Check Your Panoply
Chapter Ten
Widening the Range of Faith
WHEN WE READ the apostle’s earliest epistle which he wrote to the saints in Thessalonica we can see his earnest desire to continue widening the range of faith of these young believers. Judging from his comment on Timothy’s report, Paul was satisfied that his toil in that city had not been for naught; now he knew of their faith (1 Thess.3:1-8). Hence he would not want to criticize it, as if it were inadequate in amount. For instance, he would have had no reason at all to call them scant of faith, and, as a matter of fact, he never uses this expression.
SCANT OF FAITH
It
occurs only in Matthew and in Luke when our Lord wanted to encourage His little flocklet
not to worry about eating and drinking and clothing (Matt.6:30-34; Luke 12:27-32), when
the disciples on the lake were afraid of drowning because of the storm (Matt.8:23-26),
when Peter hesitated to continue walking on the water (Matt.14:31), when the disciples
worried about their next meal, after the Lord had fed 5000 people with five cakes of bread
and again 4000 with seven cakes (Matt.16:7-12), and when the signs and miracles (which
accompanied the kingdom proclamation) were gradually vanishing and the disciples were
unable to cure the epileptic son (Matt.17:14-20). Here the Lord called their unbelief scant
faith. All these occurrences, however, are relevant to the kingdom proclamation; and
the term, scant of faith, is used only in connection with some physical need, as we
have seen. Since our Lord is the only One Who ever used the two terms under consideration,
it follows that at that time no one else felt entitled to do so. Being under grace, even a
man like Paul would never dare call any one “scant of faith.” Judgment and
criticism in this sphere is strictly reserved to the Lord (compare 2 Tim.2:19).
THE DEFICIENCIES OF YOUR FAITH
Now we
will admit that Paul had something different in mind when he wrote, “For what
thanksgiving are we able to repay to God concerning you for all the joy with which we are
rejoicing because of you in front of our God, night and day superexcessively beseeching to
see your face and to readjust the deficiencies of your faith” (1
Thess.3:9,10). The apostle does not consider the Thessalonians’ faith as being too
scanty; it is rather the deficiency in their knowledge of the truth to which he is
pointing. He wants to add a new truth to their range of faith, such as that developed in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, where we read, “The Lord Himself will be descending from
heaven . . . and the dead in Christ shall be rising first. Thereupon we, the living who
are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be together with the Lord. So that,
console one another with these words!”
PUTTING ON THE CUIRASS OF FAITH AND LOVE
While
Paul, in Ephesians 6:14, uses the term cures in order to describe the security
afforded by righteousness, he employs the same figure of speech in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 to
emphasize the general protection presently given by sober faith and gracious love.
During this secret
administration of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2,9) true faith does not look for signs,
but rather believes such divine declarations as given in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Gracious
love should characterize all our contacts with fellow saints and fellow men,
acknowledging those over us and patiently bearing with those below us. Only when we stand
firm in the faith and let all our actions occur in love (1 Cor.16:13,14)—only then
can we fully enjoy the salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for our sakes,
that, whether we may be watching or drowsing, we should be living at the same time
together with Him, consoling one another with divine declarations (such as quoted in 1
Thessalonians 4:17). And faith and love together will prompt us to follow the
apostle’s admonitions, given in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.
CONSOLED TOGETHER THROUGH ONE ANOTHER’s FAITH
After
Timothy had been sent to the Thessalonians to establish and console them for the sake of
their faith, and had come back, bringing with him the evangel of their individual faith
and love, the apostle was, indeed, consoled through their faith, and was able to repay
thanksgiving to God for them and beseech Him for an opportunity to readjust the
deficiencies in their range of faith as we have seen. Now the Thessalonians were not the
only ones whose individual faith toward God had come out (all over Macedonia and Achaia
and everywhere). We find a similar line of thought in the first part of Romans (1:8-12).
“First, indeed, I am
thanking my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, that your faith is
being announced in the whole world. For God is my witness, to Whom I am offering divine
service in my spirit in the evangel of His Son, how unintermittingly I am making mention
of you, always in my prayers beseeching, if somehow, sometime, at length I shall be
prospered, in the will of God, to come to you. For I am longing to see you, that I may be sharing
some spiritual grace with you, for you to be established: yet this is to be consoled
together among you through one another’s faith, both yours and
mine.”
SHARING SOME SPIRITUAL GRACE
When
comparing these verses in the first Roman chapter with the corresponding declaration in
the first Thessalonian epistle, we will find that Paul’s task of “readjusting
the deficiencies” corresponds to what in Romans 1:11 is described as “sharing
some spiritual grace with you,” namely such grace as they had not yet heard of. While
the Thessalonians needed information on meeting the Lord in the air, the Romans were still
ignorant as to justification, conciliation, and God’s sovereignty. Now it is through
the function of their individual faith toward God and His Word that these spiritual graces
are received, thus widening the range of their faith, as may be gathered from the
following quotations from UNSEARCHABLE RICHES, volume 31, beginning on page
139, volume 36, page 173, and volume 39, page 12.
THE FUNCTION OF FAITH
“It
has been suggested that faith is an act of merit on our part which procures
justification, and all who do not obey in this way, do not deserve it. What a travesty of
the truth! Faith has exactly the contrary function. Because it has no merit, it is
the only requirement in this economy of purest and fullest favor. Any other condition
would clash with it, but faith, having no deserts, is in full-harmony with grace
(Rom.4:16). Even faith obedience does not consist of acts performed in order to
deserve God’s gifts, but is a figure in which the obedience to God’s law is
displaced by faith in His Word. Faith is merely the channel through which
grace may operate. It cannot act through works or attainments of any kind. These can only
nullify its effects.
“Faith is the channel
of justification and should exclude all works, yet in these days even faith has been
degraded to a meritorious act. To show the real character of grace as well as to guard
the sense in which we fall out of it, we should closely follow the apostle’s argument
in Romans, especially the astonishing question asked in the sixth chapter, ‘shall we
declare that we may be persisting in sin that grace should be increasing?’ That grace
is increased by persistence in sin is quite the contrary to the teaching of Christendom.
Alas! very few of us are able to realize it in our daily lives, and, as a consequence, we
are still seeking something in ourselves and are dissatisfied with our attainments,
and actually do persist in sin without the sense of grace which should relieve us of this
load. This question tears away the veil which is between our hearts and grace, and reveals
it in all its comforting and captivating loveliness. We think that sin increases
judgment, and so it does for the unbeliever. But for us sin increases grace. This is the
great emancipation proclamation which so few of us have ever taken to heart. In their
experience and realization and appreciation the Galatians were no longer in grace, seeing
that they sought to add meritorious acts of their own to perfect God’s favor.
This is the case today with almost all of us, but it is a sin, and therefore, on
God’s side, only increases grace, though, on our side, it robs us of the enjoyment of
God’s gratuities.
FAITH IS THE CHANNEL
“In
Paul’s latest and highest revelation an appeal is made to the fact that salvation is through
faith (Eph.2:8), as heralded in Paul’s evangel, and is in grace. The point is
that the condition of salvation which is ours through faith, apart from works, is in the
sphere of grace; hence we were vivified together with the Circumcision recipients of
Paul’s evangel, when Christ was vivified. Such a blessing could not come to any
mortal on the ground of attainment, but ‘justified by faith . . . we have the access
also, by faith, into this grace in which we stand’ (Rom.5: 1,2). This is enlarged
upon in one of the most precious passages even in the precious Ephesian epistle. ‘For
in grace are you saved, through faith, and this is not out of you; it is God’s
approach offering, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting. For His achievement are
we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that
we should be walking in them.’ The scene of our salvation is not in ourselves or our
deeds, but in God’s favor. He is the One Who is working and even prepares the good
works which we may do.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
“Abraham
is set before us as the great example of justification by faith. In the epistle to
the Romans, after showing that no one comes up to the standard of God’s glory, Paul
makes known the foundation truth of the evangel of the Uncircumcision, that justification
is by gratuitous grace, through faith (Rom.3:22-26). He then enlarges on this and
shows that Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised. Let us
consider briefly, what Paul reveals concerning this great grace. To begin with, he tells
us that his evangel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who is believing
because in it God’s righteousness is revealed for faith (Rom.1:16,17). Here we
have a tremendous contrast to almost all previous revelation. There we are occupied with
man’s righteousness or rather unrighteousness, from Adam on, and especially after
Israel was given the law of Moses. Hitherto God’s righteousness condemned man. Now it
is made a part of the evangel to save him. Heretofore the revelation of His justice was against
all because of their unrighteous acts, now it is on all who are believing
because it is a gratuitous gift of grace bestowed on men for their faith
(Rom.3:21-24). Hitherto man has sought to display his righteousness through his deeds,
and failed. Now God displays His righteousness by justifying those who believe, and
it is an unqualified success (Rom.3:24-26).
THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST—FOR OUR FAITH
“No
man, of course, could acquire God’s righteousness by means of his deeds. At best he
could only establish one of his own. Nor can a man acquire his own righteousness by
believing. It is God’s righteousness that is reckoned ours by faith. The only
One Who knew no sin was made a sin offering for our sakes that we may be becoming God’s
righteousness in Him (2 Cor.5:21). It is a righteousness of God through Jesus
Christ’s faith, for all, and on all who are believing; it is out of His faith for
our faith (Rom.1:17; 3:22). Hence Paul says, “Not having my righteousness . . .
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God for
faith’ (Phil.3:9).
FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS
“Why
should faith be reckoned for righteousness? Whatever is not of faith is sin. What
God says is supremely right, and it is a mistake not to assent to it. Confidence in God
is the aim and object of all human experiences, along with distrust in man. At the
consummation, God will become All in all, and man nothing in anyone. Whatever leads in
that direction is in accord with God’s purpose and will. When God speaks, no matter
what He says, the only right lies in confidence in and conformity to His revelation. This
alone will guide us to the universal goal. Nothing, therefore, can be more righteous than faith;
it not only is right, but guides the believer aright, along the path
that leads to the bread and wine of God, the life and joy which await all creation at the
consummation. Those who have no faith, cannot but stray from the way. They follow false
trails that lead away from the goal. Even those who are respectable, and who know nothing
of sordid sins, are bound to miss the path apart from faith. It is impossible to be right
unless we believe what God has revealed: faith is reckoned for righteousness (Rom.4:5,6).
GOD IS CONCILIATED
“Here
is an evangel we can preach without reservations. It is really good news. It is true
whether it is accepted or not, for it has two grades or degrees, one for the unbeliever
and an added one for the believer. God is conciliated to both. Man is conciliated only if
he believes. God is not reconciling the world now, as the Authorized Version says;
He is rather ‘conciliating the world to Himself’ (2 Cor.5:19), and refuses to
fight with it now, but sends us as ambassadors of peace who refuse to hold men’s
offenses against them. So long as we are here, God is at peace with the world, no matter
how much they may offend him, and wish to war with Him. Today the cross avails to conciliate
the world, and to reconcile those who receive the conciliation.
EONIAN BLESSINGS ARE ONLY FOR FAITH
“Until
we believe, the eonian blessings are in no sense our due through Christ’s death, for
all that He did was for our sake, not in our stead. The eonian fruits of His
sacrifice are only for faith. After the eons, then, indeed, the value of His
sufferings and death will overflow to all, for then reconciliation will reach the whole
universe (Col.1:20). But those then reconciled with God will miss the bliss of eonian
salvation which is the subject of the evangel, as well as the high honors which are ours
with Christ in His celestial kingdom.
