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Hope
Unlimited
Chapter
7: Faith, What Is It?
WHAT IS THIS FAITH concerning which it is said, "By grace are
ye saved, through faith?" There are many descriptions of faith;
but almost all the definitions I have met with have made me
understand it less than I did before I saw them. "The Negro said,
when he read the chapter, that he would confound it; and it is very
likely that he did so, though he meant to expound it." We may explain
faith till nobody understands it. I hope I shall not be guilty of
that fault. Faith is the simplest of all things, and perhaps because
of its simplicity it is the more difficult to explain.
What
is faith? It is made up of three things - knowledge, belief, and
trust.
Knowledge comes first. "How shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard?" I want to be informed of a fact
before I can possibly believe it. "Faith cometh by
hearing"; we must first hear, in order that we may know what is
to be believed. "They that know thy name shall put their trust
in thee." A measure of knowledge is essential to faith; hence
the importance of getting knowledge. "Incline your ear, and
come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." Such was the
word of the ancient prophet, and it is the word of the gospel still.
Search the Scriptures and learn what the Holy Spirit teaches
concerning Jesus and His salvation. Seek to know God: "For he
that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
May the Holy Spirit
give you the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord! Know
the gospel: know what the good news is, how it talks of free
forgiveness, and of change of heart, of adoption into the family of
God, and of countless other blessings. Get to know Jesus especially,
the Son of God, the Saviour of men, united to us by His human
nature, and yet one with God; and thus able to act as Mediator
between God and man, able to lay His hand upon both, and to be the
connecting link between the sinner and the Judge of all the earth.
Endeavour to know more and more of Jesus. Endeavour
especially to know the doctrine of the sacrifice of Jesus; for the
point upon which saving faith mainly fixes itself is this--"God was reconciling the world to himself in
Jesus, not counting men's sins against them." Know that Jesus was "made a
curse for us, as it is written, "Cursed is every one that hangs on
a tree." Drink deep of the doctrine of the substitutionary work
of Jesus; for therein lies the sweetest possible comfort to the
guilty sons of men, since the Lord "made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Faith
begins with knowledge.
Then
the
mind goes on to believe that these things are true. The soul
believes that God is, and that He hears the cries of sincere hearts;
that the gospel is from God; that justification by faith is the
grand truth which God hath revealed in these last days by His Spirit
more clearly than before. Then the heart believes that Jesus is
verily and in truth our God and Saviour, the Redeemer of men, the
Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. All this is accepted as
sure truth, not to be called in question. I pray that you may at
once come to this. Get firmly to believe that "the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us from all sin"; that
His sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man's behalf,
so that he that believes on Jesus is not condemned. Believe these
truths as you believe any other statements; for the difference
between common faith and saving faith lies mainly in the subjects
upon which it is exercised. Believe the witness of God just as you
believe the testimony of your own father or friend. "If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."
So
far you have made an advance toward faith; only one more ingredient
is needed to complete it, which is trust.
Commit yourself to the
merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious gospel; trust your soul
on the dying and living Saviour; wash away your sins in the atoning
blood; accept His perfect righteousness, and all is well. Trust is
the lifeblood of faith; there is no saving faith without it. The
Puritans were accustomed to explain faith by the word "recumbency."
It meant leaning upon a thing. Lean with all your weight upon Jesus. It would be a better illustration still if I said, fall at
full length, and lie on the Rock of Ages. Cast yourself upon Jesus;
rest in Him; commit yourself to Him. That done, you have exercised
saving faith. Faith is not a blind thing; for faith begins with
knowledge. It is not a speculative thing; for faith believes facts
of which it is sure. It is not an unpractical, dreamy thing; for
faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of revelation.
That is one way of describing what faith is.
Let
me try again. Faith is believing that Jesus is what He is said to
be, and that He will do what He has promised to do, and then to
expect this of Him. The Scriptures speak of Jesus as being
God, God in human flesh; as being perfect in His character; as being
made of a sin-offering on our behalf; as bearing our sins in His own
body on the tree. The Scripture speaks of Him as having finished
transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting
righteousness. The sacred records further tell us that He "rose
again from the dead," that He "ever lives to make
intercession for us," that He has gone up into the glory, and
has taken possession of Heaven on the behalf of His people, and that
He will shortly come again "to judge the world in
righteousness, and his people with equity."
We are most firmly
to believe that it is even so; for this is the testimony of God the
Father when He said, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye
him." This also is testified by God the Holy Spirit; for the
Spirit has borne witness to Jesus, both in the inspired Word and by
divers miracles, and by His working in the hearts of men. We are to
believe this testimony to be true.
Faith
also believes that Jesus will do what He has promised; that since
He has promised to reject anyone who comes to Him, it is certain
that He will not reject us if we come to Him. Faith believes that
since Jesus said, "The water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," it must be
true; and if we get this living Water from Jesus it will abide in
us, and will well up within us in streams of holy life. Whatever Jesus
has promised to do He will do, and we must believe this, so
as to look for pardon, justification, preservation, and eternal
glory from His hands, according as He has promised them to believers
in Him.
Then
comes the next necessary step. Jesus is what He is said to be, Jesus
will do what He says He will do; therefore we must each one trust
Him, saying, "He will be to me what He says He is, and He will
do to me what He has promised to do; I leave myself in the hands of
Him who is appointed to save, that He may save me. I rest upon His
promise that He will do even as He has said." This is a saving
faith, and he that hath it hath everlasting life. Whatever his
dangers and difficulties, whatever his darkness and depression,
whatever his infirmities and sins, he that believeth thus on Jesus is not condemned, and shall never come into condemnation.
May
that explanation be of some service! I trust it may be used by the
Spirit of God to direct my reader into immediate peace. "Be not
afraid; only believe." Trust, and be at rest.
My
fear is lest the reader should rest content with understanding what
is to be done, and yet never do it. Better the poorest real faith
actually at work, than the best ideal of it is left in the region of
speculation.
The great matter is to believe on the Lord Jesus at
once. Never mind distinctions and definitions. A hungry man eats
though he does not understand the composition of his food, the
anatomy of his mouth, or the process of digestion: he lives because
he eats. Another far more clever person understands thoroughly the
science of nutrition; but if he does not eat he will die, with all
his knowledge. There are, no doubt, many who have died without hope
. . . who understood the doctrine of faith, but who did not believe. On the other
hand, not one who has trusted in the Lord Jesus has ever been cast
out, though he may never have been able intelligently to define his
faith.
Oh dear reader, receive the Lord Jesus into your soul, and
you shall live forever! "He that believeth in Him hath
everlasting life."
Take
a little time to get to better know Jesus. Visit the site
"Friend of Friends."
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