FAITH?

 BELIEVE IT OR NOT

According to scripture, faith in Jesus alone cannot save us from God’s eternal Judgment. Listen to Jesus Himself: “Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”, Matt.7:21; and verse 22 clearly points to the commandments as God’s will. Here He is again in Jn.14:15: “If you love me, keep (obey) my commandments”. Furthermore, the test of whether we love Him or not reads: “And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments, 1 Jn. 2:3; and verse 4 states that he who say he knows Him and keep (obey) not His commandments is a liar. But how else could we keep God’s law except obey it, since His law is spiritual, Rm. 7:14; and not physical or material? From the above passages, it seems clear that obedience to God’s law is a necessary requirement for all heaven-bound believers; despite what we might have heard, inherited or grew up to believe.

The Christian world holds that faith in the shed blood of Christ replaces obedience to God’s law. Nothing can be further from the truth, for Jesus, the one in whom they profess to have this faith, said that He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, Matt. 5:17. True, He said that if we believe on Him, we will have everlasting life, Jn. 6:47. But do they understand the kind of believing that is required here? Scripture speaks of only two types of belief (faith): One generates action (obedience) and the other requires no action; as so clearly illustrated by Jm.1:22-25. Unfortunately, the popular teaching is to trust in the one that requires no action, Jm. 2:9, which leads to spiritual destruction. They are blind to the fact that Jesus confessed to complete obedience to His father’s commandments, Jn.17:4, that in all His healings the results are dependent on obedience by the believer, that even the devils acted on His commands, Matt. 8:30-32, Mk. 9:24. Don’t let Satan and his human surrogates twist your understanding of Jn. 6:47. It requires, by implication, strict obedience to God’s will, Jn. 14:15, Matt. 7:21.

“By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast”, said Eph. 2:8-9; one of a few passages advanced by the Christian world to justify its disobedience to the law. Why did the Ephesians need grace in the first place? Paul explained in verses 4-5 that it was because they, like us, had broken God’s law and His foreknowledge and love for us had propelled Him to prepare us a saviour. Not surprisingly, those who use this text to teach faith without works, never mention that the same inspired scripture also said, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and hath not works? Can faith save him? …Even so faith, if it hath not works (action) is dead, being alone…I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead”, Jm.2:14-20. How can it be any clearer that faith in Christ requires obedience to God’s law to be a saving living faith.

Listen to their strongest argument in support of their ‘faith alone’, doctrine, ignoring the purpose of God’s law: “Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified before Him”, Rm. 3:20. Ponder Paul, the Jewish Christian, who said that the law is holy, just and good, Rm. 7:12; that he delights in the law, verse 22; that obedience to the law is the rule of life for Christians, 1 Cor. 9;21; that we established the law through our faith in Christ, Rm. 3:31; now supposedly advising his audience that salvation comes by disobedience to the law of God. This would be a gross contradiction on God’s part. There must be a misunderstanding here. 

It is fair to say that we often quote only part of a scripture to support our position on a particular subject, when the rest of the scripture or passage might produce a different understanding of the subject and Rm. 3:20 is not excepted. Proponents of salvation through faith alone are conveniently blind to the rest of the verse which says, “For by the law, is the knowledge of sin”. When this phrase is left out, the verse appears to say that salvation comes by faith without obedience to God’s law; which is their argument. No wonder Paul questioned in Rm. 6:1-2 whether we should continue in sin so that we may obtain more grace (the fruit of being forgiven); since all we would need for our salvation would be faith in Christ. But where is the proof of our faith? Surely not grace. To understand any subject in the bible, it is necessary to view all the scriptural evidences pertaining to that particular subject; and we should not inject our own interpretation either, because, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation”, says 2 Pet. 1:20; but each passage is interpreted by, and in conjunction with other passages. Here a little there a little, says Isa. 28:10. 

To further amplify the truth of Rm. 3:20 in its entirety, listen to the same Paul again, under inspiration, one chapter back. “Not the hearers of the law are justified before God but the doers of the law shall be justified”, Rm. 2:13. So, in essence, Rm. 3:20 seems to say that while the law points out sin, only Christ can make us acceptable to God. Whereas Rm. 2:13 is saying that obedience to God’s law is the path to being accepted by Christ. Clearly, as Jm. 2:18 points out, we can’t have one without the other. This too agrees with Jesus’ statement, He being the justifier, that only those who obey His father’s commandments will enter His father’s kingdom.  

Continuing with the topic of faith without works, James introduced Abraham to show that faith needed obedience to produce righteousness. He asked, under inspiration, “Was not our father Abraham justified by works (obedience) when he offered Isaac, his son, upon the alter? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works faith was made perfect… You see then how that by works(obedience) a man is justified and not by faith only?” Jm. 2:21-24. Let me add here that, ‘the thief on the cross’ repented of his sins and was justified by faith without obedience to the law; because he was also without the opportunity to obey it. Yes! God’s law is like a mirror. As sinners, we look in it and discern our sinful heart; but incapable of cleansing our sins we can leave them there and be spiritually lost or seek the only one who can remove them – Christ, the law giver. In this sense Rm. 3:20 is perfectly correct. However perfect we obey the law after breaking it, only Christ can redeem us from its curse. James said it best: “But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer; he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgettful hearer but a doer of the work. This man shall be blessed in his deed”, Jm. 1:22-25. James is confirming Paul’s statement in Rm. 3:31 that obedience to the law makes our faith in Christ complete. Isn’t it what Jesus meant when He said that He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill (come fully or establish) it? 

Satan will have us believe that no man can obey God’s law completely. But listen to a conversation recorded in Matt.19:16-26, between Jesus and a man who came to Him enquiring what good thing he should do to have eternal life. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”, Jesus answered. The man asked, “Which”? After Jesus had listed the last six in reply, the man confirmed his obedience to them; but was sadden on hearing that he had to part with his riches first. His reaction forced Jesus to explain how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom. This led His disciples, out of amazement, to question their own chance of being saved; having left all they had to follow Him. Question time! Why would a just God give His creatures a law, He knew, they cannot obey? The answer is clear: He didn’t. Jesus obeyed the law, Jn.17:4; “Abraham kept my commandments, my statute and my laws”, Gen. 26:5. Jesus speaking: “And I know that His (my father) commandments is life everlasting”, Jn. 12:50. Check out Matt. 7:10-12 and 22:35-46 and correct me if I say that Jesus wasn’t teaching here, obedience to the law.

If we live by true faith in Christ, we will be promoting the law of God by our dos and don’ts as per the commandments. True, we will slip-up; but like David, while paying the penalty for his sins, confessed that all God’s judgements are just and true, Ps. 51:1-4, our faith will be made perfect as we draw closer to Christ and be able to direct others. David repented of his sins and was forgiven by God, 2 Sam. 12:9-14; yet his unavoidable earthly punishment appeared greater than the death and sufferings he had created; but his restoration testifies to his faith in Christ; a faith that led him to declare, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart”, Ps. 40:8. Yes, our faith must travel beyond our emotion and lead us to obedience to God’s law; without which, it is as “dead as a door nail”.