Faith Ingredients (Part 1)


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While knowledge about our Lord Jesus Christ is not enough to save a person, it doesn’t mean that such knowledge is not important. While it’s not the only ingredient of faith, knowledge is one of its ingredients. Reformed theologians called it notitia or “acquaintance with the content of the gospel”. [1] Thus, the content of the Gospel is as important as our commitment to the Gospel. According to 2 Timothy 1:12, trust is rooted in knowledge.
That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. (NLT, emphasis added)
To trust somebody without knowing him or her is a misplaced trust. It’s important to know whom we trust.

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That’s why we are commanded to love God with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). 
This involves the intellect and emphasizes that there are certain basic truths that must be believed for salvation. Jesus claimed to be God; belief in His deity became the central issue in salvation (Rom. 10:9–10). Unless a person believed that Jesus was all He claimed to be he would die in his sins (John 8:24). Saving faith, then, involves believing the basic truths fundamental to man’s salvation: man’s sinfulness, Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and His bodily resurrection.[2]
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Knowledge is also important in worshiping God. Our Lord told the Samaritan woman He met at Jacob’s well,
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (John 4:22-23, emphasis added)
The Message version goes this way: “You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day.” … Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth.” (vv. 22, 23, emphasis added) We are not to worship in darkness, that is, in ignorance. We are to worship in the light. We have to know Who we worship. We must pursue the truth about God so that we could say, “We worship what we know.” 

 [1] J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993). Electronic edition.

 [2] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 332. Italics his. Emphasis added.


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