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Faith Corrected
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, California, USA
Delivery: 2007-01-20
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2007-01-20 23:07Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kir-faithc.php
Christianity has its non-negotiable elements, its view of how the world fits together, of what God’s plan is meant to accomplish. Among its vitals—our understanding of faith. I am talking about faith as a verb. If we don’t correctly understand how faith works, we won’t understand how to be Christians.
Faith is more than a perspective. The Christian, as a matter of course, learns to see as God sees. He learns to live according to the Word of God and the power of God and not the word or the power of man. When Daniel’s three friends were carried away to Babylon, they may have been renamed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, but they determined they would see things as Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But faith is much more than seeing. Faith is action.
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah not only saw that God could deliver them from the fiery furnace, but they knew that possibly they would not be delivered—and still they insisted on being faithful to Him. Given opportunity to recant, they foreclosed it:
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up (Daniel 3:16-18).
This was a living faith. These had a confiding trust in their God and Nebuchadnezzar could not bend it. But let’s turn to one of the most theologically neglected places in the Scripture. Oddly enough, some frequently will use stories from the Tanakh (Old Testament) and certain passages from Paul’s writings in the New Testament, and yet, they will ignore that often, the Bible’s clearest theology comes from the earthly ministry of Jesus. Would you join me in including in our study of faith, some material from the Gospels?
At the Pool of Bethesda
Consider the lesson from the man at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-15:
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
Let’s focus our attention in particular on the facts of Jesus’ brief discussion with this man. Notice that Jesus does not open with a Bible study on the point that if he will only accept Christ as his personal Savior, he will be forgiven all his sins. Jesus simply asks him, “Would you be made whole?” He does not ask him whether he would like to be made well, but only whether he will be made well or not.
The answer given is an implicit yes, but the man is trapped in smaller thinking. He is sure that what he needs is someone to lift him down into the waters of the pool at the single moment anticipated in the superstitious story. He would have been content for Jesus to sit down next to him there on the edge of the pool and wait until a ripple on the water’s surface sent the fevered crowd rushing for the water, and then have Jesus whisk him into the pool first. He would have been content with that.You see, this is where, too often, we are. We are content to wait, while we may be healed even now. Somehow we have lost our expectation that Jesus will work for us—today.
Keep in mind that Jesus chose to give this man physical healing. Often we are sure we need physical healing when God may know that we need something different at that time. Most of the time it is mental and spiritual healing that we need more than physical. But we must be willing to receive what He gives even if it isn’t what we might prefer. Jesus still lives, and is still asking, “Will you be made whole?”
So He tells the man very simply, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” Now what if the man, at this juncture, had doubted? Then he would not have been made whole. He would have chosen not to actively believe, not to exercise his faith. But what did he do?
He chose to act in faith. Why did he believe? Surely Jesus’ tender, compassionate face and the intensity of His question helped earn the man’s attention. The man dared to hope. He believed Christ’s word. He believed that he was made whole. He set himself to obey the command of Jesus and in acting he received strength. He made the effort at once. He willed to walk. He acted on the word of Christ and Christ gave the power. What was going on here?
Very simply, if you believe, then God supplies the fact. It is so if you believe it. God pardons you personally, individually. This is what needs to be understood—and acted upon. Look how practical this is: two short sentences from the classic book, Steps to Christ, p. 51:
It is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have received them.
The story of the paralytic man at the Pool of Bethesda gives us great hope. Experiencing salvation need not involve some long theological formula; nor need we numerous semesters of theological lectures on the writings of Paul to get it. We see what Jesus did for this man at the Pool and we say “Hey—I can do that. If He says to do it, then He gives the power. It works.”
(Remember, we are not saying that everyone who is unable to walk should try to stand up and physically move. It may or may not be God’s purpose to give one that kind of healing. But it is always His purpose, and we can accept it whether we see any kind of apparent evidence or not, that our Lord Jesus Christ wants to cleanse us from sin, to adopt us as His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. In respect to those areas, yes, we are all urged by Jesus to Rise, take up our bed, and walk. Embrace an active faith. Let God forgive you, let your Carpenter rebuild you.)
The Ten Lepers
Let’s try another one of these. Consider the lesson from the ten lepers of Luke 17:11-19:
And it came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when He saw them, He said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Here, ten lepers spot Jesus. Keeping their distance, they call out to Him. Their appeal to Jesus is not to any goodness in themselves, but to His mercy.
We may always appeal to God’s mercy. We have no righteousness to bring to Him, none whatsoever. We bring no offering that can atone for our sins in any way. Our Lord wants us too come to Him with our requests.
Jesus’ response here is like His response to the man at the Pool of Bethesda. He urges them to act on their request, to trust His willingness to heal. “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” is Jesus’ reply to them. This was in accordance with the instruction in Leviticus chapter 13 on how the priests were to examine one for leprosy.
And when were these cleansed of their leprosy? Only “as they went.” Faith has a strong active component or it isn’t faith. Mark you, this is not salvation by works; it is faith in action. This is just what James said when he pointed out that faith without works is dead (James 2:17, 20, 26). You know, it is interesting how the New Testament comes down to us, so that we have the Gospels and Jesus’ demonstrating what faith is here at the front, then you have the writings of Paul, and after Paul you have the book of James. It seems that God, centuries ahead of us, saw the error that would develop, and carefully bracketed Paul with Jesus at the front and James at the back. He wants us to interpret Paul aright.
When Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests, He was saying that He had answered their plea for healing. Go, show yourselves, because there will be something to show! But here comes the cooperative part; unless they go, they will not be cleansed.
Now here’s the key point. “As they went they were cleansed.” When Jesus said, Go, they went. Too often we come to Jesus and ask for His help. And He immediately offers His help. But then we refuse it. Fortunately for the lepers, they understood their need. When Jesus said “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” He was doing the same thing as He did with the man at the Pool of Bethesda. He was saying “Rise, Take up your bed, and walk.” He was saying that faith was not so much about seeing as about acting, doing, being in motion according to God’s command.
Yes, as they went they were cleansed. Just as the paralytic at the pool was healed as he rose, took up his bed, and walked.
A remarkable, and frequent statement by Jesus, is offered here. “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Whose faith? Your faith.
Make no mistake; without God, nothing is possible. Man would rot to death in his own juices; he would destroy himself. But in all these cases, God is bending down from on high. He is laboring to help us, to appeal to us, to cause us to do faith as a verb. Faith is not static, not just seeing. It is not a practice of pious navel-gazing. Faith is active; faith lays hold of Jesus with its bare hands.
The Centurion
We have time for at least one more story. Consider the centurion’s faith in Matthew 8:5-13:
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Notice. Someone is sick. Here comes the centurion to Jesus. The amazing thing is that this non-Jewish, Roman soldier does not even require instruction by Jesus. Jesus keeps telling His countrymen to trust in God’s word, but Mr. non-Jew here already has the concept. Not Jesus’ lips, but the lips of the soldier explain:
Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
That’s it! God must speak the word. That is all. Then it will come to pass. God must speak the word; someone must act out his faith. The soldier understands the concept of authority and chain of command. Notice then Jesus’ response: “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Here, the person is healed. Not on the basis of their own faith, but the servant is healed on the basis of the faith of the centurion. In response to one person’s faith, Jesus heals another. After all, the centurion here is interceding for his servant. And we benefit from a lesson on how faith works.
The Faith That is Unto Salvation
In each of the cases reviewed, what is happening? There is a gain, an accession, of vital power. In each case, someone broken is made whole. Each time, Heaven sends forth healing virtue. There is a living faith that is operative. These are believing the word of Christ. Many hundreds of years later, they help us to understand what we must do. We must believe in Christ, that is, act in faith. If He says rise up, we must rise up, if He says go, then we must go.
This is the kind of faith we must have, a verb kind of faith, a faith that embraces Jesus as a personal Savior. When we embrace Jesus, He grants to us His merits. There is a transaction. We are joining ourselves in covenant relation to Him. There is a newness in the battle. God would make us “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37) through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is more than merely seeing things as God sees them. Were that alone our definition of faith, we might fall into a certain passivity, an idea of faith as more concept than action. But if you want to hear the kind of faith we just saw in the Gospel incidents we looked at, crystalized and capsulised in one glowing, radioactive, enormously helpful statement, then listen to this:
The wondering crowd that pressed close about Christ realized no accession of vital power. But when the suffering woman put forth her hand to touch Him, believing that she would be made whole, she felt the healing virtue. So in spiritual things. To talk of religion in a casual way, to pray without soul hunger and living faith, avails nothing. A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul. The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith, cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power (The Desire of Ages, p. 347).
That’s what faith is. There it is, all in one passage. If anyone has had a misunderstanding of faith, there is faith corrected.
Someone I know spent a lot of time recently telling others that they did not know what faith was. After laying it on so thickly as to lead to self doubt, he then seemed to pull a definition out of thin air, stating that faith was “seeing as God sees.” You know, what is interesting, is that if you search that phrase on the internet, you come up with Episcopalians, Lutherans, and others using it. Never Adventists. But don’t misunderstand me. There is some truth here. We can rightly say that faith includes an attempt on our part to see from the divine perspective. But let’s be careful. Standing alone, such a definition is insufficient. Let’s not leave aside the action part of faith.
And we do have to be careful, because someone will plug this into a text like Habakkuk 2:4 and later Paul’s use (Romans 1:17) and say that the just shall live by seeing himself as God sees him in Christ. Does that work with the incidents from the ministry of Jesus we have reviewed?
It wasn’t seeing as God sees that made well the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda; it was acting when God said to act. Jesus didn’t say, “Your problem is that you are not seeing yourself as God sees you in Me.” Rather, He said, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.”
And the ten lepers: Jesus didn’t tell them, “You need to see yourselves as God sees you in Me.” Rather, He told them to go and then show themselves to the priests. And as they were going they were cleansed. Exactly what is going on here? Being “in Christ” is a choice.
The centurion already understood how it worked. As a non-Jew he was only trying to make sure that Jesus would receive his request. He knew that all that was needed was for Jesus to “speak the word.” He was not in need of creative definitions. Just the word of Christ. He was ready to act in faith on the word of Jesus.
Unless the paralytic had risen, taken up his bed, and walked, he would not have been in Christ. If he was not in Christ, God would not see him as he was in Christ. The ten lepers, again, unless they responded to Jesus’ command to go and then to show themselves to the priests, would not have been “in Christ.” God saw them in Christ when they obeyed the merciful directive of Jesus to go. As they went they were cleansed, because it was as they went that they through faith—an active verb—truly chose to be in Christ. And Jesus said what? “Your faith has made you whole.” Likewise, this Roman soldier was displaying a faith that Jesus desired His own countrymen to. He was acting out his faith by coming to Jesus, and if anyone in that crowd was in Christ, he was.
Conclusion
You know, I am sure my friend would agree that these things we have shared can help to round out what there is to say about this important topic: faith. Can we agree, that we want to see as God sees? Yes, I know we can. But then let’s agree also to put our faith to the test by keeping it as an active verb, and then not just some kind of mental concept, but something we do actively. I am thankful that there is an interest in this topic today, and that God’s servants are preaching it. May we grow in faith so that we are ready always to do what Jesus says. His grace is ready. He offers us help from beyond so that our faith—the faith He gives us—will be ready. GCO
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