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The Faith of the Son of God

11 Monday Dec 2023

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Hello Readers!  Welcome to Renaissance Woman and another post in my current study series on the Whole Armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-18a.  I am focusing on the Shield of Faith for the time being and, in an attempt to understand what faith is, have been seeking an accurate definition.

My Webster’s New World Dictionary does begin its definition of faith with the word origins and their meanings.  These are the Middle English feith, the Old French feid and fei, the French foi, the Latin fides meaning confidence, belief, the Late Latin fidere meaning to trust, the Indo-European bheid meaning to urge, be convinced, the Greek peithein meaning to persuade, and the Latin foedus meaning a compact & to bide.  The dictionary ought to have stopped here for this is an accurate representation of what the word has historically meant.  But, it does not.  The dictionary then goes on to define faith as “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence”.  It is not until I read down to the 5th entry that I see a return to the historical meaning. 

In the Greek, faith was originally a word of covenant and, I know I am harping on a point, but I cannot imagine anyone entering into a covenant without confidence and trust.  I also cannot see this would be a confidence and trust without proof or evidence, especially considering the seriousness with which parties entered into covenant.  Breaking a covenant more often than not meant forfeiture of one’s very life: not a compact to be lightly entered into.

A dictionary must address how a word is used by the majority of the population and there is no denying the word “faith” is one that is used in a derogative manner.  I hear it mostly among those in the scientific community who say “that belongs to the realm of faith, not science”.  However, faith is something possessed by all people and does not always pertain to a religious belief.  Faith simply means confidence, belief, and trust and, without it, there would be no relationships of any kind.  I had made this point in an earlier post and, while reading through the Commentaries on Hebrews 11:6, I found this in the Pulpit Commentary: “Even in ordinary affairs of life, and in science too, men act, and must act, to a great extent on faith; it is essential for success, and certainly for all great achievements-faith in the testimony and authority of others whom we can trust, faith in views and principles not yet verified by our own experience, faith in the expected outcome of right proceeding, faith with respect to a thousand things which we take on trust, and so make ventures, on the ground, not of positive proof, but of more or less assured conviction.” 

The point I am striving to make is, “faith” is not a dirty word.  Even those who would use it to mock others also operate in faith.  I do not think it is possible to have a faithless human existence which is a point I think the quote from the Pulpit Commentary makes clear.  The question I am asking this week-regarding faith-is, what does the faith of the son of god mean?  That phrase is found in Galatians 2:20 and the original language does say “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith OF the Son of God” not “IN the Son of God”.  Every person subscribing to a religion has faith in that those persons have been persuaded their way of believing is the correct way.  We who are believers in Jesus have faith that He is God who became a man, lived and died as a man, rose from death and ascended to the right hand of The Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.  It is possible to have an intellectual belief these things are true: there are some fairly potent arguments that have served to convince others of the truth of the tenants of Christianity.  True Christianity is not intellectual though: our faith in Jesus is alive because the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to see Him who was dead but Behold! is alive forevermore.  Our faith is covenantal because He is not only alive but is alive in us.  This is our faith.  What is Jesus’ faith?

Do we think of Jesus as having faith?  Did He have to trust not only the people around Him but did He also have to trust His Father?  The scriptures do not reveal to us a doubting Jesus but we do see a Jesus who did not know the end from the beginning, who had to be alone with His Father in order to hear and receive His words, who had confidence in, believed, and trusted His Father, and we see a Jesus who had that faith tested.

The Bible is relatively silent on Jesus’ early years.  There are a few stories told here and there but, for the most part, Jesus as a child, a teenager, and young man are summed up for us as “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).  I wonder though…

…one of my favorite movies is The Nativity Story starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, and Ciaran Hinds.  This movie had one of the best reactions to Mary’s pregnancy I’ve ever seen.  Do you ever put yourself into the mind of a villager during that time?  Joseph wasn’t preparing for the marriage in a vacuum: the entire village-and perhaps surrounding villages as well-had to be aware of his betrothal to Mary.  The entire village had to be aware of her pregnancy as well.  Would I-would you-as a villager believe she was pregnant with the Son of God?  If I am honest, I wouldn’t be entirely convinced.  I would wonder if the poor girl wasn’t at worst lying and at best suffering under some mental confusion.

I wonder whether Jesus had to deal with snide remarks about Himself and His human parents after He and Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth from Egypt.  I wonder because of His temptation in the wilderness after His baptism.  His baptism is described in Luke’s Gospel and it is here we read of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove and the voice from Heaven says to Him, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”  Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, is then led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  The devil’s first recorded words to Jesus here are “If You are the Son of God…”

Knowing the wiles of the devil as I do, I imagine these words were carefully chosen because there was a potential button to press here.  If you are the Son of God…what if all those asides and smirks and careful references to your parentage are really true…what if the voice you heard wasn’t really God…what if you’ve imagined all of this and are, after all, just a man…the temptation to doubt everything He knew about Himself had to be strong but Jesus did not give in.  He had faith in His Father and countered with “it is written…!”

I don’t think this wilderness experience was the only test of Jesus’ faith either.  Hebrews 12:1&2 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

I think about the “because of the joy that was set before Him,” and I also think of a passage in Galatians: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made.  He does not say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).  I also think of Philippians 2:7 in the Revised Standard Version: “but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” 

There is the argument among Christians as to how much Jesus-fully God and fully man-knew about Himself and how when and where He knew it.  The passage in Luke 2:52 does say “He grew…” and I wonder if our being changed into His image “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) isn’t similar to how Jesus grew: one word at a time coming to Him from the Father, one promise at a time, one situation at a time where He had to trust His Father until the day when we see Jesus in the upper room, “knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God” (John 13:3).

Who is this Jesus in whom we have our faith?  He is the Son who learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  He is the One who sympathizes with all of our weaknesses because He has been tempted in all points like as we are and yet was without sin.  He is the One who made a living way for us through His own flesh enabling us to draw near with true hearts in full assurance of faith.  Our faith is not a fleshly faith.  It is not one of intellect or good arguments or a vague and formless hope of one day by and by nor blind unquestioning obedience.  Our faith is the faith of the Son of God tested and proven in the crucible of His human existence. 

Because we are His, everything of His is ours.  What a wonder to be able to say, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and this life I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.  What an indescribable love is Christ’s love for us.  It truly does surpass knowledge.

Hallelujah! Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References  

Hebrews 11:1 Commentaries: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (biblehub.com) 

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1953, 1976

The Future is Now!

04 Monday Dec 2023

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Hello Readers and welcome to a new post on Renaissance Woman!

I want to open with a quote from Andrew Murray’s The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer: “…’As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life’ (Romans 1:6 KJV).  It is the Risen One who says to us, ‘Get up!…and walk.’ He gives us the power of the resurrection life.  It is a walk in Christ: ‘As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him’ (Colossians 2:6 NKJV).  It is a walk like Christ: ‘He who says he abides in Him ought to walk just as He walked’ 1 John 2:6 NKJV).  It is a walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit: ‘Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh…walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16, Romans 8:1 NKJV).  It is a walk worthy of God and well pleasing to Him: ‘That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work’ (Colossians 1:10 KJV).  It is a walk in love: ‘Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us’ (Ephesians 5:2 KJV).  It is a walk of faith, its power coming from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: ‘We walk by faith not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV).

How many believers regard such a walk as an impossible goal?  So impossible that they do not feel it a sin to walk otherwise.  Therefore, they do not truly desire this walk in newness of life.  They have become so accustomed to the life of fruitlessness that the life and walk in God’s strength has little attraction.  There is no expectation of attaining it.” (Murray, 80-81).

This struck me: especially the part about Christians thinking the Christian life so impossible there is no real expectation of attaining it.  I think I honed in on that portion because it is impossible for me to be seeking an accurate definition of faith without looking at Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  I have never performed a thorough study on this passage and so, curious what those who had done such study had to say, I looked at various commentaries.  I was amazed at how many spoke of those things hoped for as being things belonging to the future.  These commentaries had very little expectation of an immediate experience of “things”.  No, they were of God and therefore eternal and waited for us in heaven.

There were a few who suggested it was faith that made these future things “as though they were already present” (quoting Meyers NT Commentary).  The Expositor’s Greek Testament (quoting Dr. Hatch) says, “Faith is the ground of things hoped for, i.e. trust in God, or the conviction that God is good and that He will perform His promises, is the ground for confident hope that the things hoped for will come to pass…So trust in God furnishes to the mind which has it a clear proof that things to which God has testified exist, though they are not visible to the senses.” The Expositor’s then goes on to say, “The words thus become a definition of what faith does, not of what it is.  Substantially the words mean that faith gives to things future, which as yet are only hoped for, all the reality of actual present existence; and irresistibly convinces us of the reality of things unseen and brings us into their presence.”

Well, okay, but I find I am not satisfied.  If we are to stand firm in this present evil day, having put on the Whole Armor of God and taken up the Shield of Faith, defining that faith as giving to yet future things the reality of actual present existence is a definition I find lacking.  Something with-if I may use the same word as the writer to the Hebrews-substance in order to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

I found my first real glimmer of substance in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: “The object of faith from the dawn of man’s life had been Christ, who, even at the Fall, had been foretold as ‘the seed of the woman who should break the serpent’s head.’ The difference between the Two Covenants was that in the New He was fully set forth as the effulgence of the Father’s glory, whereas in the Old He had been but dimly indicated by shadows and symbols.”  This was one of the few commentaries that suggested Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that the things hoped for were tangible in Him rather than things reserved for some later time.

Now, there is a passage found in 1 Peter 1:3-4 which says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”  “Reserved” does sound as if our inheritance is a future one but the Greek word translated “reserved” here is tereo (G5083) and means “a watch, to guard from loss or injury by keeping the eye upon.”  This does deserve further study but I cannot see that the definition of the word warrants the pushing off of all “things” to either a future date or as something reserved for us which we cannot experience until we get to heaven.

There is the passage in Ephesians 1:13-14 which says, “In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

I am not saying I utterly disagree with the commentaries: this passage in Ephesians speaks of a time of redemption and Acts 3:21 speaks of a time of restoration of all things.  There’s this passage in Romans as well: “For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope: because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  Not only that, be we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses…” (Romans 8:18-26a NKJV).

I wonder if a lack of both seeing and understanding the work of the Spirit isn’t the explanation for the lack of expectation described by Andrew Murray and still so prevalent among Christians today.  Not one commentary mentioned the Holy Spirit.  There are denominations who declare there is no longer any work of the Spirit: He ceased activity with the death of the last apostle and now we have the Bible to help us get into heaven.  And, going to heaven after death appears to be the pinnacle of expectation among far too many Christians.  They have no expectation of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, there is no understanding of having the fullness of God in us through Jesus Christ, and there is no understanding of our inheritance in Jesus Christ.  All of this due to an unfamiliarity with the Holy Spirit for it is He who takes what belongs to Jesus Christ and declares it to us. 

The Old Testament did point to a coming Day but, for us, that Day has already come.  We don’t have to have to trust that God will keep His promises because all of His promises are YES! in Jesus Christ to the glory of God through us (2 Corinthians 1:20).  Without the Holy Spirit teaching and interpreting for us, we can’t begin to understand the New Testament for it speaks of a covenant ratified by the blood of Jesus but made reality in us by Spirit and ministered to, in, and through us by Spirit.  If you do not know the Holy Spirit is poured out in YOUR flesh, then you are missing the inheritance that is yours in Jesus Christ sealed in you by the Holy Spirit and experienced by you in the Holy Spirit.  Is there more to come?  Absolutely! But, do not have what is yours in Jesus Christ stolen from you by denominations who teach there is no longer a working of the Holy Spirit or teach you that you must come to God through their leader.  The Spirit is for you.  There is an inheritance each one of us can experience right now of which the Spirit is the down payment-or firstfruits-but what a firstfruits!  The full harvest was not of a different type than the firstfruits neither was the firstfruits a belief there would be more to come.  The firstfruits were the promise there was a coming bounty but they were full, mature fruit able to be feasted upon and enjoyed.  Do not let the fact that there is more to come keep you from enjoying the firstfruits now.

The Christian life is so much more than going to heaven when you die.  It is life now.  Eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3) and we don’t have to wait until we die in order to experience it (1 John 5:13).  The Holy Spirit is lavished upon us and enables us to know our God now right from where He dwells in the secret place of our hearts.  Since He is the guarantee of our inheritance, I do not think I stretch Hebrews 11:1 too far when I say He is our faith.  He brings all that Jesus gained for us into our present reality while at the same time showing us the glorious future of all creation set free from bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Amen.

References

Hebrews 11:1 Commentaries: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (biblehub.com)

Murray, Andrew, The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer, Bethany House Publishers, Bloomington, Minnesota, 1981, 2003

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Abandon All Reason

20 Monday Nov 2023

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Hello Readers and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I am continuing my study on the Whole Armor of God with my particular focus on the Shield of Faith.

I shared both the dictionary definition of faith in last week’s post and my disagreement with the first two entries of that definition.  These two entries define faith as an unquestioning belief that requires no proof or evidence and an unquestioning belief in God or religious tenets.  It isn’t until I read to the fifth and sixth entries that I find definitions that match the meaning of the Greek word translated by our English “belief” and “faith” in the New Testament.

Those definitions are “complete trust, confidence, or reliance” and “allegiance to some person or thing, loyalty”.  Even these definitions don’t quite convey the meaning of the Greek word pistis which, while it can be defined as trust, was originally used to describe conduct that honored an agreement or bond.  Such an agreement or bond was expected to be tested in critical situations and so the experience of faithfulness (or unfaithfulness) belongs to the idea of faith from the beginning (Brown, 594).  Thus, we see that faith was originally a covenant word and one’s faith in another was neither blind nor unquestioning but forged and proven in the crucible of experience.

As the prevailing philosophical and religious influences shifted, the meaning of pistis altered somewhat.  The Hellenistic period was a time of struggle with skepticism and atheism (much like our day) and pistis as faith in God began to refer to a theoretical conviction.  Stress was laid on the belief that life was constituted in accordance with this conviction but, instead of the covenant bond, there is a shift toward a conviction based on the intellect and conditioned by tradition. (See Brown, 595)

During this time (again, much like our day) there was an esoteric definition of pistis or faith where faith was defined as a higher form of knowledge.  The mystery religions of ancient times assigned pistis to the realm of the nous (Reason, Mind) so it was not in any way considered to be unquestioning or blind nor were the “faithful” thought to have abandoned all reason.  Quite the contrary.  This knowledge of faith meant man had been led out of the realm of the Logos, his spirit had found rest in this knowledge, and he was thus made to participate in the divine.  The danger of this is that such knowledge of faith belonged only to those initiated into the mystery religion and “all had the same demand to hand: ‘believe, if you would be saved, or begone’ [Origen, Contra Cels, 6, 11]” (Brown, 595).

The truth is everyone has faith.  There would be no relationships without faith because the very fact one is in a relationship-whether marriage, friendship, whatever the type of relationship may be-means that one person has put trust in the faithfulness of another, which is pistis in action.  I recently heard someone quoting from an article in a scientific journal where insistence was made a certain idea belonged to the realm of faith rather than science.  Faith was an object of ridicule in this article and science alone could be trusted.  But scientists too, have faith.

There are many scientific theories presented as fact that still are not proven or backed by solid convincing evidence.  However, there are those who believe there is enough to suggest these theories might be unequivocally proven one day and they have dedicated their lives to making those discoveries. Few would call this faith but faith is what it is in that these searchers for truth are doing so in the conviction their theory is true, that their trust is not misplaced, and that the evidence is discoverable.  If scientists did not have this type of faith, all scientific inquiry would cease.  If there is no belief that man is trustworthy and thus the thoughts generated by his own mind are trustworthy, and then that the universe is both searchable and understandable and thus there is more to discover than what is now known, why even bother?

I don’t know of many scientists who would say their convictions are the result of unquestioning belief that have required no proof nor evidence.  I agree and merely wish to assert once more my insistence that it does not follow that having faith in God means one has abandoned all reason.  Pistis never held the definition of unquestioning belief that does not require proof nor evidence.

Are there those religious denominations similar to the mystery religions of ancient times?  Of course.  I cannot deny there are such denominations declaring their leader alone has divine revelation nor do I deny that refusal to have faith in the leader’s revelation results in ostracism.  I would point out this type of behavior is not confined to religious organizations.  I have heard the stories of scientists who have lost their jobs because they questioned the tenets of their organization and I have heard the stories of those living in fear of losing their jobs if they openly ask the questions they have.  Those in charge of these systems-whether religious or non-would argue vociferously if it was suggested they have come by their tenets without proof or evidence.

The defining of words is not static.  The meaning of a word becomes that which is held by the majority of the population and our dictionaries reflect this shift.  I give the publishers of our dictionaries credit in that the definition held by the majority of the population is not the only one included, it just takes a little digging to understand what the word meant during the time it was written down and what meaning those who used it intended to convey. 

I hope I have shared enough that all who read this can, in their own minds, know with certainty that pistis which is the Greek word translated by our English “faith” and “belief”, does not, and never did, mean an unquestioning belief that requires no proof or evidence.  You may have this definition thrown at you by someone who wishes to ridicule your belief in God but stand firm my Fellow Believer!  You know in your heart of hearts that there was an instant: it might have been a something a loved one said or a teaching, or a situation: whatever it was there was something that persuaded you God is real.  That instant was enough to cling to Him through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life where He has proved Himself faithful over and over again.  There is no need to involve yourself in foolish or stupid arguments guaranteed to produce quarrels (2 Timothy 2:23-26) but neither is there any need to accept a definition simply because you are told it is so.  Test everything!

Now, we can take the dictionary definition of faith as a personal challenge.  On what is our faith based?  Is our belief one we have come to through intellectual persuasion, is it one conditioned by tradition, or is a vital living faith that has been tested in fiery trials and come out the stronger?  Is our faith that of mankind or is it the faith of Jesus Christ?  That is what I seek to explore in the upcoming weeks.  Until then, I offer up this prayer: may the faith of each one of us rest not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2-5).

Amen.

Some resources if you are interested in reading the works of some who are boldly questioning:

Berlinski, David, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions

Carlson, Richard F, Science and Christianity: Four Views with contributions by Wayne Frair, Gary D. Patterson, Jean Pond, Stephen C. Meyer, Howard J. Van Till

Guillen, Michael, Believing is Seeing: A Physicist Explains How Science Shattered His Atheism and Revealed the Necessity of Faith

Lennox, John C., Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target

Lennox, John C., Seven Days That Divide the World

Martin, Jobe, The Evolution of a Creationist: A Layman’s Guide to the Conflict Between the Bible and Evolutionary Theory

Meyer, Stephen C., Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design

Wiester, John, The Genesis Connection

References

Brown, Colin, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume I, Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967, 1986

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1953, 1976

Proven Trustworthy

13 Monday Nov 2023

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Welcome Everyone to a new week and a new post on Renaissance Woman!

I am still in the midst of my study on The Whole Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18a) and am looking specifically at the Shield of Faith. 

What is faith?  I have to admit I was astonished at the definition for faith found in the New World Dictionary.  The entry for faith begins with “confidence, belief, to trust, to urge, be convinced, to persuade, a compact” but then comes #1: “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence”.  This is followed up by #2: “unquestioning belief in God, religious tenets, etc.”

Far be it from me to disagree with the example of scholarship that is a dictionary, but I do.  These two entries are not at all what is meant by the Biblical description of faith.  Consider first the relating of the Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman coming to Jesus as related in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30.

Jesus and His disciples have gone to the region of Tyre and Sidon and here they are approached by a woman who cries out to Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter who is severely demon possessed.  Jesus does not answer her but does say to His disciples “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of Israel.”  When the woman continues to cry out for His help, He does say to her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”  The woman answers Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.”  Matthew records Jesus’ reply as “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire.”

Let us next consider the story of the Centurion also related in Matthew’s gospel as well as in Luke.  Jesus enters Capernaum and a centurion comes to Him asking Him to heal his servant who was sick and near death.  Jesus answers, “I will come and heal him.”  The centurion says, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  Jesus marvels and says, “Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (See Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10).  

Matthew 9:20-22 and Mark 5:25-34 also records the story of the woman with the flow of blood for twelve years.  She manages to get close to Jesus and touches the hem of His garment because she believed that, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” Jesus says to her; “your faith has made you well.”

The Greek word used in each of these passages is pistis (G4102).  The Strong’s defines pistis as “persuasion, i.e. credence; conviction (of religious truth or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher) especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; constancy in such profession, by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself-assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.”  Pistis is related to peitho (G382) which is a primary root meaning “to convince-by argument true or false, to pacify or conciliate, to assent (to evidence or authority)…” 

As I read through the entry for “faith” in the Dictionary of New Testament Theology, I found no basis for the dictionary definition.  The very word “persuasion” infers the one being persuaded is at the very least indifferent to the persuader’s argument and, at the most, hostile to it.  I cannot imagine there would not be questions asked before persuading and convincing would take place.

Pistis is a covenant word.  The word group (pistis, pisteuo, pistos, pistoo) originally denoted conduct that honored an agreement or bond (Brown, 594).  While there are certain parts of the world where the seriousness of entering into an agreement or bond is understood, it is less so here in the Western World.  Here, we think nothing of breaking bonds if it suits us to do so whereas breaking a bond-especially a covenant bond-used to mean death.  I cannot imagine two parties entering into such a bond without having strong evidence both parties were trustworthy and reliable. 

I don’t see that any of these Gospel accounts can be considered unquestioning or without evidence.  Word of Jesus’ works had spread through the region so there were plenty of accounts to convince these three of His willingness to heal.  The evidence that He was not only willing but able was walking about on two legs.  What astounds me is the fact that two out of three of these stories involve non-Jews.  The fact that a Canaanite (Luke says Greek or Syrophoenician) and a Roman approached Jesus described a level of persuasion and convincing I don’t have words for.

Perhaps the Canaanite woman was not quite despised by the Jews.  Gentiles had their own court in the temple so they could worship the True God but they were not allowed to worship with God’s Chosen People.  She was more acceptable than a Roman.  The oppressor.  An enemy of God Himself.  And these are two people whose faith is recorded in the Gospels.  Again, I can see nothing in these accounts to suggest these two made an unquestioning or evidence-less decision to act against culture, nationality, and extreme prejudice and ask Jesus for help.

The Bible does not require unquestioning trust or belief in the face of a lack of evidence.  1 Peter 3:15 tells us to expect questions: “…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…”  The passage in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians so resonates with me I have it as the tagline for this blog: “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

As I dig further down into the dictionary definition of faith, I find entries I can agree with: “5. complete trust, confidence, or reliance, 6. allegiance to some person or thing, loyalty”.  My faith is not at all unquestioning.  If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you know how true that is.  Our God answers me.  Sometimes it takes time to get an answer to the exact question I asked but years of walking with Him has proved that He couldn’t answer the question at the time I asked it.  There were other answers to related questions needed before I could even understand His answer to what I asked.  He’s never not answered me.

Our God is relationship.  He is the Covenant God and does not require us to give our lives to Him in unquestioning loyalty. (Not even the Mosaic Covenant had such a requirement: see Exodus 24:3).  Cults demand unquestioning loyalty.  The Word of our God was made flesh in Jesus.  Those of us living now who have never seen Jesus in His flesh are not in a worse off position than the people of that day.  We have something far better.  We have the Spirit of the Living God living in us convincing, persuading, comforting, teaching, and answering. 

Of course, I can’t convince you.  I can only promise you Our God is safe to question but you will have to discover that for yourself.  Do it!  Ask Him a question.  Any question.  See how He answers you.  Test His answer.  The Bible is an excellent litmus test for trusting the answers received are indeed from God.  No answer will contradict His revelation of Himself.  It will contradict the interpretation of Him you’ve received so be prepared to spend some time with Him.  He loves you.  He gave Himself for you.  You can trust Him.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References  

Court of the Gentiles – Bible History (bible-history.com)

Brown, Colin, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume I, Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967, 1986

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1953, 1976

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Just Have Faith

06 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by in Studies, Whole Armor of God

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Hello Everyone and welcome to a new post on Renaissance Woman!

I am continuing my study of the Whole Armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-18a and, this week, am moving on from the Breastplate of Righteousness to the Shield of Faith. 

The course my study is taking was not at all what I intended.  I thought I’d go through the Armor in the same order as it is written in the Letter to the Ephesians and then, as the study progressed, I thought perhaps I’d look at it in the order it would have been put on.  That is not what is happening.  No matter!  Even though no soldier would pick up a shield without first being fully clad in armor, I have found moving from the Breastplate to the Shield a logical progression.

I shared Philippians 3:8-9 in last week’s post: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”  As I studied “righteousness”, I was struck by the relationship righteousness has with faith, especially as I looked at the correlation between belief and righteousness and discovered “believe” and “faith” in the New Testament are both used to translate the same Greek word.

Before I get into the Greek, I wanted to point out something I found interesting.  When I looked up “faith” in the Strong’s concordance, I found two Old Testament references whereas there are 2 full columns of New Testament references.  Out of curiosity, I looked up “believe” and found a similar situation: 19 occurrences in the Old Testament verses an entire column of occurrences in the New.  The same is true for every conjugation of both words: there are far more New Testament references than Old Testament.  Something else fascinated me: there are two passages of scripture listed in the concordance under the word “Believers”: Acts 5:14 and 1 Timothy 4:12.  There are zero Old Testament scriptures in the list. 

Why?  Is it a result of inconsistency in the English translations or did something change?

I cannot immediately rule out the possibility of translation inconsistency.  Because I want to genuinely know and not make a stand on something that looks and sound interesting but has no foundation, I took a moment to look up the Hebrew word(s) for “believe” and “faith”.  Each occurrence I found in the Strong’s all are related to the primary root aman (H539) which means “to build up, support, foster as a nurse.”  All other words build on this concept: I find definitions of confirm, established, trusty, faithful, sure, stability, certainty, and truth as I looked up the related words. 

The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon drew my attention to two passages were aman appears as “foster-father” (Numbers 11:12, Isaiah 49:23) and two where it appears as foster-mother/ nurse (Ruth 4:15, 2 Samuel 4:4).  This, along with the fact that the Strong’s does list occurrences of the characterization “faithful” being applied to people and, since the Hebrew word translated “believe” is the same translated “faith” just as in the Greek; perhaps I read too much into there being only two New Testament occurrences of “believers”.

And yet, there is no denying believe and faith appear far many more times in the New Testament than the Old which, considering the size of the two books, is interesting.  My Bible teachers have offered an excellent visual when they are making similar points in their Sunday sermons.  Let’s give it a try.  Pick up your Bible and stick your fingers in at Matthew’s Gospel.  Take a long look at how much of the book is on one side of your fingers compared to how much on the other.  Even without taking into account the appendices and maps included at the back of our Bibles, the difference is extensive.  Therefore, a valid answer to the question “did something change” is “yes”. 

Some of you might be rolling your eyes at me because of course something changed.  Jesus was born, lived, died, rose again, and ascended to the right hand of the Father and then the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh.  This is basic Christianity 101.  I agree!  It is!  And yet, how many of us understand what this means?  We say we are New Creations in Christ but I don’t see all of us living as if anything changed.  I still see so many speaking of the necessity of our believing in order to receive what all Jesus Christ did for us and insisting we must have faith in order to please God.

That last thought it a Biblical one.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  This passage in particular seems to back up the insistence that our faith requires some hard work and diligent seeking on our part.  And yet, there are other passages that say the opposite.  For example:

Hebrews 12:2: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” I must point out the word “our” does not appear in the Greek but was added by the translators.  The Young’s Literal Translation has this verse as: “looking to the author and perfecter of faith-Jesus…”

Also consider the Gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12.  Verse 9 says, “to another faith by the same Spirit…” 

Then there is the necessity of considering the difference between the Greek words en and tou.  En is a preposition meaning “a fixed position, in, at”.  Tou is a proper noun meaning “of this person, his”.  I consider it an absolute travesty that there are instances in my Bible where tou has been translated as “in.”  Pertaining to faith, an extremely important one is Galatians 2:20.  The King James Version renders the description of faith as, “…the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God…” whereas my New King James has it, “…the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…” 

With one tiny substitution, the entire meaning changes.  Instead of living our lives by the faith OF the Son of God, we must live by faith IN the Son of God.  The responsibility to have faith becomes ours.  Any reference I hear to faith being a gift of the Spirit is only made with the caveat that the all the gifts aren’t given to everyone.  Some are given the gift of faith and others…I don’t know what hope others have.  This belief then makes our God a respecter of persons where some are mighty in faith and others are hung out to dry.  That is, unless we who are ungifted can somehow stir up enough faith to get through the days.

If this is so, what good is our Shield of Faith?  We are to take it up in order to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one but if our shields are comprised of whatever faith we’ve been able to summon up in the strength of our flesh, I don’t hold out much hope for any of us.

If however, the Shield of Faith is the faith of Jesus Christ, what a shield!  What fiery dart could possibly penetrate the shield of the Risen and Ascended One to whom ALL authority on heaven and earth has been given?  What protection is bestowed on us!  What rest and relief there is to know it was never our responsibility to have any sort of faith but that our faith is that of Jesus Christ!

I pray the Holy Spirit opens all of our eyes to this truth and that we see how this changes the meaning of Hebrews 11:6.  If you are hung up on the word “please” does it help to know the Greek word is euaresteo (G2100) and means “to gratify entirely”?  It is a word of delight not appeasement.  What joy there is in the heart of our god when we recognize we were never meant to create our own faith but to be partakers of His!  But this passage as well as 1 Corinthians 12 are ones I plan to look at in upcoming weeks.  I will stay on the subject of “faith” until my entire being is saturated with the certain knowledge that I live every day protected by the Shield of Jesus’ faith!

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah! Amen.   

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References  

A Comprehensive Guide to Greek Pronouns (greekpod101.com)     

The Comparative Study Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Brown, F., S. Driver, and C. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Eighteenth Printing, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2018

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Walker, Allen G., The New Koine Greek Textbook, Volume II/III, 2014-2018

Young, Robert, Modern Young’s Literal Translation: New Testament with Psalms & Proverbs, Greater Truth Publishers, Lafayette, Indiana, 2005