Blake Long

“A little faith is faith.” (Samuel Rutherford)

“It is the not quality of your faith, but the object of your faith, that saves” (my paraphrase). I heard this quote, or something very similar, for the first time from Tim Keller. It struck me. It blindsided me.

It’s not how good our faith is, but how good, how perfect, Jesus is that saves us. The quality or strength of my faith will never be where I would like it to be—it’ll always be too small. But the object of my faith—namely, Jesus—will always be perfect. He lived a perfectly righteous life. He died a sacrificial death on my behalf. It’s not my fickle faith that saves me, but the complete and finished work of Jesus Christ.

And this is what Samuel Rutherford is saying as well. A little faith…is still faith. Though your faith perhaps is small, it is still faith. It is still trust. And God uses that trust.

Friend, take heart. The days you struggle with your faith, the moments you agonize over your fickle heart, the weeks you continue to doubt—remember that it is not the quality of your faith that saves and keeps you, but the finished work of Jesus Christ. Must you have faith? Yes. You must place your trust in Him.

But if it’s little, it’s still faith.