John Owen on the nature of saving faith
Essentially trust that grasps Christ
Q. What is a justifying faith? A. A gracious resting upon the free promises of God in Jesus Christ for mercy, with a firm persuasion of heart that God is a reconciled Father unto us in the Son of his love.
THE POSITION
Faith is defined as resting on the promise, not as assent to it. Owen's catechism calls justifying faith "a gracious resting upon the free promises of God in Jesus Christ for mercy, with a firm persuasion of heart that God is a reconciled Father," and then names two things that are believing but do not save: historical faith, a persuasion that what the Word says is true, and temporary faith, which has joy of the affections on unspiritual grounds.
5 However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
9 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The most formidable English Puritan theologian: Dean of Christ Church and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford under Cromwell, later a nonconformist pastor in London. This entry rests on The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (1647), The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (1677), Pneumatologia and the Discourse of Spiritual Gifts (1674), and the Two Short Catechisms (1645), read in the Goold edition of the Works.
Cite this page
"John Owen on the nature of saving faith", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/owen/saving-faith (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/owen/saving-faith).