R.C. Sproul on the nature of saving faith
1939 – 2017 · PRESBYTERIAN (PCA)
READ IN A PRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°
Essentially trust that grasps Christ
"Faith has no merit of its own — faith is not a good work, it is simply a grasping of Christ."
THE POSITION
Faith has no merit of its own; it is not a good work but "simply a grasping of Christ" — trust that lays hold of Christ's righteousness rather than an achievement that earns anything.
9 OTHERS HOLD THIS
Knowledge + assent + trust; all three requiredJOSH HOWERTON · SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION · PHILIP MELANCHTHON · CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON · WESTMINSTER CONFESSION
Assent to revealed truth, made saving by loveAQUINAS
See all 20 figures on the nature of saving faith →ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Founder of Ligonier Ministries and teaching elder in the PCA. Chaired the drafting committee for the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy; best known for The Holiness of God and for popularizing Reformed theology — the five solas and TULIP — for a lay audience.
11 OF 17 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything R.C. Sproul holds →Cite this page
"R.C. Sproul on the nature of saving faith", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/sproul/saving-faith (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/sproul/saving-faith).