What is Faith?
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Millions
lack faith to receive answers to their prayers - to free their minds from fears
and worries. To a large extent this is due to lack of understanding what faith
is. Read this simple but thorough explanation of the subject.
The whole world is now shaking with
convulsions, preparatory to a tremendous event. This present world breakdown,
following the two greatest, most destructive wars in history, with world
economic collapse, social unrest, religious confusion, is merely the WARNING
SIGNAL that the END of the present civilization is here. The second coming of
CHRIST, to establish a new order of world peace on earth is near, much nearer
than people think!
Any Faith Today?
And speaking of His own second appearing
on earth, Jesus Himself asked, prophetically: "When the Son of man cometh,
shall He find faith on the earth?" When Jesus uttered these words, He was looking
into the future - into our very present generation - which He clearly
foresaw. And foreseeing, the almost total absence of FAITH in our time, He
asked this question!
Certainly the world has almost lost sight
of real FAITH. No wonder so few have any - no wonder so many say, "My
faith isn't very strong" - or, "I just can't seem to work up the
faith." People today do not know what faith is, or why they do not
possess it. Yet without FAITH none can even be saved!
Jesus Had Faith!
When Jesus walked the earth in human
flesh, He possessed FAITH! He said, plainly: "Of MYSELF, I can do
NOTHING!" Few realize that what He did He did not do in any supernatural
power of His own, but literally through FAITH, setting us a beautiful example!
He lived in the human flesh, even as you and I. He was subject to all the
temptations of the human flesh, even as you and I. And, aside perhaps from a
few things such as ability to read men's minds and hearts, Jesus exercised NO
POWER during His earthly life that you and I cannot exercise TODAY! He said
very PLAINLY "Of myself, I CAN DO NOTHING:" But how contrary that is
to what most people suppose today!
Today we hear the EXCUSE for the pitiful
lack of faith of this time, that Jesus was employing DIVINE POWER that is
denied to us -- that His miracles were performed only to prove that He was the
CHRIST! But Jesus Himself said that He gave only ONE supernatural, or
miraculous SIGN in proof of His Messiahship, -- that that was the sign of the
prophet JONAH -- that He would be three days and three nights in His grave, and
after this exact duration, RISE AGAIN. And that ONLY sign men deny today,
believing He was only one day and two nights in His tomb. And then men alibi
their own lack of faith by turning His miracles into a proof they were never intended
to be!
How Jesus Performed Miracles
Of Himself, Jesus Himself said He was
POWERLESS! "Of MYSELF," He said, "I can do NOTHING!" He
said that. It is recorded in your Bible.
But how, then, did He perform His
miracles? "The FATHER that dwelleth IN me, He doeth the works," was
Jesus' own explanation!
Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan,
setting the example for you and for me. And, just as WE are PROMISED the gift
of the Holy Spirit, WHEN we have thoroughly repented and surrendered, accepted
Christ and been baptized in His name as the symbol of our FAITH in His death,
burial, and resurrection for us, and also as the symbol of the death and burial
of the SELF within us, being raised to a NEW and Spirit-led life in Christ
Jesus, -- so -- in like manner, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus after He
was baptized. And through the Holy Spirit, God the Father was dwelling WITHIN
Him, -- just as He will dwell WITHIN you and me, today, under the same
identical condition!
And so, even as you and I may be, Jesus
was FILLED with God's Spirit. And thus the power of God, His Father, was
literally in Jesus, just as the same identical power of the SAME IDENTICAL
LIVING GOD MAY BE WITHIN YOU AND ME TODAY!
And the fact I'm afraid so many do not
comprehend, is that UNLESS this same POWER of God -- the Holy Spirit -- the
SAME IDENTICAL POWER with which Jesus performed His miracles -- does actually
and literally DWELL WITHIN US today, then we are not even converted -- we are
not really CHRISTIANS at all, and we have as yet NO SALVATION assured! For, we
read in Romans 8:9 -- "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his."
And so Jesus plainly taught that the
miracles HE did were to be done also by ALL true believers, AFTER He had
departed to heaven. Notice His plain teaching in John
Notice, He said, because "I go unto
my Father!" Why? Notice, John 16:7. "It is expedient for you that I
go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but If I
depart, I will send him unto you."
And who is the "Comforter"? John
And so we find that all the apostles and
evangelists of the First Century true
Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul, -- all
common, humble, ordinary men of themselves, -- all HAD THAT POWER, my friends,
the SAME identical power Jesus had, because they lived and walked CLOSE TO GOD,
and were FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!
And we seem to LACK that power today, not
because God denies us that power, but BECAUSE WE ARE SO CLOSE TO A MODERN
MATERIALISTIC WORLD -- our minds so filled with the Material interests of THIS
life -- our minds and our hearts are SO FAR FROM GOD -- we are so out of touch
with Him through lack of enough of the RIGHT kind of surrendered, submissive,
and earnest and heart-rending PRAYER -- and consequently, because we are NOT
filled with the HOLY SPIRIT! Oh, many today THINK THEY are filled with the Holy
Spirit when they have been sadly DECEIVED, and have only a fleshly, and
emotional COUNTERFEIT.
If we have God's Holy Spirit, we shall
have understanding of the Bible -- we shall have ANSWERS to our PRAYERS -- even
miraculous answers, and we shall have them CONTINUALLY. God's Holy Spirit is
not given to us as an ORNAMENT to decorate and embellish the PERSON, to bring
pleasing sensations and FEELINGS that make us shout, -- that put on a SHOW.
God's Holy Spirit is given to us as the TOOL with which to do the work He has
called us to do -- a work of DOING GOOD TO OTHERS -- a work of GIVING, not of
GETTING!
And so, now, I want to consider, and to
answer, TWO QUESTIONS: 1st, What IS faith? AND 2ND, HOW may we have it, and how
may it BE INCREASED?
What Faith Is
Just what is faith? The principle Bible
definition is in Hebrews 11:1 -- "Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Now notice, Faith is the
SUBSTANCE -- the marginal rendering says "ASSURANCE" -- of things
HOPED FOR. You do not HOPE for that which you already HAVE. So FAITH comes
BEFORE possession.
Once you have RECEIVED the POSSESSION, you
no longer HOPE for it. But even before you receive it, you have it in SUBSTANCE
-- and that substance -- that ASSURANCE that you SHALL possess it, is FAITH.
Then again, faith is an EVIDENCE -- the evidence of things NOT SEEN. Faith
PRECEDES the actual receiving of what you ask for. And faith is the EVIDENCE
you have, or SHALL have it, BEFORE you even see it. It is the EVIDENCE OF
THINGS NOT YET SEEN. You do not have it. You do not SEE it, or FEEL it -- yet
faith is your EVIDENCE that you have or shall have it -- faith is the
substance, the ASSURANCE of receiving that you still HOPE for.
How To Know You Are Healed
So I want you to notice, that when you
HOPE for things, ASK God for things, there is an EVIDENCE -- a PROOF because
evidence IS proof -- that you received what you have asked. And what is that
proof -- that evidence? Is it the actual RECEIVING of the answer so you see, or
feel, or hear that you have it?
Suppose, for instance you were ill --
taken with a disease. Now Jesus healed the sick continually. And He said, the
works that He did -- and this was one of them -- should we do also. Now suppose
you ask God to HEAL you. Naturally, you want some EVIDENCE that you are healed.
So what is that evidence, that proof? Is
it the evidence of the PAIN CEASING -- or the swelling going down -- something
you can FEEL, and SEE? I know a man who says, "When I can SEE anyone
healed by direct prayer, then I'll believe in it." This man freely says he
WANTS to BELIEVE in it -- he WANTS to have FAITH in it! He is looking for an
EVIDENCE that he can SEE -- and he has never seen it yet, and frankly I doubt
whether he ever shall! Because what we SEE -- what we FEEL is not the true
EVIDENCE. HAVING the thing -- SEEING it -- is not FAITH. Faith precedes
possession because FAITH is confidence -- ASSURANCE -- you shall POSSESS IT.
Listen! The human mind, naturally, can
receive KNOWLEDGE only through the five senses. These are the five sole
channels capable of transmitting knowledge, by natural processes, to the human
mind. The senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.
But that, my friends, is not FAITH. Faith
is a SPIRITUAL matter, and it has NOTHING TO DO with the five senses, which are
physical.
Prayer is a SPIRITUAL matter. God is a
SPIRIT. And when we ask, for instance for healing, we do have an evidence --
proof POSITIVE -- that the healing has been done -- but that evidence is not
something seen, or felt, or heard -- it is not a PHYSICAL evidence -- it is
rather the SPIRITUAL evidence of FAITH. Faith is our evidence.
Or, in reverse, our EVIDENCE we are
healed, is FAITH. That is our sole PROOF. But faith PRECEDES that which we see,
or feel, or hear, because it is the evidence of things NOT YET seen.
And that is why Jesus said, "These
signs shall FOLLOW them that believe" -- and among them was this sign --
"They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall RECOVER." That is
in Mark 16:17-18, and it is a PROMISE God can't break. But the SIGN -- the
thing SEEN -- the healing itself, FOLLOWS the FAITH -- "These signs shall
FOLLOW THEM that BELIEVE," Jesus said.
An Example
Let's picture a trial in a courtroom.
There's a trial on, over a case of illness. The prosecuting attorney is Satan
the devil, the attorney for the DEFENSE (of God's Word) is the Holy Spirit, and
you yourself, who are taken with a disease, shall be your OWN JURY. Almighty
God is the Judge.
You have prayed and asked God to heal you,
or perhaps you have followed James
As prosecuting attorney, attempting to
convict God's Word of falsehood, Satan presents before you, the jury, his
EVIDENCE that you are not healed as God's Word has promised, and therefore
God's Word is guilty of lying.
"My evidence," says the devil,
"is a literal, tangible, evidence that is REAL -- an evidence you can FEEL
-- you can SEE for YOURSELF that you are not healed. The pain is still there!
In fact, perhaps it has grown worse. You can FEEL it. You can SEE with your own
eyes my positive evidence, which PROVES that you are not healed. Now God's Word
PROMISED that if you'd pray, you'd be HEALED. You prayed, and you still feel
the pain -- you still SEE the condition. YOU ARE NOT HEALED AND YOU KNOW IT! My
evidence is ABSOLUTE. Therefore I ask you to bring a verdict that God's Word is
GUILTY -- guilty of lying in the first degree!
But now the attorney for the DEFENSE
speaks to you -- God's Holy Spirit. "I now present evidence that you ARE
healed," He says quietly. "My evidence is simply FAITH -- simple
TRUST in the veracity of GOD'S WORD. It is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie. Far more
impossible than for you to be healed. It's no difficult task for the Almighty
who CREATED you and gave you the breath you breathe to straighten out or repair
some little damage that has occurred to the body He created. He has PROMISED
it, provided you obey and BELIEVE. The Scripture CAN'T BE BROKEN. It's
IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie. Regardless of the PHYSICAL evidences of sight or
feeling, which often are misleading and deceptive, God's word says you ARE
healed, and your FAITH in that word, is MY evidence that you HAVE your healing,
regardless of how you feel or what you see. And if you'll simply stop LOOKING
at the material evidence with your eyes, or paying attention to what you FEEL,
and look only at GOD'S WORD, and His PROMISES, and accept FAITH in His Word as
the TRUE evidence, I call upon you to render a verdict of HEALED -- a verdict
that God's Word is NOT GUILTY of lying."
The evidence is all in. The Almighty God
calls now upon YOU to render your own verdict, and He will pass sentence and cause
your verdict, whichever it is, to be EXECUTED and CARRIED OUT!
You must render your verdict based upon
the EVIDENCE. Which, now, is the evidence you believe? That which you see, and
feel -- the physical evidences that often are deceptive, or your faith that
God's Word is true, His promises are sure, that it is impossible for God to
lie.
If you BELIEVE this latter SPIRITUAL
evidence, and reject the physical evidences of sight and of feeling, God will
pronounce sentence that His Word has been VINDICATED by your verdict -- and
direct that you be released from the disease, and what He directs shall be
carried out.
But, if you decide that the physical
evidences of sight or feeling are to be trusted in over and above the Word of
ALMIGHTY GOD -- and you REJECT His Word and His promise, and refuse to BELIEVE
in it, -- refuse, in other words, to accept and trust in the evidence of FAITH,
then you yourself must render your verdict according to the evidence, and your
own verdict will be "NOT HEALED -- God's Word is GUILTY of lying!"
George Mueller's Definition
You see, God does not PROMISE healing, or
anything else, unless we BELIEVE. "According to your FAITH be it unto
you," said Jesus. And remember the FAITH must precede and therefore is a
condition to the possession.
Now let me give you George Mueller's
definition. George Mueller is dead, now, but he probably was the greatest
modern apostle of FAITH. He founded five great orphanages and other charitable
institutions in
Altogether he received more than a million
four hundred thousand POUNDS -- that is about SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS -- that was
SENT to him, in answer to his prayers!
And so when George Mueller gives us his
definition of FAITH, we may well listen for he spoke from a rich experience,
and his definition is a practical one, because it WORKED, to the extent of
$7,000,000 -- all used in a ministration of LOVE and MERCY. And here is his definition
of faith, -- and incidentally, ever since I read it, some fourteen years ago,
it has been MINE, and OUR work has been built by putting into actual practice!
Listen!
"FAITH is the ASSURANCE that the
things which God said in His Word are TRUE! And that God WILL ACT according to
what He has said IN HIS WORD. This assurance, this RELIANCE ON GOD'S WORD, this
confidence, is FAITH!" That's George Mueller's definition! And it is a
true Bible definition. Romans
Learning God's Will
My friends, WHATEVER your need, the first
thing to do, to be sure of receiving an answer to your prayer, is to SEARCH THE
SCRIPTURES, to LEARN whether it is God's will. Ephesians
The Bible reveals God's will. We need
NEVER say "Well, I know God could heal me IF IT IS HIS WILL." You can
KNOW His will. And so far as healing is concerned, I can tell you definitely
that His Word says plainly and emphatically it IS His will.
The Bible is FULL of promises. Literally
full of them. If you NEED anything, study to see whether God has PROMISED it,
and if he has, HE CAN'T BREAK A PROMISE!
The Importance Of Claiming A Promise
I remember one time several years ago my
two sons came to me and asked me to do something for them -- I don't remember
now what. They were then around seven and nine years old. I do remember I
didn't want to do it.
"But, Daddy, YOU PROMISED?" they
said, "and you've GOT TO KEEP YOUR PROMISE."
And then I remembered I HAD promised.
Well, what do you think? Do you think they got what they asked? Do you think I
could break a PROMISE when my two sons came to me and put it like THAT? No, and
if you'll JUST AS BOLDLY TELL GOD HE HAS PROMISED, and then CLAIM that promise
as applied to your case, and TRUST God to keep it, and quit WORRYING about it
-- quit trying to WORK UP faith -- just RELAX, and LET GOD take over from there
on -- leave it with Him -- let Him Do it -- HE'LL do it, every time!
I know whereof I speak, because I've put
what I'm now telling you to the test not once, but literally hundreds and
thousands of times, and God has never failed to keep His promise once. I've
seen the answers come so often and so frequently I EXPECT the answer when I
ask.
God promises to supply every need. That if
we'll seek FIRST the
This Work A Living Example Of Faith
Why, this very Work we conduct is a direct
answer to prayer! This Work - The World Tomorrow broadcast, The
plain Truth magazine and Ambassador College - which now has grown to national
and international scope and influence, started as small as any work could start
- literally from NOTHING.
It has been from the start 100 percent a work
of FAITH - and we had to really learn this lesson of faith before it had
even started.
Why People Lack Faith
And now, very briefly, WHY don't we have
FAITH, and HOW may we get it, and how may it BE INCREASED? So, many say,
"Well, I have no impression -- I have no feeling, no CONVICTION, that I
shall get the answer." We want to wait until we get a certain CONVICTION,
a certain FEELING, a sort of assurance we can FEEL -- before we really believe
we shall have the answer.
But, my friends, THAT is not faith! That
is FEELING!
Your feeling, your convictions, your
impressions, have absolutely not ONE THING TO DO WITH FAITH. FAITH HAS ONLY TO
DO WITH GOD'S WORD! The one question is, HAS GOD PROMISED IT IN THE BIBLE? If
He has, then probabilities, possibilities, feelings, convictions, impression,
HAVE NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH IT. God has a thousand ways we know nothing
of, of answering, and providing whatever He has promised. We don't HAVE TO SEE
HOW He is going to do it.
And another thing, He almost NEVER will do
it the WAY we expect. So don't TRY to figure out HOW it is possible for God to
do it. You are trusting in SUPERNATURAL POWER. Then BELIEVE in that power. God
works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. What He has promised, He will
perform, but He will do it HIS way, and in HIS TIME. Leave all that to HIM, and
just TRUST HIM. Rely upon His Word.
God's Gift
And let us remember, Faith is the GIFT OF
GOD. Notice I Corinthians 12:8-9 -- "For to one is given by the Spirit the
word of Wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another
faith by the same Spirit."
Notice Ephesians 2:8 -- "For by grace
are ye saved though faith."
So many think that everything else that
comes from God is His Gift, but the FAITH required to RECEIVE all these things
is something we ourselves must somehow work up, or strain and strive for. But
we have to just relax and TRUST GOD, even for the FAITH by which we receive
everything else!
In Revelation
These in this church have the FAITH OF
JESUS. Notice, the FAITH OF JESUS. It is not just OUR faith in HIM, but HIS
faith -- the very faith with which He performed His miracles, placed IN US, and
ACTING in us.
How can you get it? Draw closer to God.
Get to KNOW God. Surrender ALL THE WAY TO HIM, and to DO His will. And then
PRAY. You get to KNOW HIM IN PRAYERS. We are too close to the MATERIAL things.
Through PRAYER, MUCH more prayer, you can come closer to GOD and the SPIRITUAL
THINGS. And what a HAPPY, JOYOUS experience it is, once you have really done
it!ê
Part II
What Kind of Faith is Required for
Salvation?
DO YOU KNOW? Do you have it? "By
grace are ye saved though FAITH," Ephesians 2:8. The Bible, however tells
of which will SAVE!
No SUBJECT pertaining to Christian
salvation is more generally misunderstood than that of saving FAITH!
Just "BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved," is the popular teaching today. And that
statement is absolutely true -- if you understand what kind of BELIEVING is
required!
Unfortunately millions are being deceived
-- led to trust in a faith that will never save one single soul by a very
popular, and very false teaching.
It is customary to quote only a PART of
the Scriptures on this subject, -- reading a false meaning into them -- and
thus by subtle half-truths popular teachings shackle most of Christendom to
spiritual blindness and deception.
Do These Scriptures Contradict?
God does not usually reveal all the truth
respecting a particular subject in any one passage alone. "Whom shall He
teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? . . . precept
must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little and there a little," Isaiah 28:9-10. To understand any
general subject in the Bible, it is necessary to view all the scriptural evidence
touching that particular subject. And we cannot read our inherited or desired
meaning into any particular passage; for "no prophecy of the scripture is
of any private interpretation," II Peter
For example. It is quite popular to quote
Romans 3:20: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight," and from this passage alone assume that salvation
comes by faith in disobedience to the law! Those who thus interpret this
passage never tell you that in Romans 2:13 the same Apostle Paul was inspired
to write: "Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS
of the law shall be justified."
Is there contradiction here? If the one
Scripture is intended to reveal that we do not have to make an effort to obey
God's Law to be justified and then saved -- but that we are saved by faith
without obedience to God's Law, then, indeed, God contradicts Himself in His
Word! And if you wish to make Romans
Again, Ephesians 2:8-9, "By grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not
of works, lest any man should boast." But those who quote this text so
freely to teach the doctrine of "no works," never tell you that the
same inspired Scriptures say also:
"What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? -- Even
so FAITH, if it hath not works, is DEAD, being alone -- I will show thee my
faith BY my works. Thou BELIEVEST that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, AND tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is DEAD," James
It Takes A Living Faith!
There is no contradiction here!
Rather, by putting all the Scriptures on
the subject of "Saving Faith" together, we learn that there are TWO
KINDS of faith. And the kind so blindly trusted in by the majority of this day
is nothing but a DEAD faith -- and a DEAD faith never will save one soul!
James continues: "Was not Abraham our
father JUSTIFIED by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest
thou how FAITH wrought with his works, and BY WORKS was faith make perfect? --
Ye see then how that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, and not by faith only?"
James 2:21-24.
The teaching here is plain. Not that we
are saved by works instead of faith. No, NEVER! We are saved by FAITH! But
faith wrought with our works -- and BY WORKS, our FAITH IS MADE PERFECT! That
is LIVING FAITH!
Why do we even need salvation? Because we
have SINNED, and the penalty of sin is DEATH!
But how have we sinned? What is sin,
anyhow? "Sin is the transgression of THE LAW," is God's answer, I
John 3:4.
"Yes," answers the victim of
modern fables, "but we are not under the law today, but UNDER GRACE!"
Why certainly! "What then?" asks the inspired Paul, "shall we
SIN" -- transgress the LAW -- "because we are not under the law, but
under grace?" And Paul's answer is, "GOD FORBID!" Romans 6:15.
And again, "Shall we continue in SIN" -- transgressing the law --
"that grace may abound? GOD FORBID! How shall we, that are dead to sin,
live any longer therein?" Romans 6:1-2.
The law has a penalty -- DEATH. It is
those who are sinning that are UNDER IT! And those who, through repentance,
obedience and FAITH have turned from disobedience and are, through faith,
KEEPING the law, are the only ones that are UNDER GRACE!
God's Spiritual Mirror
Let us understand it! "By the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight." No, certainly
not! That Scripture is 100% true, and there is no contradiction! You cannot be
justified by the deeds of the law -- not at all!
WHY? The last half of this same verse
gives the answer -- why do most preachers never quote it? "For by the law
is the KNOWLEDGE of sin," Romans
The purpose of the law is not to forgive,
to justify, to wash away, to cleanse. Only THE BLOOD OF CHRIST can do that! Sin
is the transgression of the law -- that's what sin is. The purpose of the law
is to tell us what sin is -- to define it -- to REVEAL it, so we can quit it.
All women ought to understand this. In
every woman's handbag is a little mirror. She knows what it is for. Every
little while she takes out this mirror and steals a glance at her face.
Sometimes it reveals a speck of dirt. And we might truthfully say, "by the
use of these mirrors are no dirty faces washed clean." You women
understand what we mean! But do you throw your mirrors away because by them
your faces are not washed? Of course not -- what a silly question it seems,
when applied to a MATERIAL case! And if we ask you WHY your faces are not
washed clean by your mirrors, you answer: "Because by the mirror comes the
KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIRT."
God's LAW is His spiritual mirror. We look
into it, and see the dirt on our hearts! But by looking at the law, or keeping
it, no dirt is WASHED from our hearts -- only Christ's BLOOD can do that. By
the law comes the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN!
Listen to James explain it! "But be
ye DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if
any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the
perfect LAW of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer
but a DOER of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed," James
Is It Possible To Keep The Law?
But, argues the "No Law"
deceiver, "no man can keep the Commandments. It is not humanly possible!
Since FAITH has come, we keep no law -- faith has made it VOID."
Thus even "Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if HIS
MINISTERS also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness -- For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
CHRIST," II Corinthians 11:13-15.
"Do we then make void the law through
faith?" comes the question, in inspired Scripture -- and the answer:
"GOD FORBID: yea, we ESTABLISH THE LAW!" Romans 3:31.
Yes, faith establishes the Law! By keeping
it is faith make PERFECT!
Yet, can we keep the Commandments? Is it
possible? Satan's "No Law" deceivers say no! What is the PLAIN TRUTH?
A man came to Jesus and asked how to be
saved. The Saviour Himself replied, "If thou wilt enter into life, KEEP
THE COMMANDMENTS," Matthew
There is Christ's own answer! With man it
is impossible -- utterly impossible, to really KEEP His Commandments. But --
here's the blessed truth -- WITH GOD, it is possible, even to keep His
Commandments. Do you begin to see it? IT TAKES FAITH! Faith in the power of
GOD! And, just as your own diligent effort coupled with faith makes faith
perfect, so faith coupled with your effort makes PERFECT OBEDIENCE! The two go
hand in hand. And you cannot have the one, without the other!
A LIVING FAITH -- the only kind that will
SAVE -- is an active faith -- one that TRUSTS GOD to make it possible to OBEY
HIM -- to live the true Christian life -- to KEEP His blessed Commandments!
Think! Could a just God command men to do
what it is IMPOSSIBLE to do? Or can we conceive of Jesus as a smart-aleck young
man who knew more than His FATHER'S Commandments? How absurd! Yet this is the
popular conception today!
The Law Is Eternal
God's Law is not a horrible monster! Just
and right laws are a terror only to the criminal -- they are made to PROTECT
the good! God's law is PERFECT, Psalm 19:7, it is a SPIRITUAL LAW, Romans 7:14,
HOLY, and just, and good Romans
God's Law is, simply, LOVE! It is the
perfect way of life. Every particle of human suffering, unhappiness, misery and
death has come solely from its transgression! It was given to make man HAPPY,
and is the only philosophy of life that can do so! It came from a God of LOVE,
and LOVE is the fulfilling of the law!
But not YOUR own natural love! It requires
"the love of GOD, shed abroad in our hearts BY THE HOLY GHOST,"
Romans 5:5. God has, and will give you the love that will fulfil His law! And
so, praise His blessed Name -- it is possible, through FAITH, and the GIFT of
God, for man to keep His commandments. And whoever claims differently, God
calls a plain LIAR, I John 2:4.
The true Commandment-keeper is forced to
trust God to make obedience possible. And thus faith does not void, but establishes
the Law! And to keep the law requires FAITH!
A thrilling example of this eternal truth
is recorded in the Book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, king of
"Then an herald cried aloud, To you
it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at the time ye hear the
sound . . . , ye fall down and worship the golden image'," Daniel 3:4-5.
"And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace!" verse 6.
Set over the affairs of the
Had you been in their place, what would
YOU have done? Would you not have said, "Well, I have to bow down to this
image -- I have to do it or be killed!" And perhaps you would have excused
yourself by reasoning thus: "I don't think God would be fair if He
punished me for this, when He knows I am FORCED to do it. Anyway, He tells us
to be subject to the power of the state!" Yes, it is easy to use reason to
excuse disobedience to God. But God is not looking for chances to punish us --
but rather for opportunities to SAVE us through faith! To save us from the
folly of SIN, and the sad consequences our own acts impose! Whatever we sow we
shall reap. God's Law is intended to protect us from suffering. It is not GOD
who punishes us when we do wrong -- it is merely our own acts rebounding like a
boomerang!
But these three young Jews knew the truth
-- that we should OBEY GOD, rather than men -- that through FAITH God makes it
possible. When they firmly REFUSED to bow down to worship the king's image,
Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded them brought before him, verse
13.
Listen to the quiet, trusting, unafraid
answer of these lads: "O Nebuchadnezzar, -- our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace!" verses 16-18.
Sometimes God tries our faith. He tried
theirs. You might think He should be expected to have fixed it all up at once
on the spot, but He permitted their faith to be tested.
"Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of
fury, and the form of his visage was changed; . . . therefore he spake, and
commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was
wont to be heated . . . Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen,
and their hats, and their other garments," -- surely the God whom they
trusted would have them released now? But no -- there was no physical evidence
whatever that God so much as heard. -- "and were cast into the midst of
the burning fiery furnace!" verses 19-21.
The furnace was so hot the flames leaped
out and slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they
fell down "bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace!"
God permitted them actually to be thrown
in! Was He unmindful of those who trusted in Him to make possible the keeping
of His Commandments? Not GOD!
The king looked into the furnace, and said
"Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of GOD!" verse 25. So
Nebuchadnezzar came near the mouth of the furnace, and called to them.
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! ye
servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither! Then Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire . . . . these men,
upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed,
neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and DELIVERED his servants that TRUSTED
IN HIM!" verses 26-28.
THERE was an example of living FAITH! A
faith that TRUSTED God to make it possible to live the way of His Law! Yes,
WITH GOD, it is possible to keep all His Commandments -- and don't let any man
deceive you to the contrary!
Can You Believe and Worship
CHRIST IN VAIN?
When God's Word says, "BELIEVE on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," it does not mean the DEAD
faith now popularly taught! The common teachings of this day distorts this to
mean a mere belief in the FACTS of Christ's existence, His sacrifice, and His
saving work. Just accept those FACTS, and accept HIM -- without any obedience
to God's Laws! But the devils believe these things -- and they TREMBLE.
Christ was the Messenger of the New
Covenant -- a Messenger sent from God. You cannot BELIEVE on such a divine
Messenger, unless you believe, and obey the MESSAGE that He brought! "If
thou wilt enter into LIFE," was His teaching "KEEP THE
COMMANDMENTS!"
"REPENT," said the inspired
Peter, and then believe and be baptized for the remission of sins, and "ye
SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," Acts
Christ came to save us FROM, not in, our
sins! To FREE US from the enslavement of sin and the unhappiness and
wretchedness it brings -- not to make us free to commit sin!
Is it possible to BELIEVE in Christ -- to
worship Him -- in the customary manner of the day, and yet be lost? Christ
Himself says, "YES!"
"Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord! Lord!' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will
of my Father which is in heaven," He said, Matthew
Hear Him again! "Howbeit IN VAIN do
they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying
aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men!" Mark 7:7-8.
There it is! From Jesus' own lips! Such a
dead faith -- such worship -- is IN VAIN! Those who trust in it, and in the men
and denominations which teach it, ARE LOST! And the quicker we come to realize
it, the better!
God's PURPOSE in salvation is to rescue
men from SIN, and its resulting unhappiness, misery, and death! To REPENT of
sin is the first step! Then the BLOOD OF CHRIST, upon acceptance and faith,
cleanses of all past sins. And by faith we are kept from sin in the future.
Thus the resulting righteousness is of FAITH -- the righteousness imparted from
God. We are not justified BY THE LAW -- we are justified by the blood of Jesus
Christ! But this justification will be given only on condition that we REPENT
of our transgressions of God's Law -- and so it is, after all only the DOERS of
the law that shall be JUSTIFIED, Romans 2:13.
How plain, and how beautiful is God's
TRUTH!