Chasing the Dream
Now flee youthful lusts, and pursue after righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 NASB
Faith – Do you have faith? It’s a fair question—if you are thinking like a Greek. You see, in Greek thought it is possible to possess something, to have it, to own it. “I have faith” is a Greek construction. It presupposes that faith can be acquired. But Hebrew has no word for this kind of possession. In Hebrew “to have” is expressed in the form of “to be in relation to” or “to be to.” In Hebrew, I don’t own it. I am connected to it through my actions. So when the Hebrew authors of the Greek apostolic writings needed to express the idea of “have,” they were forced to use Greek words that actually missed the entire point of the Hebrew idea. In the process, faith was converted to a noun. Faith was something I received as if it were a trophy I put on my spiritual shelf. The dynamic of faithfulness seen only in acting faithfully was gone. Now all I needed was the membership card.
But, of course, Paul’s comment about pursuing faith doesn’t make any sense at all if faith is something I have! Why do I need to pursue something I already own? There it is on my bookshelf. It’s been there since I said the Sinner’s Prayer. Why do I need to chase after it? I don’t, of course. I can prove it to you. I have a baptismal certificate.
“In the OT a theocentric view prevails. Hence faith is the human reaction to God’s primary action. At first faith is collective, and a wealth of usage appears only when individuals break free from the collective bond. The prophets give a new creative impulse to the vocabulary and imagery of faith. The greatest expansion takes place in the Psalms. Faith and fear are closely related in the OT; although contradictory, they shade into one another, and together they express the living tension and polar dynamic of the OT relationship to God.”[1]
If Weiser’s study of pistis is correct (pistis is tied to the Hebrew hesed, batach and other dynamic roots), then pursuing faith is the equivalent of placing more and more trust in God. It is deliberately and decidedly determining that God’s sovereignty is an immediate and present element of my action. Every time. Pursuing faith is letting Him have His way with me in every circumstance. And this requires effort because it is not something I have but rather something I do! I do faith. I am faithful. My actions show it.
By the way, the righteous man shall live by faith. Therefore, a man who does not demonstrate faithfulness is not righteous. A man who pursues a way not given by God is not righteous. I don’t care what card he carries.
Topical Index: righteousness, faith, pistis, 2 Timothy 2:22
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (849). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
It is Written
What is faith? Faith is our right response to what God says. “We” do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Why is this so? Without the scriptures (yes, the old words- the ancient ones) faith will not develop.
Where does faith originate or come from? What is the Source of faith?
(What do the scriptures tell us?) ~ Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God ~ (Romans 10.17)
First, the hearing. ~ Ears that hear and eyes that see– the LORD has made them both ~ (Proverbs 20.12) As you can see (with your own eyes) already I have quoted two verses from the Bible, the word of God, our “Him-Book.”
But how well did we “hear” these two verses? Did we- have we “received with meekness the engrafted word?” These words are not my words- these words are from the Book God wrote. Pay attention. Pay attention to what God says. Hearken to His words. Receive them. Welcome them. (But..!)
And here is where the Greeks and the Hebrews (might) part ways! For faith to develop, for faith to rise, for faith to grow, – we must “shema” the scriptures!
Today, we “add” to our faith! Today, we “add” to our Biblical vocabulary! (Amen!). To “shema” (a Hebrew word) is to both hear and obey! For faith to “take hold” or to “take root” ~ Whatever He says.. DO IT!! ~ Shema. (Both) Hear and do.
James, the brother of our LORD said – (are we listening?) ~ Be doers of the word and NOT hearers only! ~ (James 1.22)
The mother of our Savior said (to the servants) ~ Whatever He says unto you- DO IT!! (John 2.5)
Faith, is our (only) right-response to what God says. And what is our only right-response? (lol!) That’s right! (kids) – Obedience! Do what He says!
How many “Exhibit A’s” do we need to prove this to be true? Okay, doubting Thomas’s.. – as it has been said “if you can’t be a good example- be a horrible warning! So..- here we go!.. Starting (way back when) with Adam..
” Adam, Eve..” (yes, LORD?) “Please, – don’t eat the fruit!” And??? Did they obey the clear, concise instructions of YHWH? Dear ones, what is this disobedience called? Besides “utter foolishness” it has another name: “Sin.”
But wait! – There’s more.. (so much more..) Was our (not-so-great) great-great-grandfather the only one to disobey God?
No. Not at all. Wow! What a long, long list of sinners! My name also has been added to this “wall of shame..” Father, I (too) have sinned and am no longer worthy to be called Your son!
Ahh.. but this is not over yet! No sir.. no m’am! There is such good news to share! Friend, ~ God has provided Himself the Lamb! ~ A baby has been born in Bethlehem! ~ There is One Mediator between (holy) God and (sinful) man, – the Man (the second Adam) Christ Jesus!
And, have you heard? or do you know? ~ God has given unto Him a Name..- A Name which is above every other name! This Man is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is? – the Word of God. (Revelation 19.13)
~ Whatever He says unto you- DO IT! ~
Oh, btw.. I almost forgot.. Just as there are consequences (wages) of sin..- there are also consequences to our obedience as well! For what father or mother among us is not pleased with obedient children?
I have been told that I have the gift of faith. I myself, however, have at times been skeptical as to whether this was so! Thanks to Skip’s explanation here, I see that those times when I was skeptical were when I was NOT doing things according to God’s word. Now I understand that faith is not something I have. It is something I do.
That was elegant and simple, and a great summary for me, Thomas Elsinger. Thank you!
Here, for what it is worth, is where I currently am at with those gifts you are referring to:
GIFTS ARE FOR GIVING
I understand that all nine of those gifts are for me to do for, to, or with, others. And that includes myself. I am about tickled good with Skip’s description of things on a virtual spiritual shelf somewhere (makes me really want to ask where, but I will be nice). A gift from above can no more sit on a shelf than you can pause a sunbeam. They are for passing THROUGH ME. I only can get what I am giving away- even giving away to myself. Yes, I have been given the gift of healing for myself, too, from time to time, and I have used it to speak health into being for myself, as well as others, but I understood it to be a manifestation of my Father’s love for me or others, and nothing of, or about, me. In myself, I couldn’t cure a fly with a toothache, as they say.
Same with the gift of faith. It is the ability to speak, pray and ACT love into existence in the lives of others, as well as myself. Faith calls those things of love that are not as if they were, and makes them real. Faith sees what should be, just like Love would see it, and inspires the confidence necessary to build the field so that love will come.
we are told that these gifts are all to be coveted and asked for, but all of them are for each specific need. They do not stick around any more than that sunbeam does. The attributes of the Spirit list where they will, just like the Ruach HaKodesh does.
I have asked why we do not see more of these gifts, if they were given to be used as needed? Do we no longer need them? We do. I think there may be a couple of reasons why we have the need for these precious gifts, but are still lacking them. The first one is obvious: if we do not believe that healing, or miracles, or even faith, are for today, we will never ask, and we did get told that we “have not because ye ask not”. The second reason I think, is because we ask amiss, that we may consume it upon our lusts. If we believe that the gifts are about us, and not about serving needs, then we will ask wrongly. Frankly, I think we still have to learn to discern needs better (whoops, time to ask for that gift!), and certainly do need to learn how to care about those needs. I don’t think it is the arm of the Lord that got any shorter, we just don’t understand that a lot of it was supposed to be stuff that we reached out to do for each other. Ouch!
I have suspected that the main reason we tend to want to walk on the other side of the road is because we do not believe that we would be able to serve the needs we see in front of our faces (uh-oh, must be time to ask for that gift of faith for ourselves so that we will be able to believe that the resources necessary to serve those needs will be put into our hands). Oh, dear, it might just take a miracle to get us up to speed about obeying that injunction that we are to minister to each other. Wait! We can ask for that gift, too! We just don’t have any excuses!
I’m with Weiser. Don’t make it so difficult. Just believe. Tom