Thrust Statement: Faith in Jesus is the very fabric of
life.
Scripture Reading: Romans 10:1-21[1]
Faith is
fundamental in the Christian community.
Everyone lives by faith. Faith
is the very fabric of life in any field of endeavor. One exercises faith in one’s personal, social, commercial,
national, international life, and so on.
This is especially true in one’s walk with the Lord. The Hebrew writer
expresses it this way: “without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Again, this writer calls attention to the
universe and faith: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at
God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (11:3).
In this same vein, the writer gives some
insight concerning Noah and faith: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not
yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he
condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith”
(11:7). Another classic example of faith in Hebrews
is about the faith of Moses:
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused
to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God
rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of
Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking
ahead to his reward (11:24-26).
If you would like to understand more about faith, read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Faith is also spoken of as the foundation of making one’s calling and election sure. Peter encourages those “who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (2 Peter 1:1). To this faith, Peter admonishes the believers to supply abundantly the following: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (1:5-7). There must be appropriation of the things we know concerning Christ and His work. In other words, one may know Christ as divine, and yet reject Him as savior. Biblical faith is not just simply an assent of the mind, but also, it is a surrender of the heart and affections to Jesus as Lord.
Matthew also reveals a number of references
within which he mentions faith in conjunction with various individuals’
encounters with Jesus. For example,
after Jesus healed two demon-possessed men, he went to Capernaum and healed a
paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8). Matthew reports: “Some men brought to him a
paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins
are forgiven’” (9:1-2). On the other
hand, one reads where Jesus chided His disciples for their lack of faith during
a storm: “You of little
faith, why are you so afraid?” (8:26).
Christians are told to put their faith in the Son of God. The Christian life begins with faith and
ends with faith. Faith is the channel
or instrument through which the righteousness of God comes to man. Paul
expresses it this way: “For in the gospel a
righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from
first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’ (Romans 1:17). Paul writes that God’s saving gospel of
righteousness is “out of
faith” (ejk
pivstew"). “Out of faith” is at the same time “unto faith”
or “to faith” (eij" pivstin). In other words, the
righteousness of God imputed to man begins with faith and ends with faith.
How does faith come? Is it a
miraculous operation in which God gives faith to some but withholds faith from
others? Or is faith something that comes to man through the proclamation of the
word about Christ? Listen to Paul as he
explains the way an individual receives faith: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Faith is not the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, but
rather, faith comes through the announcement of the good news about Jesus.
Faith comes about as a result of the
heralding of the message, but salvation comes about through one’s belief in the
message about Christ. Paul writes, “For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God
was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who
believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). The KJV reads—“foolishness of preaching”—as
if it is the preaching that is foolish rather than the message itself.[2]
For Paul, the emphasis is not on the act of proclamation, but rather upon the
contents of what is proclaimed. The
divine proclamation (kh,rugma) and faith (pisto,j) are correlatives. The proclamation calls for faith and is received only by
faith. The NKJV corrects the earlier
translation by translating: “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through
wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message
preached to save those who believe.”[3]
The preaching of the gospel is a necessity. Every person hears and believes through the
act of proclamation. God not only chose
His apostles for the purpose of telling the good news, but He has also called
all the reconciled into this ministry.
Paul declares this concept in his second letter to the Corinthians:
Now all things are of God, who has
reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of
reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the
word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God
were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to
God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
God has committed to us this word of reconciliation. Paul also speaks of this word of
reconciliation as the “message of
salvation” (Acts 13:25), the “message of the cross” (1
Corinthians 1:18), and the “word of life” (Philippians 2:16). Our task as ministers is to bring to the
world this objective reconciliation for subjective appropriation by faith. How does faith come? Once more, listen to the words of Paul:
“faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the
word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The gospel must not only be heralded, but it
must be heard. As the gospel is
proclaimed, every hearer needs to be reminded of the words of Jesus:
“He who has ears,
let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). This point must be emphasized. Today, there is much listening without true hearing.
Is your heart open to the message of
God? Do you have the kind of heart that
Lydia possessed when she heard the message of salvation from Paul? Luke records that “ One of those
listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of
Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to
Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14). Paul bemoans the fact that even after the
preaching of the good news, nevertheless, there are still those who do not
believe the message (Romans 10:15-16). The more familiar reading—“obeyed the
gospel”—is found in the KJV as well as the Greek text. The KJV reads: “But they have not all obeyed
the gospel (u`ph,kousan tw/| euvaggeli,w). For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our
report?” (10:16).
To “obey the gospel” is to believe the
message. When one believes the message
of the gospel, one must also respond to baptism as commanded by the Lord (Matthew 28:18-20). In the Gospel of Mark, both belief and
baptism are jointed together: Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned” (Mark 16:16). Luke informs his readers that following Lydia’s
belief: “When she and the
members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ‘If you
consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.’ And
she persuaded us” (Acts 16:15). Saving faith requires response to the
message of God’s way of salvation, namely, Jesus. Paul, in his second letter to Thessalonica, writes: “He will
punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel (mh,
u`pakou,ousin tw/| euvaggeli,w)
of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). Again, to “obey the gospel” is to submit to
Jesus as Lord in your life.
Saving faith levels everyone. In other words, the advantages of intellect,
opportunity, and substance do not operate in the sphere of faith. Paul declares, “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts
(pa/j o` pisteu,wn) in
him will never be put to shame.’ For
there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and
richly blesses all (pa,ntaj) who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who (pa/j ga.r
o]j a;n) calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:11-13). Faith places everyone in the same position as regards the grace
of God. Faith minimizes man’s merits
while it magnifies God’s mercy.
Salvation is not based on race; salvation is not based on riches;
salvation is not based on rank; salvation is not based on education; salvation
is not based upon absolute perfection in knowledge. No! No! None of these things count. God sweeps all of those things aside and levels every man at the
foot of the cross.
Did you really grasp Romans 10:13? Listen once more: “for, ‘Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
This is exactly the same thing that our Lord said to Nicodemus:
For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son (John 3:16-18).
One cannot read the Scriptures or hear the
message of the gospel without being led to the fact that Jesus is God’s plan of
salvation. He and He alone is the
Savior of the world. No wonder Peter
told the members of the Sanhedrin: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“Consequently,
faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word
of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Prior to this statement about how faith
comes, Paul stresses that saving faith is confessing Christ as Lord: “That if
you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart (evn th/|
kardi,a sou) that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved” (10:9). Confession and belief go hand in hand. In order for one to have eternal life,
he/she must confess and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Paul further says, “For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess
and are saved” (10:10). Saving faith leads men and women to Jesus.
In Jesus one escapes the wrath of God (Romans 5),
in Jesus one escapes the dominion of sin (Romans 6),
in Jesus one escapes the curse of the Law (Romans 7),
and in Jesus one escapes condemnation (Romans 8). The salvation that God offers to man through
faith involves the death of Christ on the cross. It is in this vein that Paul writes:
And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
(Philippians 4:8-11).