In Provers 3:5-7, we have a choice between leaning on our own understanding of right and wrong by doing what is right in our own eyes or trusting in God with all of our heart by doing what He has instructed, and He will make our way straight, and this is what it means to have faith alone. God is trustworthy, therefore what He has instructed is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust in God is by obediently trusting in what He has instructed while it would be contradictory for someone to think that we should trust in God with all of our heart, but not trust in what He has instructed. Luther said that an idle faith is not a justifying faith, so he would be against certain understandings of what it means to have faith alone.
The Way to Have Faith Alone
- Thread starter Soyeong
- Start date
Rockson
Well-known member
FAITH is a word in scripture used in various ways and context takes one to the meaning.
What I mean is "government" is a word. But what's the context of how it's being used? There's federal, state or municipal governments. And they're all somewhat different. "Sports" is another such word. How is one using it? There's different type of sports and different rules apply based on context.
So with FAITH. What is one talking about when they say the word? Some people will say they have FAITH in Christ or in Jesus. What they're maybe meaning though is they believe that he exists. They believe the historical record. They may even say the believe Jesus died for the sins of the world.
They maybe even say they love God or appreciate him and the ways of his Kingdom. SUCH DOES NOT MEAN though that the LOVE ,,God (in the Biblical context of how Jesus talked about LOVE) choosing to bring one's life to be under the Lordship of Christ is a part of their life. YES they have a FAITH of a certain type....but not the type that they allow themselves to move in the direction of obedience to God or the actual leaving of sin.
I agree that faith can be in different things. Some people think that faith alone means that God does everything while we do nothing, but I don't think that is what Luther meant when he coined the phrase or what the Bible teaches because what God is doing is training us to do things, so someone is refusing to have faith in God by not participating in His training. In Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so participating through faith in being trained to do those works is required for our salvation, though it does not say that we are required to do those works first in order to result in our salvation.
The way to have faith in the holiness, righteousness, goodness, and other character traits of God by using those traits as the guide for how we ought to live our lives, which is also the way to love, experience, and testifying about those traits. If someone does not live in accordance with those traits in obedience to His commandments, then they do not love those traits and do not love God or the way of His Kingdom, which is why there are many verses in both the OT and the NT that connect our love for God with our obedience to His commandments. In John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, if we do not love him, then we will not obey his teachings, and that his teachings were not his own, but that of the Father, which is because all of the commands that the Father taught were specifically commanded for the purpose of teaching us how to love His character traits and the way of His Kingdom.
