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Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

“Just believe;” it says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31; see also
Romans 10:9–10). Faith is based upon the knowledge of God that is
revealed in nature and in the facts of Scripture. Faith develops through
knowledge of the teachings of Scripture that concern humanity’s sinful
nature, the salvation provided in Christ, the conditions of salvation, and
the many blessings promised to God’s children. Knowledge of the Lord
Jesus and the content of the Christian belief revealed in Scripture is a
vitally important step to faith.

Assent
Assent involves an emotional commitment. It is one thing to know
the scriptural and historical facts about Christ, but it is quite another
thing to believe that they are true. We could believe (intellectually)
the importance of the eternal issues involved in salvation and yet not
receive these truths in our heart. Faith is the assent (agreement) of the
heart to the rightness of what we know. The heart says yes to all that
Christ is and offers to do for us. We must do more than know that these
things are true; we must accept them for ourselves.

A certain young man praised a preacher for the sermon he had just
heard. The preacher asked, “Are you a Christian?” The youth answered,
“Yes.” The preacher questioned
a bit further, “How long have
you been a Christian?” The
Faith is the agreement of young man answered, “Oh,

the heart to the rightness sir, all of my life.” The preacher
pursued the matter, “Have
of what we know. you had a personal experience
with Christ or demonstrated
your faith in some way, then?”
The young man smiled as he explained, “Sir, it was not I personally who
was converted. Many years ago my great-great-grandparents were
converted into the Christian faith. They brought the whole family into
the faith. So all of us family members are Christians; we come from a
long line of Christians.” The preacher responded, “That’s fine. But let’s
suppose that you see a young couple eating breakfast in your hotel. You
ask the young man, ‘How long have you been married?’ He retorts, “Oh,
we aren’t married, but our great-great-grandparents were married. We
come from a long line of married people.’ Is that enough?” The young

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