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The Faith of Jesus Christ
I. Faith - I. Belief, trust, confidence. 1. a. Confidence, reliance, trust (in the ability, goodness, etc., of a person; in the efficacy or worth of a thing; or in the truth of a statement or doctrine).
II. Jesus Christ was a man of great faith.
1. Some will object to this idea because they say that because Jesus was God, He didn't have faith since God doesn't have faith.
A. There are a couple of problems with this idea.
B. First of all, Jesus was/is fully God (Joh 1:1,14) and fully man (1Ti 2:5).
i. Men are commanded to have faith in God (2Ch 20:20).
ii. Therefore, as a man, Jesus had faith, or else He was a sinner.
C. Secondly, God does have faith (Rom 3:3).
i. God is the faithful God (Deu 7:9).
a. God is faithful (1Co 1:9; 1Co 10:13)
b. Faithful adj. - 1. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Full of or characterized by faith (sense 3); believing.
c. Therefore, God is characterized by and full of faith.
ii. A person can have faith in what they trust to be true, but can't directly verify, such as the existence of heaven or the afterlife.
iii. A person can also have faith in what they know to be true, such as trusting that a ball will fall to the ground when dropped because of gravity.
iv. God knows everything (Psa 147:5).
v. Therefore, God doesn't have faith in what He doesn't know, but in what He does know will happen.
vi. God calls things that be not as though they were (Rom 4:17).
vii. God had faith in Christ's blood to save His elect before Christ actually died (Rom 3:25).
D. Therefore, since God has faith, Jesus had faith in His divine nature as well as in His human nature.
2. Jesus was faithful to God who appointed Him (Heb 3:1-2).
A. Jesus is the faithful witness (Rev 1:5; Rev 3:14).
B. One of the names of Jesus is Faithful (Rev 19:11).
C. Faithful adj. - 1. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Full of or characterized by faith (sense 3); believing. 3. a. True to one's word or professed belief; abiding by a covenant or promise, steadfast.
D. Therefore, Jesus was full of and characterized by faith.
3. Jesus always pleased God (Joh 8:29).
A. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).
B. Therefore, Jesus had faith.
4. It was said of Jesus in prophecy that He would put His trust in God (Heb 2:13).
A. Trust n. - 1. a. Confidence in or reliance on some quality or attribute of a person or thing, or the truth of a statement.
B. Faith - I. Belief, trust, confidence. 1. a. Confidence, reliance, trust
C. Trust and faith are synonyms, therefore, Jesus put His faith in God.
5. Faith was a weightier matter of the law (Mat 23:23).
A. Jesus kept the law flawlessly (1Pe 2:22) and fulfilled it (Mat 5:17).
B. Therefore, Jesus had faith.
6. Jesus commanded His disciples to have faith in God (Mar 11:22).
A. We are supposed to be followers of Christ (1Co 11:1).
B. Jesus would not command us to do something that He himself would not do.
C. Therefore, Jesus had faith in God.
7. Jesus taught that the servant that is faithful in little things will be given authority of cities (Luk 19:17).
A. Jesus was given authority over the entire universe (Eph 1:20-23).
B. Therefore, Jesus was faithful even in the little things when He was on this earth.
8. The just shall live by faith (Gal 3:11).
A. Jesus was just (Act 3:14).
B. Therefore, Jesus lived by faith.
9. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
A. Jesus was full of the Spirit (Joh 3:34).
B. Therefore, Jesus exhibited faith, the fruit of the Spirit.
10. Even as a child, Jesus was faithful to His God (Luk 2:49) and to His parents (Luk 2:51).
11. Jesus' enemies even recognized Him as a man of faith (Mat 27:43).
12. Faith does what God says, even when it's painful.
A. Jesus resigned His will to the Father's will when He was faced with the most horrifying death imaginable (Luk 22:42).
B. This was the second greatest act of faith that Jesus did.
13. Jesus' faith was shown most profoundly when He went to the cross.
A. Jesus committed his soul to God when he hung on the cross (Luk 23:46).
B. Commend v. - 1. To give in trust or charge, deliver to one's care or keeping; to commit, entrust:
C. The Father had forsaken Him prior to that (Mat 27:46).
D. Without the presence of God, suspended between heaven and earth and forsaken by both, all Jesus could do was trust that the Father would accept His sacrifice and not leave His soul in hell (Act 2:27,31).
III. Jesus' faith saved us eternally.
1. No person can be saved by keeping the law (Rom 3:20).
2. They are cursed who don't continue to keep all things written in the law (Gal 3:10).
3. Jesus Christ perfectly kept the law without ever sinning (1Pe 2:22).
A. Doing what God says is an act of faith (Heb 11); therefore Jesus kept the law of God by faith.
B. Because Jesus knew no sin, He could bear the sins of the elect whom God gave him (1Pe 2:24), and be made sin (2Co 5:21) and a curse for them (Gal 3:13).
C. Jesus did this by going to the cross by faith, trusting that God would accept His sacrifice and not leave his soul in hell (suffering the wrath of God on the cross).
4. Therefore, the righteousness of God, which is imparted to the elect through the justifying grace of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:24), is by the faith of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:22).
5. Our righteousness is through the faith of Jesus Christ (Phi 3:9).
6. We have access to God by the faith of Christ (Eph 3:12).
7. A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16).
8. We live by the faith of the Son of God who gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20).
9. We are saved by grace through the faith of Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9; 1Ti 1:14).
