12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
The three pillars of Christian virtue, derived from the Holy Spirit that brings such fruit into and through our lives are faith, hope and love ("charity" in KJV).
This is a three part series in which we will examine each of these three primary virtues: faith, hope and love. We will first review all three words and their meanings in general, and then each article will treat them individually.
Let's examine what these words mean in the original Greek:
Faith - (Greek word is pistis), means - "persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:—assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity."
See also Vine's Expository Notes on faith.
Hope - (Greek word is elpis) means - from a primary ἔλπω élpō to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:—faith, hope.
See also Vine's Expository Notes on hope.
Love - (Greek word is agape) means - affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love, a purely Biblical and ecclesiastical word. The attitude expressed by God towards His Son, the human race in general, and particularly to believers on the LORD Jesus Christ. His expressed desire is for this same attitude to be expressed by believers among themselves. An exercise of Divine will in deliberate choice made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.
See also Vine's Expository Notes on love.
To examine the Christian virtues in greater detail, including these three, check out this link from Bible.org.
JUST GOTTA HAVE FAITH
We know Scripture states that without faith it is simply impossible to please God:
HEBREWS 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith is not only believing that God "is", that is, that He exists (even demons believe God "is" and yet they are not credited for such belief as anything commendable, any more than those human beings that give intellectual assent to His existence; JAMES 2:19), but that He is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him".
The word rewarder is associated with a person who is obligated to pay wages due. In regards to genuine faith expressed in God, the LORD obligates Himself to reward such faith with that which is sought, but provided the thing sought for is in accordance to His will.
Faith is the 'spiritual muscle' by which we exercise our trust in God and His Word. In the physical, we are all born with muscle - but it's what we do with it (or not) that determines if we grow stronger or weaker. The old adage, "Use it or lose it" applies here (and apparently those who don't exercise faith do in fact lose it; see 2 THESS 3:2), as well as "no pain, no gain".
Everyone is given a measure of faith by God (ROM 12:3) by which, if exercised, we may apprehend the promises and truth of God as found in His Word, and grow strong in "the faith" - the body of doctrinal truth found in the Scriptures.
How do we as Christians exercise our faith? To "diligently seek" means to "inquire, (even) demand, crave" - those are strong words that intimate a persistent and powerful motivation; a determination to seek God no matter the obstacles, discouragements, doubts and overwhelming odds.
It reminds me of Elisha's inquiry of God when once his master Elijah was caught up to heaven in the chariot of fire. He leaves there and as he approaches the Jordan river, he smites the water with Elijah's mantle and asks, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" (2 KINGS 2:13-15).
The tone is not one of distress or doubt, but of certainty, as one who is diligently seeking out and expecting an answer, and an answer the prophet certainly received, for the Jordan parted miraculously and he crossed over!
Back to Hebrews on the definition of faith:
HEBREWS 1:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is in itself a thing immaterial, and yet here this verse speaks of "substance" and "evidence" - as if the things of faith were concrete, tangible, observable. To see with "the eyes of faith" is what I believe is spoken of here. Some would say, "Seeing is believing" but in spiritual matters of Christian faith it's the other way around: "Believing is seeing."
Recall what Abraham expressed when he demonstrated behemoth faith, believing God in his willingness to obey His Word by offering his own beloved son as a burnt offering:
GENESIS 22:14
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
What was it that would be seen? That which I believe God revealed to Abraham on that mount - that there would come a day when another Father would offer up His Son as a sacrifice (JOHN 3:16; 8:56).
The blessedness of believing without natural evidence was stated plainly by the LORD Jesus Christ:
JOHN 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Obviously salvation by grace is obtained through faith:
EPHESIANS 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Faith expressed without obedience is a vain faith; when we believe the Gospel by faith and obey God by repenting, confessing our sin, surrendering ourselves to God and believe in the finished work of Christ's atonement on the cross, that is a genuine faith. That salvation as itself something genuine and further demonstrated by good works and fruit that verifies that salvation experience (JAMES 2:14-26).
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (ROM 10:17).
The LORD Jesus stated that those who obey God's Word by faith are those who are solidly placed on the ROCK which is Himself:
MATTHEW 7:24-27
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine [His Word], and doeth [obeys] them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Let us be certain that our faith is genuine, active and leads to obedience to God's Word by examining our lives in the light of Scripture (2 COR 13:5).
One last thing about faith before we move on to the next of the 'BIG 3'.
There is a misconception about biblical faith that has borrowed heavily from the world of the occult. Yes, that's right - the occult!
There are those that teach that faith is a power, released by the spoken word of the believer (because, they say, God spoke His Word and creation manifested in reality; since we are God's children, "sons of God" we too have this power). This pronouncement is further strengthened if they visualize the thing sought for. They say that this power is the same that God used to create all things and will often quote HEB 11:3 to substantiate this belief. Speaking words of power and visualizing are common practices among New Age/Spiritualist adherents and witches - ever hear of an incantation or a spell?
The idea is that if one can muster up and determine to believe something to happen that the end result of such belief is the manifestation of the thing sought for. This is something that came into the church through the Word-Faith movement, but is based on occult teaching and something called Mind Science (or Science of Mind or Religious Science).
You will sometimes hear Christians complain of getting a cold or some other misfortune and another will say, "Don't claim it!" That idea of 'claiming' through the spoken word is part of this same unbiblical ideology.
Can we obtain what we want simply by exercising the 'power of faith'? If this is what faith is about, what then is there a need for believing Christ or believing God's Word? Should not we Christians base our faith upon the LORD and not mere exercise of some 'power'?
The faith may be small, as small as a mustard seed even; but that is inconsequential, for even such small faith that's placed in our Almighty God is effective enough to move mountains (MATT 17:20). The focus is not on our faith, but in the One we place our faith in! The LORD Jesus Christ!
And what is the motive that energizes our faith in God? It is a heart of love for the LORD!
As the apostle Paul expressed it:
GALATIANS 5:6
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Faith is simple trust, reliance upon, dependence in the Word of God and the truth expressed there. Anyone who ever exercised faith in the Bible did so as a result of God's Word of truth and was never 'a shot in the dark' or 'a blind leap of faith'. I've known so many Christians who attempt to express faith about some good fortune or event happening to them, but without any justification found in the Word of God, and tried to convince themselves to "just have faith it will happen".
There is much more than can be said about biblical faith, but I want to keep these articles short and to the point. For those who want to pursue this more, may I suggest the following:
The BEREAN CALL (www.thebereancall.org): Does Having Faith Give You Power?
Also from TBC: Word Faith and Mind Science and What's Happening To The Faith?
And from CROSS EXAMINED (www.crossexamined.org):
BIBLICAL FAITH vs, BLIND FAITH
Until next time when we examine what biblical hope is, beloved of the LORD, remain steadfast in the grace of the LORD, stand fast in the power of His might!
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