Charles Grandison Finney on the nature of saving faith
Essentially trust that grasps Christ
It is a trusting in Christ, a committing of the soul and the whole being to Him, in His various offices and relations to men.
THE POSITION
Evangelical faith is an act of the will, not of the intellect. It implies intellectual conviction, but the virtuous element that makes it faith "does not consist in it," because faith is always treated as a virtue and the intellect's states are not. What faith is, positively, is the will closing with the truths of the gospel and committing the whole person to Christ in his offices.
17 So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? 21 Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
12 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Law student turned revivalist of the Second Great Awakening, licensed and ordained by a Presbyterian presbytery in 1824, later professor of theology and president at Oberlin College. His Lectures on Revivals of Religion argued that a revival is the right use of means and not a miracle. His Systematic Theology built a doctrine of salvation on moral government and on the sinner's natural ability, and denied original sin as a sinful nature, imputed righteousness, and that the atonement paid what sinners owed. This entry rests on that Systematic Theology (1878 edition), the Revival Lectures, one chapter of the Memoirs, three Oberlin Evangelist pieces and one letter.
Cite this page
"Charles Grandison Finney on the nature of saving faith", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/finney/saving-faith (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/finney/saving-faith).