THE ONE TRUE FAITH
“They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3)
The Scriptures—God’s glorious messages of life to dying mankind—are addressed to the mind, to the reason, to the logical and rational intellect. They treat of the profoundest and most important subject that can engage the mental faculties of mankind—a subject, furthermore, the consideration of which must be undertaken with the fullest conception of the issues involved.
That is, in considering the questions with which the Scriptures deal, we must fully recognise their importance, and the precedence they must take over every other factor of life, and be quite prepared to subordinate all else to them. We are met with this ultimatum at the threshold of our enquiry. God will not vouchsafe to us the blessings and privileges of divine knowledge unless we are wholehearted in our search—
“Ye shall find Me when ye shall seek for Me with your whole heart.” (Jer. 29:13)
Let us appreciate the grand scale of the subject. Let us face the realisation that if there be any foundation and truth to these things at all, then everything else pales into utter insignificance. Let us sweep life clear of all the meaningless distractions that clutter the way, and cut the issue sharp and clean. It is not a question calling for half-measures. God is not mocked. The opportunities are tremendous—the obligations are no less so.
The appeal is an appeal to the mind—not the natural mind, but the mind of the spirit. Where it strikes a responsive chord, where there is a sympathetic appreciation and desire for some better thing—the favour and glory and wisdom of God—to that mind it will irresistibly appeal.
Where this is lacking—where the mind is of the natural, fleshly kind—where there is no conception or perception of anything transcending this present existence and condition—there it will ring in vain, for—
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.” (1 Cor. 2:14)
* * *
Let us attempt to divorce our minds from our feelings, and dispassionately consider ourselves as human beings. The predominant characteristic we find is the tremendous hold that the present and the apparent has on our attention, our actions, our inclinations and emotions. Unless energetically resisted, this fatal magnetism of the here and now prevents any protracted or fruitful contemplation of the distant future.
Is it reasonable to ignore an issue of such vast consequence just because its climax appears at present remote? Is it sensible to absorb our minds and energies with the transitory rubbish which wisdom tells us is a useless waste of time? Is it wise to disregard an offer of unparalleled magnificence just for the want of the effort necessary to assure ourselves of its reality and genuineness?
Not reasonable, not sensible, not wise—but very, very human.
Another powerful characteristic we see in all humans alike is a tenacious cleaving to what is usual and familiar—an almost unquestioning acceptance of common experience as the infallible criterion of what is possible, and an instinctive scepticism toward anything which varies from those things that we ourselves have encountered.
A third net which holds the vast majority enmeshed in its coils is the crushing weight of common opinion. The thoughtless accepting of things as true because “everybody” thinks so—the universal inclination to let others do our thinking.
And there’s also that similar very natural and human inclination to stay in line and do what the rest are doing and hope we are not attracting any attention.
Can we not see these insidious forces exerting a constant pressure upon our minds and conduct? Can we not account for much of the conduct of others by recognising these influences at work? Can we not FREE OURSELVES FROM THEIR BONDAGE by a full recognition of and allowance for their universal sway?
If we cannot abstract ourselves from our inclinations and tendencies—if we cannot, or will not, deliberately diagnose the machinery of our conduct, how can we hope to control it, or be master of our actions? How can we be anything but the unconscious slaves of a pre-determined set of natural propensities?
All mankind from the cradle to the grave is swept along in a rushing current of natural reaction and habitual tendency like a boat without a helmsman.
But—we are given the ability to bring the vessel under control and direct its course in a definite line without regard to the current of our natural tendencies, and the ebb and flow of the tide of our emotions, or the winds and storms of environment and circumstance.
* * *
What is the point in all this? Where is it all leading?
Just this. The Word of God sounds a clarion call to stop and think, to consider, to meditate, to analyse, to reason, to reflect. What are we? Where are we going? What does life mean?
Is eating and drinking and merriment the highest limit of our faculties and possibilities—or is there a richer, higher, more abundant way to live? Is the greatest good and happiness to be found in a lifelong effort to satisfy the insatiable lust and pride and ambition and covetousness that we are all born with, or is there far greater possibility of enjoyment and freedom to be found in a divinely-guided control and subjection of these things?
Are we satisfied with life as the vast majority of people live it? Is there enough to it? Are we prepared to say that though there may be something transcendently better, this is good enough for us? Are we prepared to set a height of joy and happiness and satisfaction beyond which we do not care to rise?
These are not unnecessary questions. Many people, sadly enough, could honestly answer them in the affirmative. They feel no more desire for something better than the present than the animals do. The Word of God speaks of this class as “natural brute beasts, fit only to be taken and destroyed” (2 Pet. 2:12) “dumb dogs, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber” (Isa. 56:10)—“whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things” (Phil. 3:19).
These evaluations are by God Himself—have we any desire to be distinguished in His sight from these? Is our manner of life such as to warrant such a distinction?
Do not these questions lead logically to a serious analysis of our position? —to a sober, thoughtful, reflection that perhaps after all, we are missing the greatest part of the beauty and purpose of life?
We cast about for an answer—for a clear conception of life’s meaning and possibilities. We search for instruction, for guidance, for light—and, regardless of what our opinions concerning it may be, the Bible looms irresistibly into the picture as an inescapable fact with a very pertinent bearing on the question.
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Now, much time and labour has been spent in a worthy and commendable effort to convince many who do not want to be convinced that the Bible is the authentic Word of a Supreme Creator. It is a question whether some of such effort is worthwhile. The Scriptures themselves, with a plainness that is warranted by the seriousness of the subject, speak of casting pearls before swine.
Such a course is doomed from the beginning. God does not want cold intellect, convinced against its own will and desire. He makes ample provision for preventing such a monstrosity by drawing a veil over the eyes when one already exists over the heart—an established rule of divine conduct well worthy of the truthseeker’s solemn consideration.
There is one way, and only one, to acquire a living conviction of the truth of the Scriptures. That is to study them with a heart that is open to receive what the mind discovers; to give time and attention to them in full proportion to their importance; to take them home and try them out; to put their suggestions into practice; to actually apply them to one’s daily life.
Such a course, honestly pursued, guarantees conviction. It is well worth trying. There is no substitute. Let us in all humility and sincerity commend this course to your attention, and then pursue our subject further.
We are brought to the threshold of the Scriptures. The foregoing remarks have been directed towards creating a desire and demonstrating the necessity of going further. No worthwhile effort is ever set in motion until a necessity is recognised. No one really learns until a need is felt for knowledge. No one advances until a need is felt for progress. It is our hope and effort to create the desire, to bring a realisation of the need.
The angle from which we desire to view the Word of God this evening is, as the title indicates, Faith.
Now the Bible speaks of a huge Temple to be erected in the future. Surrounding it is a high wall, pierced throughout its entire circumference by a continuous and majestic colonnade of arched gateways.
The Scriptures themselves may be considered in the same light. Their contents may be viewed from countless different openings, but each reveal the same scene, magnificent in its simple grandeur, but varied and made perpetually fascinating by the change of perspective as it is successively viewed from different points.
The gateway we have chosen is Faith, and we can be assured, as we pass, that this is not an obscure byway, but indeed a main entrance.
The Apostle Paul, discussing the rudiments of conduct and analysing the important elements of life, says, after speaking of many things that perish—
“Now abideth Faith, Hope, Love: these three.”
Which three, inseparably entwined, as we shall later see, form the main entrance to the glories of God.
Now, as we advance, we are immediately met with the declaration—
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6).
The importance of this statement cannot be overestimated.
“Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.”
Nothing could be more final. And furthermore, and equally important, it must be what GOD considers as faith. It must be faith according to His definition. Faith evidenced by characteristics he requires.
Now God explains why faith is essential. The explanation is based on man’s condition, and God’s loving provision for escape from it. The position of man must be understood before the necessity for God’s appointment can be appreciated, God says regarding man—
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
“In Thy sight shall no living man be justified” (Psa. 143:2).
“There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10).
The point that Paul is making in this 3rd chapter of Romans is the same as we are trying to establish—that man in his natural state is alienated from God—unrighteous and unclean in His sight—condemned to death and unable, by his own efforts to do anything about it.
The point is carried further in Rom. 5:12—
“As by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
What is sin? The fulfilling and satisfying of the desires of the flesh and mind regardless of, or in defiance of the commands of God.
“The wages of sin is death” is the verdict (Rom. 6:23), and all have sinned. Therefore the end of natural man is death. “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.” Paul says elsewhere in this same epistle (Rom. 8:13) and again—
“They that are in the flesh CANNOT please God” (Rom. 8:8).
This condition of man, perishing because of sin, is the result and fulfilment of the sentence on Adam (Gen. 3:3, 19)—
“Because thou hast sinned, unto dust shalt thou return.”
This is man’s present position. The Psalmist asks—
“What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” (Psa. 89:43).
There is no reason or excuse for the fatal self-deception that if a man generally does what is right according to his own opinion and conscience, he will get whatever reward there is provided, though he may not be familiar with God’s revelation and requirements.
The Scriptures put the matter in an entirely different light. It is a question of recognising a condition of peril and forewarned destruction, and taking the only prescribed course of getting out of it. Of realising and confessing that in following our own course regardless of God’s desires, we have ignorantly sinned and earned the penalty of returning to the dust whence we came.
God has made it unmistakably clear that He has provided but one way of escape, and He solemnly warns men that no other way of their own choosing is of any avail. His view of such is expressed by Paul—
“They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted”—the term is significant—“have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3).
He says in the preceding verse—
“They have a zeal of God, but NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE.”
God has said it is impossible for man to establish his own righteousness, or to please Him by any such attempt. Man hasn’t the capacity for unaided righteousness. We all know that within ourselves. But God has outlined a certain way which man must follow, step by step, with God’s help. Jesus said—
“NO man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6).
“Without me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
And on another occasion—
“Strait is the gate and narrow is the way”—(so much so that he adds)—“and FEW there be that find it” (Matt. 7:14).
And Paul told the Ephesians—
“There is ONE Faith and ONE Hope” (Eph. 4:4-5).
This is the narrow, only, divinely-prescribed way from death to life.
* * *
It has been established, then, that man’s inevitable end is dissolution into dust, apart from God opening up a way of escape.
And it has been further established from the Scriptures that there is but one narrow way provided.
Now the Scriptures declare that FAITH is an essential element of this way. Why? Because after proving man unrighteous and worthy of death, God has offered to accept faith for righteousness and so bridge an otherwise impassable gap.
“There is none righteous,” says Paul. But he adds, as he develops his theme—
“To him that believeth (hath faith—same word) on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4: 5).
“Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness” (verse 9).
We are told several times in Scripture (Habakkuk 2: 4; Romans 1: 17; Hebrews 10: 38)—
“The just shall live by faith.”
Paul says—
“That I may be found not having mine own righteousness, but the righteousness of God which is BY FAITH” (Philippians 3: 9).
And the expressions, “the righteousness of faith,” “sanctified by faith,” “justified by faith” which occur repeatedly, emphasise the same truth.
All who attempt to leap the gulf in their own way or on their own merits dash themselves to pieces, but by the bridge of faith we may climb from death to life.
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It has been further established, then, that the one way God has provided is through an acceptable faith. Now, what is Faith? Paul says—
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11: 1).
Faith is the “substance” of things hoped for. The margin gives “confidence” in place of “substance.” Faith is the confidence or grounds or substance of hope. Faith is the assurance that gives hope a body or substance or foundation, without which hope is no more than unsupported desire.
Faith is belief in God’s existence and His promises, founded upon evidence. In verse 6 of this Hebrews 11, Paul says—
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
In the epistle to the Romans to which we have already made much reference, we read—
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10: 17).
Faith is that unshakable conviction of the truth and reality of God that is developed by familiarity with that which He has caused to be written.
THAT is faith, and there is no substitute for it, and there is no other way of getting it.
Faith is knowledge of, and belief in, God through personal familiarity with inspired testimony. It is conviction based on evidence. It is the inevitable result of studying God’s Word with a true and humble and open heart.
Now faith, we have read, is the substance of things hoped for. Not just abstract hope, be it well observed, but THINGS HOPED FOR. Certain DEFINITE THINGS. These are—
“The THINGS which are most surely believed among us” (Luke1: 1).
“The THINGS concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8: 12).
These are the “things hoped for”—Paul calls them “The hope of the Gospel”
(Colossians 1: 23).
There is but ONE hope. Paul tells us that (Ephesians 4: 4). He also tells us that there is but ONE Gospel (Galatians 1: 8-9). What is that one hope? It is the “HOPE OF ISRAEL,” for which Paul was bound (Acts 28: 20); the hope of all those who “died in hope” (Hebrews 11: 13);
the “hope of the promises made by God unto the fathers,” as Paul told King Agrippa (Acts 26: 6).
“The hope of the promises.” Let us go back to Hebrews, chapter 11. In verse 13 we read—
“These all died in faith, not having received the PROMISES, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
And again in verse 9—
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.”
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The hope of the Gospel—the hope of the promise. Here is a definite object of hope—some specific promise.
Paul, we notice, spoke of the promises “made to the fathers”—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let us turn back to the records regarding them. In Genesis 12: 2-3, God says to Abraham—
“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
And in Genesis 13: 14-16—
“The Lord said unto Abram, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward:
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed FOR EVER. . .
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth.”
Again, Genesis 18: 18—
“Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED IN HIM.”
These promises of world-wide blessedness and a mighty nation and EVERLASTING possession of the land were repeated to both Isaac and Jacob. Here then were the “promises made to the fathers.”
There are several considerations that prove conclusively that these promises are still in effect and that our salvation is bound up inseparably with them. These points are—
1. The promises regarding the land were never fully fulfilled, even temporarily.
2. The promises involved the blessing of all nations.
3. The promises were not only to Abraham’s seed but included himself, and he and the other patriarchs died as strangers in the land. “NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AFAR OFF.”
4. The promises were everlasting.
5. David declares that the occupation of the land by the Israelites under Joshua did not constitute the rest that was promised, and that it consequently was still future. For confirmation, see Hebrews 4: 7-9.
6. Further promises were added to David which pointed forward to the future, and—
7. (Which would be amply conclusive by itself)—Paul and the Apostles declare that the promises were not fulfilled: that they still are future: and that all our hope depends upon them.
Paul calls Abraham, THOUGH DEAD, the heir of the world—
“For the promise that he should be the HEIR OF THE WORLD was not to Abraham or his seed through the Law but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4: 13).
The “heir of the world!” And Paul says to the Galatians—
“If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISES” (Galatians 3: 29).
And it is evident that the hope of the GOSPEL preached by Paul was the same hope of the PROMISES held by the fathers, for we find that he writes to the Galatians—
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”
“And the Scriptures, fore-seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the GOSPEL UNTO ABRAHAM, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
“So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham”
(Galatians 3: 7-9).
This Gospel of the Kingdom, preached to Abraham, throughout the prophets, and by the Apostles throughout the whole Roman Empire, relates to the culmination of God’s plan with the earth, the blessing of all nations through Abraham and his seed.
Of this time the prophet Daniel speaks very clearly. In chapter 7, he sees in vision a long period of human tyranny and misrule on the earth—
“And I beheld (he said) “till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, and the judgment was set and the books were opened.”
“And behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people and nations and languages shall serve him, and the saints of the Most High shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.”
“And the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom UNDER the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.”
* * *
We have erected the two pillars of our doorway—THE Faith and THE Hope. The keystone yet remains to be set. Paul says—
“And now abideth Faith, Hope and LOVE” (1 Corinthians 13: 13).
Faith, we have seen, gives Hope a body. It is the substance of Hope, but is not complete without Love, which gives that body life for, says James—
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so Faith without works is dead”
(James 2: 26).
And Paul adds—
“Faith works by Love” (Galatians 5: 6).
What is the loving work of Faith? Inwardly, it is purification.
Peter says—
“God purifieth the hearts by faith” (Acts 15: 9).
In his second epistle he speaks in detail of this work of faith—
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1: 4).
That we might escape corruption and partake of the divine nature. Will our final end be a handful of dust? —or a SPIRIT BODY? —
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue” (verse 5).
Virtue, purity, cleanliness of mind, speech and action, are the first principles of faith. “Be ye holy, even as I am holy” is our initial lesson from God. Peter continues—
“Add to your virtue KNOWLEDGE.”
Peter commands—
“Grow in grace and in KNOWLEDGE” (2 Peter 3: 18).
Faith born of hearing, must be nourished by knowledge and develop to maturity in Christ. The Scriptures repeatedly stress the vital necessity of growth.
Then temperance, or self-control (Verse 6). We see faith developing as Peter continues. Purity, knowledge, self-control. These things are within. They grow in secret, but now faith is strong and begins to bloom.
Patience follows, opening the way for sympathy and understanding. Then godliness, as the old skin of the mind of the flesh is dropped off and the new beauty of the spirit is revealed in the image of God.
Then (verse 7), brotherly kindness, and finally perfect LOVE—and faith has completed its work. The miracle of transformation is complete. God, working in us in response to our faith, has created righteousness.
Mary’s faith alone would never have given birth to Christ, but because of her faith, the Spirit of God overshadowed her and created the new man within her, a symbol of how in like manner the new man of the Spirit must be created in us.
This is the course that faith MUST take, if it is to be pleasing to God, for Peter says (verse 9)—
“But he that lacketh these things is BLIND, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”
As it is developed by study and exercised by love, so faith becomes strong. This we see from the examples Paul gives us in Hebrews 11. It gave Noah conviction to ignore the world’s opinion and believe God when smaller minds were blinded by appearances.
It led Abraham to wander far from home and kindred, confident that God was leading the way. It moved Moses to choose affliction rather than luxury, willing to lose all for the better thing that was offered. It brought him back openly and defiantly to a land from which he had fled for his life.
And, says Paul, time would fail to tell of the many others. But the testimony of Peter and Paul makes clear the power of faith to transform the mind, to overcome the world, and to gain the blessing of the favour of God.
* * *
Let us very briefly sum up our conclusions. First, then, we have found that we are creatures of sin and habit, being swept hourly into oblivion. Because we sin, we die. It is God’s law—
“The soul that sinneth, IT SHALL DIE” (Ezekiel 18: 4).
But a call has been issued to awake out of sleep, to seize hold on the one way of escape from the bondage of sin—the righteousness of God through faith—the TRUE faith based on the ONE hope of the Kingdom, and strong in the works of love, the purifying of the heart, the transforming of the mind.
And all this, not of ourselves, but of God. Jesus, the divinely-provided Way, said—
“Without me, ye can do nothing” (John 15: 5).
But, says Paul—
“I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me”
(Philippians 4: 13).
Let us seek the blessing of God by an obedient faith, that He may work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2: 13) that the righteousness of God, Paul says, may be revealed in us through faith (Romans 1: 17; 3: 22).
Then, in the not far distant day of reckoning, Jesus will say—“Go thy way henceforth in peace; thy FAITH hath made thee whole”—completely and eternally cured of the fatal, loathsome, universal disease of sin and death.
