVE the benefits of salvation freely.
In Israel's youth, she refused to enter the Promised Land because of the giants, and unbelief was her undoing. It says, “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; and you complained in your tents, and said, “Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us (Deut 1:26-27). Joshua and Caleb entered in, because they had another spirit and wholly followed the Lord. Likewise, you and I enter the benefits of salvation – forgiveness, justification, holiness, obedience, peace – by simply believing that what God has promised, God will do!
I rejoiced last night to think upon trusting Christ: I've got faults and failures, fears and troubles, and yet, I do believe that simply believing on Christ and entrusting myself to Him, I will be saved. God will do the saving, and all that I must do is believe that He'll save me, according to His promise, by His Son's blood, and by the power of the Spirit. Weak as a worm, sinful as the devil himself, and yet assured of salvation by God through simply believing - not contributing a thing, not doing for myself, and not in any way looking to myself for the good! Bless His name. Simply believing is enough to get what you're believing Him for, even salvation from sin.
Secondly, the apostles didn't have silver to give the cripple, but they did have faith in Christ, which could be passed on through the message (Acts 3:6). Peter said, “Look at us... silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). They told the message, told the man to look on them - to do as they had done, to see that it works, and to now do it himself - and he did believe; and he was saved! He'd never walked holy, and here he is “walking, leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8). He is doing the impossible, serving God in newness of spirit, walking in the Holy Spirit, and obtaining power to praise God from a believing and victorious heart. This is faith. Christ is revealed, sinners see object lessons in the saints, and then they trust Christ for themselves and experience salvation, which is greater than heart could wish.
Finally, this simple means of faith can be followed by you. You can obtain mercy and walk praising God. Do you want to be saved? Do you want to be holy, changed, and forgiven? Do you want to go to heaven, and do you want to go there by obedience to Christ, the only Savior there is? If this is true: if you want holiness, good works, and forgiveness, then you may have it freely. Peter said, “Men of Israel, who do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as through by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go... and His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know” (Acts 3:11-16).
Only believe the promise is yours, and you will be saved. Believe the Son, who died for the elect, died for you, because God commands you to believe. I believe, not because I'm worthy of what God gives or deserving to be saved; I believe because He commands me, so I know that I have a right... and a necessity... no matter how depraved I am. The vileness of the sinner doesn't take anything away from the saving power of Christ. He can cleanse, give strength, and make us able to do what we cannot, which is walk with God, conquer sin, endure trials, and be faithful until the end. Do you believe? Then it is for you! It is yours.
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