Vital Faith Shows Itself in Changed Living
Vital faith is demonstrated by a willingness to surrender to God and submit to the obligation of the Lordship of Jesus.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes that vital faith is demonstrated through changed living, distinguishing between mere religious activity and genuine moral action. He argues that true faith involves not just accepting Christ as Savior but also submitting to His Lordship, which requires a complete surrender to God and obedience to His will. Tozer warns against the dangers of passive listening to the gospel, which can lead to spiritual stagnation and a lack of meaningful progress in one's faith. He calls for a restoration of the understanding that salvation entails a transformative response to the Christian message, centered on the cross of Christ. Ultimately, he stresses that the purpose of Bible teaching is to inspire moral and spiritual change in believers' lives.
Text
We would make a clear distinction here between moral action and mere religious activity. In truth there is already too much of that popular type of activity which does little more than agitate the surface of religion. Its never-ending squirrel-cage motion gives the impression that much is being done, when actually nothing really important is happening and no genuine spiritual progress is being made. From such we must turn away.
By moral action, we mean a voluntary response to the Christian message: not merely the acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior but a submission to the obligation implicit in the doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus. We must free ourselves from the inadequate concept of the gospel as being only "good news," and accept the total meaning of the Christian message centering in the cross of Christ. We must restore again to the church the idea that the offer of salvation by faith in Christ carries with it the condition that there must be also a surrender of the life to God in complete obedience.
Anything less than this puts the whole thing in the passive voice. A lifetime of passive listening to the truth without responding to it paralyzes the will and causes a fatty degeneration of the heart. The purpose of Bible teaching is to secure a moral and spiritual change in the whole life. Failing this, the whole thing may be wasted.
Sermon Outline
- Vital Faith
- The Problem with Mere Religious Activity
- The Importance of Moral Action
- A Voluntary Response to the Christian Message
- Submission to the Obligation of the Lordship of Jesus
- Restoring the Idea of Surrender to God
Key Quotes
“A lifetime of passive listening to the truth without responding to it paralyzes the will and causes a fatty degeneration of the heart.” — A.W. Tozer
“The purpose of Bible teaching is to secure a moral and spiritual change in the whole life.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We must be willing to surrender our lives to God and submit to His will in order to experience genuine spiritual growth.
- Passive listening to the truth without responding to it can lead to spiritual stagnation and a lack of moral and spiritual change.
- The purpose of Bible teaching is to secure a moral and spiritual change in the whole life, not just to provide intellectual knowledge.