Christ lived and died for us. As our vicarious representative and substitute, he assumed everything and took our place. As our High Priest, Christ stands in for us in every way. He obeyed for us. He believed for us. He got baptized for us. He prayed on our behalf. He lived for us. He died for us. We got implicated in him—in what he did to us and for us. Even our faith has been implicated in his faith. Our faith is enveloped and taken hold of by the faith of Jesus Christ.

In Our Place

“The Bible tells us that Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). That is why we can freely trust him to be our all in all and not even worry about whether our faith itself is good enough or strong enough. Thomas F. Torrance explains it this way:

“Jesus steps into the actual situation where we are summoned to have faith in God, to believe and trust in him, and he acts in our place and in our stead from within the depths of our unfaithfulness and provides us freely with a faithfulness in which we may share…. That is to say, if we think of belief, trust or faith as forms of human activity before God, then we must think of Jesus Christ as believing, trusting, or having faith in God the Father on our behalf and in our place….

“Through his incarnational and atoning union with us our faith is implicated in his faith, and through that implication, far from being depersonalised or dehumanised, it is made to issue freely and spontaneously out of our own human life before God. Regarded merely in itself, however, as Calvin used to say, faith is an empty vessel, for in faith it is upon the faithfulness of Christ that we rest and even the way in which we rest on him is sustained and undergirded by his unfailing faithfulness (The Mediation of Christ, pp. 82-84).

“It is the life, faith and obedience of Jesus Christ that saves us and includes us in that salvation.”

Not By Your Works Nor by Your Faith!

How often do we hear of people say that it is their faith that saves. But the truth is, it is the faith of Christ that saves. Our faith has been implicated in his faith. This is how to understand Gal. 2:20 . “I live, yet not I but Christ.” In the same manner we can say, “I believe yet not I but Christ.”

It is important that we understand that Christ takes our place in every aspect of our human lives. Let me quote again from Thomas F. Torrance:

“It is curious that evangelicals often link the substitutionary act of Christ only with his death, and not with his incarnate person and life—that is dynamite for them! They thereby undermine the radical nature of substitution… Christ in our place and Christ for us in every respect. Substitution understood in this radical way means that Christ takes our place in all human life and activity before God, even in our believing, praying and worshiping of God, for he has yoked himself to us in such a profound way that he stands in for us and upholds us at every point in our human relations before God.” (Preaching Christ Today: The Gospel and Scientific Thinking, Thomas Torrance, pp. 30-31)

Vicarious Faith of Christ

Here is more from Thomas F. Torrance on Galatians 2:20 about the faith of Christ:

“Galatians 2:20 has long been for me a passage of primary importance. The faith of the ‘Son of God’ is to be understood as not just my faith in Christ but as the faith of Christ himself, for it refers primarily to Christ’s unswerving faithfulness, his vicarious and substitutionary faith which embraces and undergirds us, such that when we believe we must say with Paul, “not I but Christ,” even in our act of faith. This is not to denigrate the human act of faith on our part, for it is only in and through the vicarious faith of Christ that we can truly and properly believe. Faith in Christ involves a polar relation between the faith of Christ and our faith, in which our faith is laid hold of, enveloped, and upheld by his unswerving faithfulness…this is precisely what the Lord Jesus does when in giving of himself for us he completely takes our place, makes our cause his very own in every respect, and yields to the heavenly Father the response of faith and love which we are altogether incapable of yielding.

Oftentimes, our human faith fails us and we doubt. But thanks be to God, we don’t have to worry about anything. Through our perfect substitute and representative, the Lord Jesus Christ, his faith sustains and upholds our faith. There’s no need to worry at all!

In the photo illustration above, we see two hands: that of a little child and that of a father. As the little child begins learning how to walk, he holds on to his dad with his weak grasp while his dad holds on to him to support him and make sure he doesn’t stumble and fall. The stronger and firm grasp of the father represents the faith of Christ which upholds and supports our faith. The strong faith of Christ upholds and takes hold of our weak human faith. “I believe yet not I but Christ believes for me.”

Yes, we can be thankful, that Christ stand in for us—our faith has been implicated in his faith. Truly, the just shall live by the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.