Day 2: Firm and strong
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6 – NKJV).
If... you want to know what it is to believe on Jesus, it is to lie upon Him as a stone lies upon a foundation when the mason puts it there. There is the foundation firm and strong, a precious cornerstone, tried and sure. Here is a smaller stone, quarried from the pit, and the builder places it upon the foundation. Its lying on the foundation represents faith. Our souls’ eternal interests are laid on Christ.
The foundation bears up the stone, and holds it in its place; so Christ bears up our souls, and holds them in their position, so that they fall not to the ground. The stone presses with all its weight upon the foundation, and that is what the believer does with his Lord; he casts all his care upon Him.
Faith is leaning, depending, relying. As the key hangs on the nail, so hang we on Jesus. Faith is the giving up of self-reliance and self-dependence, and the resting of the soul upon Him whom God has laid in Zion for a foundation…
A stone rests wholly on the foundation. If a wall is well built it is not shored up with timber so that the stones have two supports, but the whole structure rests on a common basis.
There is a good foundation, and each stone lies upon it. It can do no more, for it could not keep its place for an instant if the foundation were removed. If the foundation fails the stone falls, but while the foundation stands the stone remains secure.
That is faith: resting upon Christ wholly and entirely, looking to Him for everything that has to do with our salvation. Genuine faith in Christ does not trust Him to pardon sin, and then trust itself to overcome sin. No, it trusts Christ both for the conquest of evil and for the forgiveness of it.
Some of our friends make a great muddle here. They say they believe that the Lord Jesus will keep them as long as they are faithful to Him. That is true; but where do you rely for your being faithful to Him? Do you depend upon yourself for faithfulness?
If so, there is a very weak spot in your confidence. That stone is not lying square upon the foundation, push it more home; it must not stand out of the line, or it will be over directly. Whether it be as to your regeneration by which you enter into life, or your ultimate perfection by which that life shall come to its complete maturity, there must be no reliance for you but upon Christ.
Dear friends, see to it that for everything, for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, you lie plumb and straight with Christ. See no man save Jesus only. Ye are complete in Him: add not to perfection.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon ~ Faith’s Sure Foundation ~ August 18, 1878
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