LIVING BY FAITH.
BY E. J. Waggoner
"The just shall live by faith." Rom.
1:17.
This statement is the summing up of what the
apostle has to say about the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto
salvation, but only "to every one that believeth." In it the
righteousness of God is revealed. The righteousness of God is the perfect law
of God, which is but the transcript of his own righteous will. All
unrighteousness is sin or the transgression of the law. The gospel is God's
remedy for sin; its work, therefore, must be to bring men into harmony with the
law--to cause the workings of the righteous law to be manifested in their
lives. But this is wholly a work of faith--the righteousness of God is revealed
from "faith to faith"--faith in the beginning and faith to the end--as
it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
This is true in all
ages since the fall of man and will be true until the saints of God have His
name in their foreheads and see Him as He is. It was from the prophet Habbakuk
(2:4) that the apostle quoted the statement. If the prophets had not revealed it,
the first Christians could not have known of it, for they had only the Old
Testament. To say that in the most ancient times men had but an imperfect idea
of faith in Christ is to say that there were no just men in those times. But
Paul goes right back to the very beginning and cites an instance of saving
faith. He says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous." Heb. 11:4.
He says of Noah also that it was by faith that he built the ark to the saving
of his house, "by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith." Heb. 11:7. We say that their faith was
in Christ, because it was faith unto salvation and besides the name of Jesus
"there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." Acts 4:12.
There are too many
who try to live the Christian life on the strength of the faith which they
exercised when they realized their need of pardon for sins of their past life.
They know that God alone can pardon sins and that He does this through Christ,
but they imagine that having once been started they must run the race in their
own strength. We know that many have this idea, first, because we have heard
some say so, and second, because there are such multitudes of professed
Christians who show the working of no greater power than their own. If they
ever have anything to say in social meeting, besides the ever-recurring
formula, "I want to be a Christian, so that I may be saved," they
tell only of a past experience, the joy they had when they first believed. Of
the joy of living for God and of walking with Him by faith, they know nothing,
and he who tells of it speaks of a strange language to them. But the apostle
carries this matter of faith clear through to the glorious kingdom in the following
most forcible illustration.
"By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony that he
pleased God. 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." Heb. 11:5, 6.
Note the argument to
prove that Enoch was translated by faith: Enoch was translated because he
walked with God, and had the testimony that he pleased God; but without faith
it is impossible to please God. That is enough to prove the point. Without
faith not an act can be performed that will meet the approval of God. Without
faith the best deeds that a man can do will come infinitely short of the
perfect righteousness of God, which is the only standard. Wherever real faith
is found it is a good thing, but the best of faith in God to take away the load
of the sins of the past will profit a person nothing unless it is carried right
through in ever-increasing measure until the close of his probation.
No comments:
Post a Comment