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Chapter
III. FAITH
WAS
A quick review of my concordance (that within the New Scho THE
OLD TESTAMENT
In the Old Testament, only the following references to
Faith -
Only one reference, and it is a 'no faith' mode: Deuteronomy
32:20, " ... perverse generation, children in whom is no faith."
Faithful - 17 uses
Faithfulness - 28 uses
Faithless - no uses
NOTE: Appendix C provides a listing of these uses as a starting point
for your further review and study.
This small (actually zero) use of Faith in the Old Testament is
certainly confirmation of our earlier findings, where Scriptures declared
that, " ... before faith
came" (Gal. 3:26) and,
" ... we are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus .."
(Gal. 3:26).
Here, then is profound truth:
that the Lord Jesus Christ in coming to Earth to initiate the New
Testament (New Covenant) between God and man, established a new and powerful
line of communication; no
longer indirectly via one prophet, king, priest ... as before, but now
applied via the Holy Spirit on a one to one direct basis to all those of the
family of God. In effect, the manifestations of God to the patriarchs were prophecies of the future, types of the direct, in-dwelling counsel He would use under the New Covenant where His omni-present Holy Spirit is within the believer. FAITH
- A NEW TESTAMENT CONCEPT - YET OLD
Faith is, indeed, a New Testament word, a new concept (yet old).
This is a paradox. Yet, we do not find the "conjunctive" word faith
used in the Old Testament as it is in the New.
Once in awhile it is used, from the
"faithful" perspective, but not profusely as in the New
Testament.
Remember, in the Old Testament, Jehovah God spoke to the leaders He
selected. He dealt indirectly
with the people. His commands
were directed through their leaders. He
manifested Himself to them in that indirect manner.
With the New Testament, God chose first to manifest Himself through
the Lord Jesus Christ, although a few times directly audibly, but mostly
through Jesus. Later, and now,
He manifests Himself primarily through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent
to represent the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be God's communicator.
It is true, Abraham and many others are said in the New Testament
writings to have been faithful: by
faith they did such and such. But
the Old Testament writings record rather that they believed and obeyed. An answer, then is that our New Testament faith is (as theirs
of the Old Testament), in two parts: God's
and ours:
GOD'S PART:
His manifesting of His power/command to us
OUR PART:
Obedience (faithfulness) to His command,
OBEDIENT:
Wise
DISOBEDIENT: Wicked/Sinful (See Daniel 12:10)
So, then, the Word of God takes on even more poignancy, more depth,
becomes more subjective, more intimate and powerful to us. Yes, there is a
new dimension of fellowship and mutual responsibility in our relationships
with our Heavenly Father, yet, one which presses for His perfection in that
relationship despite our imperfection, one which is tied solidly to His
person, His power and ability to perform, not tied to our limited sphere of
capability.
I have found great personal blessing and insight as the New Testament
renderings of faith have been explored from this two-fold perspective --
You will note that the appendices are keyed to the books of
the New Testament (per the new King James edition), providing an
expanded command/obedience view of all verses containing the words faith,
faithful,
Realize that it will take a little patience and dedication, but I
think you will soon get the pulse of this study and find each verse a new
and challenging revelation. THE
GOSPEL OF JOHN AND II JOHN
You will note, I'm sure, that the appendices for the Gospel of John
and the second of John's epistles are unique; unique in that there are no
uses of faith or faithful. These
books are the only New Testament books without one positive use of faith. It is thereby suggested that John, the beloved, in his
desire to be very clear, most often used the expanded forms rather than the
"conjunctive" - leading to the difference. It should be noted
here, that he did use faithless once (John 20:27).
In the books of I John, III John and Revelation, he did use the
conjunctive forms of 'faithfully' extensively.
Very interesting. This
"lack" in the Gospel of John spurred me to look for examples of
the expanded form. These
necessarily include most expressions of our Lord's as likely candidates of
this expression -- manifesting
God to the disciples and people, seeing His specific
"manifestations" and their obedience or disobedience.
This part of the study has been particularly a rewarding experience
for me, bringing more depth of understanding to our Lord's messages and
purposes.
This all breaks down to a single common denominator:
When God spoke in "old times" (or speaks today), it was and
is incumbent upon 'us' to be faithful (obedient). No questions asked. Yes,
it has always been "our" great privilege to be obedient
(positively responsive) to God. Scripture
is replete on this subject and certainly Scripture such as, .. obedience is
better than sacrifice." confirm this truth (See Samuel 15:22).
After reviewing the Gospel of John (attempting to synthesize the
"faith" type of statements), since often John did not use the
conjunctive "faith" but rather (supposition on my part) the
explicit manifested power directly in various forms, it has therefore become
apparent that the other New Testament writers more often than not may have
also used the explicit forms: that is, whenever Jesus speaks or makes
himself known to man, does a miracle, or highlights a particular truth, he
is manifesting Himself and/or God's power (etc) to man.
He, as the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1) is ever manifesting God
and His plan/purpose. As such,
there yet remains much to be reviewed and studied to glean ever new
directives and blessings from the written, yet
"living" dynamic
Word of God. When we realize
that the Lord Jesus Christ was/is always God manifested, it is no wonder
that we can literally "hang" on every word and action, allowing
the full significance of each to impact us.
The parts of the written Word that the Holy Spirit has illuminated to
my ever increasing understanding has
Indeed, I have personally found that he has taken me from
"just" objective factual knowledge of Himself and His plan, to the
very personal subjective realization of: (1) God indwelling me (as He became
my own manifested Savior); (2) God leading me (as He became my own
manifested Lord); (3) God ministering by His Holy Spirit to others through
me (as He uses me as an Ambassador to manifest Him); and (4) God manifesting
His plan of the ages to me through His Word, manifested by His Holy Spirit
of truth and light. |
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