During the past few days, we have seen that all that man has is sin. We have also seen that God accomplishes everything. He has loved us. He has given us grace. God has accomplished righteousness, has caused the Lord Jesus to die and resurrect for us. God has even sent the Holy Spirit to convict and enlighten us and to give us the strength to accept the work of God. Let me ask a very natural question. What must man do to be saved, now that God has finished all His work? God has done everything on His part. Today He has laid this finished work before man. What then is the condition for us to be saved? God has accomplished the work of redemption. How can man now receive salvation? How can redemption become salvation? How can propitiation become substitution? How can God's gift to us in His Son be communicated to us in the Holy Spirit? We are talking about the condition for salvation. What should we do on our side before what is on God's side can be communicated to us?
All those who read the Bible know that the condition for salvation is faith. There is no other condition except faith. Because man has fallen and is corrupted, because his thoughts are crooked, and because man's flesh is of the law, he thinks that he must do something before he can be saved. But the Bible shows us that the only condition for our salvation is faith. Besides faith there is no other condition. The New Testament tells us clearly at least one hundred and fifteen times that when man believes, he is saved, he has eternal life and is justified. When man believes, he has all these things. In addition to these one hundred and fifteen times, the Bible says that man is justified by faith, or becomes righteous through faith, another thirty-five times. In the first instance, we have the verb to believe. In the second instance, we have the noun faith. The verb to believe is used one hundred and fifteen times. Once a man believes, he is saved (Acts 16:31). Once a man believes, he has eternal life (John 3:36). Once a man believes, he is justified. In addition to these verses, there are thirty-five times in which the noun faith is used. Man is saved through faith. He receives eternal life through faith, and he is justified by faith. Hence, in the entire New Testament, at least one hundred and fifty times it says that man is saved, justified, and has eternal life through faith only. It is not a matter of who one is, what one does, or what one can do. Everything depends on believing. Everything depends on faith.
Another thing that deserves special attention is that in all these one hundred and fifty occurrences of faith and believing, no other condition is added. These verses do not say that man must believe and then do something to receive eternal life. They do not say that man must believe and do something before he can be justified. Neither do they say that man must believe and do something before he can be saved. The Lord's Word mentions faith in a clear and definite way. Nothing else is mixed in or attached to the condition of faith. Hence, the Bible shows us clearly from God's point of view that there is no other condition to salvation than to believe.