Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
The word faith is used three ways in Scripture:
Faith demands an object as it must have something or someone upon which to rest. To receive salvation, the unbeliever is told to “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31a). For the unbeliever, faith in Christ is exercised with a view to receiving a benefit, and that benefit is eternal life (John 3:16). Faith does not save. God saves. Faith is merely the means by which the unsaved person receives salvation, as God alone does the saving. Though we may exercise faith and receive a benefit, the object always gets the credit, and in the case of our salvation, God alone gets the glory. And faith is never blind, but is an intelligent act of the will by the believer who hears and understands God’s Word. Paul tells us “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17; cf. 14:23; Heb 4:2; Jam 1:22). According to Charles Swindoll:
John Walvoord adds:
As Christians enter into phase two of their salvation, they learn to live by faith (Heb 10:38), submit to God (Rom 12:1), claim promises (Rom 8:28; 1 Cor 10:13; 1 John 1:9), give their cares to God (1 Pet 5:6-7), overcome fear (Deut 31:6-8; Isa 41:10-13), love others (1 Th 4:9), learn to rejoice (1 Th 5:16), pray continually (1 Th 5:17), be thankful (1 Th 5:18), and live with a relaxed mental attitude (Isa 26:3; Phil 4:11). Biblically, we know faith will be tested (1 Pet 1:6-7), is the only thing that pleases God (Heb 11:6), and should be exercised daily as we learn to “walk by faith” (2 Cor 5:7).
Dr. Steven R. Cook
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 818.
[2] Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, vol. 41, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990), 42.
[3] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 817.
[4] J. Carl Laney Jr., et al, “Soteriology”, Understanding Christian Theology, 240.
[5] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 820.
[6] Charles R. Swindoll, Acts, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2016), 147.
[7] John F. Walvoord, What We Believe (Galaxie Software, 2007), 87.
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