elements (revised with actual quotes)

Saving faith is made up knowing certain facts, believing them to be true, and relying solely on the effect of those facts.

Embracing that faith involves recognizing that we are born with a debt we cannot pay, that whatever the essential rules are, we can't obey them perfectly anyway and that as a result, without divine intervention we deserve to spend an eternity separated from God and everything good (death).

The remedy for this sad condition is found in the fact that God, the creator of everything that exists, sent Jesus, the sinless God-man (His Son, very God of very God), to pay the infinite penalty we owe.

Of course, Jesus was fully man, so he could take the place of another man.

He had no sin of His own to pay for, so could pay the debt owed by another.

And He could pay the penalty owed by more than one man because He is God, and thus, infinite in His essence and in the value of any sacrifice He makes.

He paid the penalty (experienced the separation from God the Father we deserve) by dying.

His position along with the fact that His sacrifice was acceptable and sufficient is confirmed by the fact that He resurrected from the dead.

So, saving faith is made up of knowing these facts, believing them to be true, and trusting in the result, that is, understanding that we have nowhere else to go and trusting that the sacrifice of Jesus is all that's required and applies to us individually.

By way of example, recognizing we have no where else to go brings to mind a poignant scene in the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman."

You’ll recall that in the story, Richard Gere a/k/a Mayo, one of the main characters, is a naval officer candidate. During his training, he takes short cuts, lies, cheats and is basically out for himself. His attitude demonstrates that he really isn't officer material if you compare his character traits to the ideals that are being promoted in the training (that a naval officer is honorable, etc). He's reaching above his background to overcome the "sins of his father," who apparently had a negative reputation and most certainly was not officer material.

Drill Sergeant Foley sees through Mayo's facade seemingly from day one when he plainly observes "In every class, there's always one joker who thinks that he's smarter than me. In this class, that happens to be you. Isn't it, Mayonnaise?" Foley begins his job of weeding him out.

After several seemingly minor confrontations, Foley ultimately catches Mayo in some honor code violation that documents Mayo's lack of character and Foley demands "Mayo, I want you D.O.R." (drop on request, or voluntarily resignation).

Mayo responds with, "No sir. You can kick me outta here, but I ain't quitting," and Foley orders, "Get into your fatigues, Mayo. By the end of this weekend, you'll quit."

Over a long weekend when the other candidates are on leave, relaxing, the sergeant makes Mayo run in place for hours in the rain, do push ups in the mud, run cross country with full pack and rifle in the heat of the day. Throughout the entire ordeal, the sargent continues to remind Mayo he can stop the harassment by giving his DOR.

Late Sunday afternoon, when Mayo is obviously exhausted, the sergeant again demands his DOR, but Mayo continues to refuse even though he can't take another step.

Still certain that he has beaten Mayo and that he needs only the slightest push, the sergeant leans over Gere and sweaty face-to-face, the sergeant pointedly commands, "You can forget it! You're out!"

Mayo, his hard-shell broken (the shell that had earlier concealed and protected disclosure of his inner doubts), looks up at the sergeant and says in a scratchy, almost crying and very desperate tone "Don't you do it! Don't! You... I got nowhere else to go! I got nowhere else to g... I got nothin' else."

"I GOT NO WHERE ELSE TO GO."

That's how we are with God. We've rebelled. We've fought Him every step of the way. We've held on by pride and sheer force of will, but when pressed and pressed and pressed to disclose our hearts, show that if the conclusions about our pre-existing condition are accurate, we do in fact, have no where else to go. We can't well up within ourselves enough to even want to do what's required, let alone do it.

That is, you can believe or not, but if the truth we have been taught is THE TRUTH, our believing or not believing is not what makes it so.

Because it is TRUTH, we have no option. We have no where else to go.

Recognizing our condition and the result, as well as the fact we have no where else to go and relying on the remedy is saving faith.