Faith That Does Not Save

There is a strange passage in John's gospel. It happens right after Jesus cleanses the Temple the first time. (He did it a second time at the end of His ministry.) The Jewish leaders weren't pleased, of course, but Jesus wasn't deterred. He went on with the Passover. The text says,

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man. (Joh 2:23-25)

Kind of strange. It says they believed in His name. Good! But Jesus didn't celebrate. He held back. He "did not entrust Himself to them." In fact, the word there in the first sentence that says "many believed" is the exact same word in the second where He "did not entrust Himself to them." He didn't trust them. He didn't believe in them. Why? "Because He knew all people," because "He Himself knew what was in man."

But does that answer the question. Why didn't He trust Himself to them? Doesn't it say they believed? Isn't it faith that saves? What's the problem?

In John 6 Jesus was explaining to the Jews that they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53-58). He was, of course, speaking metaphorically. He was "the bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:58) and He was, therefore, life. But the response was interesting. "When many of His disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?' But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, 'Do you take offense at this?'" (John 6:60-61) These are disciples. Not the 12 (John 6:67), but disciples who, when He finished talking, "turned back and no longer walked with Him." (John 6:66) They were "believers." What happened? Why didn't their faith save them?

We use the term "saving faith." Perhaps we do it without thinking. The suggestion there is that there is faith that saves and there is faith that does not. It doesn't mean there is faith that saves and there is no faith. James refers to dead faith. Faith without works, he says, is dead (James 2:17). Dead faith cannot save (James 2:14).

I think we make a mistake sometimes thinking that all faith saves. It doesn't. Only living faith saves. Jesus talked about tares among the wheat (Matt 13:24-30), people who looked like "wheat" -- true believers -- but were not. John wrote about those false teachers who "came out from us." "But," he went on to say, "they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us." (1 John 2:19)

Fake faith is easy, even prevalent. Dead faith is common. And, in all honesty, we have a really, really hard time distinguishing. Jesus didn't trust Himself to these believers because He knew what was in their hearts. They had a faith of a kind. Only He knew if it was saving faith or not. We, too, need to be aware that faith can be dead. We have a hard time telling it in others, but we ought to be diligent. "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith," Paul wrote (2 Cor 13:5). You will want to make your calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10) before you face the final judgment.