The Great Doctrines of the Bible Part 22

1. SAVED.

2. JOY AND PEACE.

3. DO GREAT WORKS.

B. FAITH.

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE.

Faith is fundamental in Christian creed and conduct. It was the one thing which above all others Christ recognized as the paramount virtue. The Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15) had perseverance; the centurion (Matt. 8), humility; the blind man (Mark 10), earnestness.

But what Christ saw and rewarded in each of these cases was faith.

Faith is the foundation of Peter's spiritual temple (2 Pet. 1:5-7); and first in Paul's trinity of graces (1 Cor. 13:13). In faith all the other graces find their source.

II. THE DEFINITION OF FAITH.

Faith is used in the Scriptures in a general and in a particular sense.

1. ITS GENERAL MEANING:

a) Knowledge.

Psa. 9:10--"And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee." Rom. 10:17--"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of G.o.d." Faith is not believing a thing without evidence; on the contrary faith rests upon the best of evidence, namely, the Word of G.o.d. An act of faith denotes a manifestation of the intelligence: "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" Faith is no blind act of the soul; it is not a leap in the dark. Such a thing as believing with the heart without the head is out of the question. A man may believe with his head without believing with his heart; but he cannot believe with his heart without believing with his head too. The heart, in the Scriptures, means the whole man--intellect, sensibilities, and will. "As a man _thinketh_ in his heart." "Why _reason_ ye these things in your hearts?"

b) a.s.sent.

Mark 12:32--"And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth." So was it with the faith which Christ demanded in His miracles: "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" "Yea, Lord."

There must not only be the knowledge that Jesus is able to save, and that He is the Saviour of the world; there must be also an a.s.sent of the heart to all these claims. Those who, _receiving_ Christ to be all that He claimed to be, _believed_ in Him, became thereby sons of G.o.d (John 1:12).

c) Appropriation.

John 1:12; 2:24. There must be an appropriation of the things which we know and a.s.sent to concerning the Christ and His work.

Intelligent perception is not faith. A man may know Christ as divine, and yet aside from that reject him as Saviour. Knowledge affirms the reality of these things but neither accepts nor rejects them. Nor is a.s.sent faith. There is an a.s.sent of the mind which does not convey a surrender of the heart and affections.

Faith is the consent of the will to the a.s.sent of the understanding.

Faith always has in it the idea of action--movement towards its object. It is the soul leaping forth to embrace and appropriate the Christ in whom it believes. It first says: "My Lord and my G.o.d,"

and then falls down and wors.h.i.+ps.

A distinction between believing about Christ and on Christ is made in John 8:30, 31, R. V.--"Many believed _on_ him.... Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed _him_."

S. THE MEANING OF FAITH IN PARTICULAR:

a) When Used in Connection with the Name of G.o.d.

Heb. 11:6--"But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to G.o.d must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Also Acts 27:22-25; Rom. 4:19-21 with Gen. 15:4-6. There can be no dealings with the invisible G.o.d unless there is absolute faith in His existence. We must believe in His reality, even though He is unseen. But we must believe even more than the fact of His existence; namely, that He is a rewarder, that He will a.s.suredly honor with definite blessing those who approach unto Him in prayer. Importunity will, of course, be needed (Luke 11:5-10).

There must be confidence in the Word of G.o.d also. Faith believes all that G.o.d says as being absolutely true, even though circ.u.mstances seem to be against its fulfillment.

b) When Used in Connection with the Person and Work of Christ.

Recall the three elements in faith, and apply them here.

First, there must be a _knowledge_ of the claims of Christ as to His person and mission in the world: As to His person--that He is deity, John 9:35-38; 10:30; Phil. 2:6-ll. As to His work--Matt.

20:28; 26:26-28; Luke 24:27, 44.

Second, there must be an _a.s.sent_ to all these claims, John 16:30; 20:28; Matt. 16:16; John 6:68, 69.

Third, there must be a personal _appropriation_ of Christ as being all that He claims to be, John 1:12, 8:21, 24; 5:24. There must be surrender to a person, and not mere faith in a creed. Faith in a doctrine must lead to faith in a person, and that person Jesus Christ, if salvation is to be the result of such belief. So Martha was led to subst.i.tute faith in a doctrine for faith in a person (John 11:25).

It is such faith--consisting of knowledge, a.s.sent, and appropriation --that saves. This is believing with the heart (Rom. 10:9,10).

c) When Used in Connection with Prayer.

Three pa.s.sages may be used to set forth this relations.h.i.+p: 1 John 5:14, 15; James 1:5-7, Mark 11:24. There must be no hesitation which balances between belief and unbelief, and inclines toward the latter--tossed one moment upon the sh.o.r.e of faith and hope, the next tossed back again into the abyss of unbelief. To "doubt"

means to reason whether or no the thing concerning which you are making request can be done (Acts 10:20; Rom. 4:20). Such a man only conjectures; he does not really believe. Real faith thanks G.o.d for the thing asked for, if that thing is in accord with the will of G.o.d, even before it receives it (Mark 11:24). Note the slight: "that man."

We must recognize the fact that knowledge, a.s.sent, and appropriation exist here also. We must understand the promises on which we base our prayer; we must believe that they are worth their full face value; and then step out upon them, thereby giving substance to that which, at the moment may be unseen, and, perchance, nonexistent, so far as our knowledge and vision are concerned, but which to faith is a splendid reality.

d) When Used in Connection with the Word and Promise of G.o.d.

First, we should know whether the particular promise in question is intended for us in particular. There is a difference in a promise being written _for_ us and _to_ us. There are dispensational aspects to many of the promises in the Bible, therefore we must rightly divide, apportion, and appropriate the Word of G.o.d (cf. I Cor. 10:32).

Second, when once we are persuaded that a promise is _for_ us, we must believe that G.o.d means all He says in that promise; we must a.s.sent to all its truth; we must not diminish nor discount it. G.o.d will not, cannot lie (t.i.tus 1:2).

Third, we must appropriate and act upon the promises. Herein lies the difference between belief and faith. Belief is mental; faith adds the volitional; we may have belief without the will, but not faith. Belief is a realm of thought; faith is a sphere of action.

Belief lives in the study; faith comes out into the market-places and the streets. Faith substantiates belief--gives substance, life, reality, and activity to it (Heb. 11:1). Faith puts belief into active service, and connects possibilities with actualities. Faith is acting upon what you believe; it is appropriation. Faith counts every promise valid, and gilt-edged (Heb. 11:11); no trial can shake it (11:35); it is so absolute that it survives the loss of its own pledge even (11:17). For ill.u.s.tration, see I Kings 18:41-43.

3. THE RELATION OF FAITH TO WORKS.

There is no merit in faith alone. It is not mere faith that saves, but faith in Christ. Faith in any other saviour but Christ will not save. Faith in any other gospel than that of the New Testament will not save (Gal. 1:8, 9).

There is no contradiction between Paul and James touching the matter of faith and works (cf. James 2:14-26; Rom. 4:1-12). Paul is looking at the matter from the G.o.dward side, and a.s.serts that we are justified, in the sight of G.o.d, _meritoriously_, without absolutely any works on our part. James considers the matter from the manward side, and a.s.serts that we are justified, in the sight of man, _evidentially_, by works, and not by faith alone (2:24). In James it is not the _ground_ of justification, as in Paul, but the _demonstration_. See under Justification, II. 4, p. 159.

III. THE SOURCE OF FAITH.

There are two sides to this phase of the subject--a divine and a human side.

1. IT IS THE WORK OF THE TRIUNE G.o.d. _G.o.d the Father_: Rom.

12:3; I Cor. 12. This is true of faith both in its beginning (Phil.

1:29) and its development (1 Cor. 12). Faith, then, is a gift of His grace.

_G.o.d the Son_: Heb. 12:2--"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." (Ill.u.s.tration, Matt. 14:30, 31--Peter taking his eyes off Christ.) I Cor. 12; Luke 17:5.

_G.o.d the Spirit_: Gal. 5:22; I Cor. 12:9. The Holy Spirit is the executive of the G.o.dhead.

Why then, if faith is the work of the G.o.dhead, are we responsible for not having it? G.o.d wills to work faith in all His creatures, and will do so if they do not resist His Holy Spirit. We are responsible, therefore, not so much for the lack of faith, but for resisting the Spirit who will create faith in our hearts if we will permit Him to do so.

2. THERE IS ALSO A HUMAN SIDE TO FAITH.

Rom. 10:17--"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of G.o.d." (cf. the context, vv. 9-21.) Acts 4:4--"Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed." In this instance the _spoken_ word, the Gospel, is referred to; in other cases the written Word, the Scriptures, are referred to as being instrumental in producing faith. See also Gal. 3:2-5. It was a looking unto the promises of G.o.d that brought such faith into the heart of Abraham (Rom. 4:19).