Charles Haddon Spurgeon on the nature of saving faith
Knowledge + assent + trust; all three required
"What is faith? It is made up of three things—knowledge, belief, and trust."
THE POSITION
Explicit three-part definition — knowledge, assent (belief), and trust — worked through in turn as successive stages, with trust named as the culminating "lifeblood of faith" rather than the whole of it.
14 How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
4 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, and the most famous preacher of Victorian England — the "Prince of Preachers." Preached roughly 3,500–4,000 sermons across 63 volumes; All of Grace and A Defence of Calvinism state his soteriology directly.
Cite this page
"Charles Haddon Spurgeon on the nature of saving faith", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/spurgeon/saving-faith (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/spurgeon/saving-faith).