Skip to main content

WHAT IS FAITH? IT IS THE REVEALED TRUTHS OF GOD PT. 3

Faith is presented as the Word of God in comparing the text of the O. T. and N. T. (Deut. 30:10-14; Rom. 10:6-8).

Justified by the Faith of Jesus Christ is justified by His knowledge. (Gal. 2:16; Isa. 53:11).
The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of Faith. (Jn. 16:13,14; 2 Cor. 4:13).
Illustration of what is Faith.
““FAITH is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1). The Greek word translated “substance” had a technical meaning in the business world of the first century. It referred to one’s property or effects. It was used in such expressions as “Out of this estate I declare that my husband owes me,” or, “more land than I actually possess,” the italicized words being the translation of the word. It was also used to refer to “the whole body of documents bearing on the ownership of a person’s property, deposited in the archives, and forming the evidence of ownership.”
Moulton and Milligan in their “Vocabulary of the Greek Testament” say of these uses, “These varied uses are at first sight somewhat perplexing, but in all the cases there is the same central idea of something that underlies visible conditions and guarantees a future possession.” Thus they translate “Faith is the title deed of things hoped for.”
To substantiate this usage, there is in “Living Yesterdays,” a delightful brochure by H. R. Minn, the story of a woman named Dionysia. She is described as “a woman of set jaw and grim determination.” It seems that she had lost a case in a local court over a piece of land to which she laid claim. Not satisfied with the decision of a lower court, she determined to take her case to a higher court in Alexandria. She sent her slave to that city, with the legal documents safely encased in a stone box. On the way, the slave lost his life in a fire which destroyed the inn where he had put up for the night. For 2,000 years the sands of the desert covered the ruins of the inn, the charred bones of the slave, and the stone box. Archaeologists have recently uncovered these remains. In the box they found the legal documents. They read the note which this woman had sent to the judge in Alexandria, “In order that my lord the judge may know that my appeal is just, I attach my hypostasis.” That which was attached to this note, she designated by the Greek word translated “substance” in Heb. 11:1. The attached document was translated and found to be the title deed to the piece of land which she claimed as her own possession, the evidence of her ownership.” Kenneth S. Wuest, Bypaths in the Greek New Testament, pg. 18-19.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT OUR INQUIRY ABOUT OURSELVES SHOULD BE?

WHAT OUR INQUIRY ABOUT OURSELVES  SHOULD BE? We are in the very last days, we are told that the last controversy will be very short. “We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. The last great conflict will be short, but terrible. Old controversies will be revived. New controversies will arise. We have a great work to do. Our ministerial work must not cease. The last warning must be given to the world. There is a special power in the presentation of the truth at the present time. How long will it last? Only a little while.” Ellen G. White, Selected Messages bk. 3, pg. 419. And in view of the lateness of time, what should be the inquiry of everyone? We are told: “The inquiry of everyone should be ‘whose am I? To whom do I owe allegiance? Is my heart renewed? Is my soul reformed? Are my sins forgiven? Will they be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come?” Ibid, pg. 419. We must needs examine ourselves to see if we...
Post a Comment
Read more

IMPUTED AND IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPLAINED By Nyron Medina

IMPUTED AND IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS  EXPLAINED By Nyron Medina Statement of the case 1. Imputed and imparted righteousness are usually seen as different things in apostate  theology; they are presented as happening either successively or at the very same time,  but they are presented as two different salvific functions.  “In this most illuminating paragraph, the writer traces two distinct phases in the process  of our salvation—two complementary aspects of the plan of redemption—which are in a  certain sense successive, but at the same time simultaneous; two different operations of  the same righteousness of Christ, which alone can satisfy the demands of divine justice  and make saints of us. Let us analyze in outline form these two phases:  A. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST BY WHICH WE ARE JUSTIFIED.  1. It is imputed to us, which is, credited, granted freely without our earning it.  2. It provides our r...
Post a Comment
Read more

EGW QUOTE ON SINFUL NATURE

We are told that Jesus had our “sinful nature.” “He took upon Him our sinful nature.” Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, 7/30/02. “In him was no guile nor sinfulness,….yet He took upon Him our sinful nature.” Ibid. From what we have just read, we see that the term “sinful nature” for Mrs. White does not mean that the person has sin for she says that Jesus was sinfree. But what does sinful nature mean that the person? A. It means human nature affected by sin not infected with  sin. B. It means human nature weakened by sin, but not resided by sin. C. This is the Mind, Emotions/Passions, Flesh and Experience weakened by sin, but not necessarily indwelt by sin. D. It is quite true that man’s sinful nature, a nature weakened by sin, in the average sinner may have sin in it. So sinful nature for the sinner in sin is a nature weakened by sin, but the man has sin in this nature. E. This means the man has sin in his Mind, Passions/Emotions, Experience, and sin in his flesh is sin in his Mi...
Post a Comment
Read more