The Reckoning

When we read of or hear someone mention reckoning, it is usually in the context of settling accounts. We use this in finance in relation to year-end in order to report earnings and pay taxes. In common usage the concept more often refers to an appointed time at which a debt must be repaid. In a biblical context, we see the financial aspect as it pertains to indentured servitude (Le 25:50, 52) and property (Le 27:18, 23). There is a finality in these arrangements that infer a certain objective judgment and complete separation—especially true in matters before God as in the decree to Noah after the flood:

Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of all the wild animals I will require it; and I will require the life of man at the hand of his fellow man. (Ge 9:5)

More poignant is the final judgment of Christ, commonly known as the ultimate day of reckoning, wherein all is made right: sin is judged, evil is banished, and all creation enters final, eternal rest. For the wicked, their reckoning is a cause of distress: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (He 10:31), However, the righteous have a certain hope of glory because they have already received the benefit of their reckoning, which St. Paul explores from the occasion of a promise that God gave to Abram and Sarai for a natural-born son (Ge 15:6):

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Ro 9:1–3)

The average Christian might look at Abraham’s life (personal call and task from God, periodic interaction with Him, promise of a miraculous birth) and ask, “How does this relate to me? Abraham was obviously in a class by himself, and I am not.” While his relationship with God was indeed special (call and promise of land, seed, and blessing), he is not the only one of whom we read received a certain reckoning of righteousness.

When Israel was camped near Moab, a plague broke out because the Moabites seduced the men of Israel with their women, notably a brazen defiance to the Lord by an Israelite man who took a foreign woman to his tent. When Aaron’s grandson Phinehas noticed, he thrust a javelin through both of them thus stopping the plague, after which the Lord commended his zeal with a promise.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, stopped My wrath from among the children of Israel when he was zealous with My zeal among them. So I did not utterly destroy the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and there shall be to him and his seed after him a covenant of an eternal priesthood; because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” (Nu 25:10–13)

The psalmist later remembered this event while comparing Israel’s incessant wanderlust with the Lord’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

Then Phinehas stood among them and made atonement,
And the destruction ceased;
And it was reckoned as righteousness to him
From generation to generation forever. (Ps 106:30–31)

At this point, we might think that something is askew: Abraham was noted for his belief, but Phinehas for his works. What accounts for the apparent discrepancy? Looking more deeply, we can see that both men receive righteousness for the same criteria. When Abraham is introduced in Scripture, he is responding to a call from God, after which he receives the definitive promise of a son through whom the originally promised land, seed, and blessing (Ge 12:1–3) would come. Later, he would be asked to offer that son as a sacrifice, a command he willingly followed though not needing to fulfill. The writer of Hebrews looks back on these events and offers the common trait:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country,… By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,… (He 11:8–9, 17)

We are comfortable with this concept of internalized faith with God’s subsequent declaration of righteousness, however, we stumble when coming to St. James’ summary wherein he states that Abraham was justified by his works:

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (Jm 2:18–24, 26)

The key lies in verse 23: And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Wait. Scripture was fulfilled? Yes. While Abraham received the righteous reckoning when he believed the Lord’s promise of a son, that reckoning was not fulfilled until he offered up Isaac: the act demonstrated faith in the promise. In the case of Phinehas, then, we are presented the deed and reckoning without knowledge of a prior declaration: it must be assumed. This assumption is not without warrant because we are told elsewhere that “the righteous (just) live by faith” (Hb 2:4; Ro 1:17; Ga 3:11) and “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hb 11:6). For Phinehas to have pleased God in such a way as to merit an everlasting reward of priesthood (Nu 25:12–13), the work he performed would have needed to come from obedience borne of faith, not that earned or merited by virtue of the person or deed.

We can see from the above examples that Abraham’s faith was not superior to that of anyone else, rather what faith he had was sufficient. This same faith from the same Source is given freely to all who believe even when the outworking appears spotty. Indeed, all who appear in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11), save for possibly Abel and Enoch, are notorious in some measure for lapsing into sinful conduct, yet all received commendation for the work accomplished. Believers today are called to live by this same faith and also are given the responsibility of walking in the good works God has created us to perform (Ep 2:10) to the end that we receive in Christ the fulfillment of our being reckoned righteous.

The Word Is Near You

Christians feel the tension between a proper relationship of trust and obedience, of faith and works.  On the one hand, we have clear instruction that the righteous live by faith (Hab 2:4; Ro 1:17); while on the other, there are clear eternal penalties for not obeying the Lord (Joh 3:36; 2Th 1:8; He 5:9).  The tendency is to uphold one side of the faith–works coin to the detriment of the other; and while a two-headed coin may be suitable to win a wager, it has no effect in spiritual matters.

“Moses Speaking to the Children of Israel” - Henry F. E. Philippoteaux

Many, if not most, Christians have the misplaced notion that anything before the Cross was salvation and redemption by works of obedience.  Nothing could be further from the truth: Moses made this clear.  After delivering blessings of faithfulness, curses for faithlessness, and blessings for repentance, he comes to the end of his teaching with a summary statement, See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil (De 30:15), followed by the only alternatives they can take.  He explains that obedience and good works flow from trust in the Holy One of Israel, whereas disbelief and disobedience lead to destruction.  We can better see the relationship of alternatives by breaking the summary paragraph apart:

Life and good:

If you obey the commandments of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God that I command you today, by loving the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lᴏʀᴅ your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  (De 30:16)

Death and evil:

But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.  You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.  (De 30:17–18)

The path of life might cause one to think that God will bless simply by following His rules: in other words, I can work my way into God’s good graces—health and wealth is mine—lending itself to the perception of works righteousness.  The way of death, however, offers the corrective: if your heart turns away, and you will not hear…. The Septuagint helps clarify by translating the beginning of verse 16: If you hear the commandments of the Lord your God…. This is not to say that one can simply listen to Scripture being read or a sermon be proclaimed and instantly be righteous as a result.  That would be like fusing together the tail sides of the previously mentioned coins—again, suitable for deception but otherwise worthless.  The problem in our understanding of Moses’ instruction comes from the English translation.  The intent is to convey the two-fold meaning of hearing and heeding, so that the comparison given by Moses is not action versus inaction, but faithfulness versus faithlessness.  When Moses entreats the people to obey, he has the idea of actively clinging to the entirety of God’s revelation to His people and allowing it to be worked out in their lives: they hear with the intent to do.

Moses did not lay this on the people in a surprise fashion at the end.  He had begun his discourses with the same message, though stated differently.

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.  (De 5:1)

Literally speaking, Moses instructed the people to take heed so that they might keep the commandments to do them.  And it was not out of a sense of burden that the people would do this.  Moses reminded them of the unique covenant that God made at Horeb: they were the recipients of this treasure—not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, but this great people.  They experienced what great things the Lord had done, and though the people feared the Lord’s presence while the Ten Commandments were proclaimed, He was pleased by their initial desire to hold fast.

And the Lᴏʀᴅ heard your words, when you spoke to me.  And the Lᴏʀᴅ said to me, “I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you.  They are right in all that they have spoken.  Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”  (De 5:28–29)

Moses brought the nation to a moment of decision.  He implored them to choose God because He was their life that would be manifest in a three-part manner: loving the Lord…, obeying His voice, and holding fast to Him (De 30:19; see also De 5:32).  Devotion did not serve to win the Lord’s favor or gain the Promised Land: these they already had.  Instead, the people were to live out their calling and relish the blessing in believing His abundant promises, in order that they and future generations might enjoy the blessings of the covenant relationship (De 5:33; 30:20).

The combination of hearing and doing is brought out wonderfully in Psalm 119, which demonstrates the heart and intent of the grateful follower in relation to the Scriptures:

Blessed are the blameless in the way,
    who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who search out His testimonies;
    they shall search for Him with their whole heart.
For those who work lawlessness
    do not walk in His ways.
You have commanded us regarding Your commandments,
    That we should be very diligent to keep them.
Would that my ways were led,
    that I may keep Your ordinances.
Then I would not be ashamed,
    when I regard all Your commandments.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with an upright heart,
    when I learn the judgments of Your righteousness.
I shall keep Your ordinances;
    Do not utterly forsake me.  (Psalm 119:1-8)

The psalmist begins with an attention to blessing on those who cling to the law of the Lord.  His desire is to always receive the commandments and meditate on them so that they would lead his steps.  The verbs might cause the reader to think this is a difficult task, but the life of faith is not arduous.  Moses had told the people that no courageous or audacious effort was necessary: only believe and follow the Word of God you have been given (De 30:11-14).  Paul picks up the same theme and words in relation to Christ: all that is necessary has been accomplished (Ro 10:6-10).  Take hold of what Christ has accomplished for you: trust and walk in it.

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And what does the phrase mean, “The Word is near you?”  It means, “It is easy.”  For in your mind and in your tongue is your salvation.  There is no long journey to go, no seas to sail over, no mountains to pass, to get saved.  But even if you do not intend to cross so much as the threshold, you may  be saved while you sit at home.  For “in your mouth and in your heart” is the source of salvation.  And then on another score, he also makes the word of faith easy, and says, that “God raised Him from the dead.”  For just reflect upon the worthiness of the Worker, and you will no longer see any difficulty in the thing.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans XVII

I Doubt It

Being a doubting Christian is all the rage again because it’s supposed to signal your humility and non-judgmentalism.  It’s mostly a way to avoid hard answers and actions that require a commitment to the truth.  For example, everyone agrees to disagree on abortion or fornication, but disagrees to agree on things like the Creeds and the Confessions.

So opines Tim Wood in describing All Souls Church of Austin, TX, which advertises on its main page: QUESTION EVERYTHING – Even your doubts.  This trend in Christianity to embrace doubt has become mainstream, and those with celebrity status—sadly, there is such a thing—have been leading the cause.  In past years, Brian McLaren and Rob Bell led the way by constantly asking, “What if?”  While the question may be legitimate, no answers were offered—only the constant plea to continue the conversation.

Some writers and speakers have even become established for promoting doubt in Christian circles.  One of the most notable is Rachel Held Evans who became the butt of a post on the satirical site The Babylon Bee entitled “Rachel Held Evans Suffers Momentary Lapse of Doubt” with the lede:

“Horrifying.” That’s how author Rachel Held Evans described a recent moment of absolute clarity, in which she found herself believing God’s Word without a twinge of doubt.

Satire works so well because of its underlying truth.  Evans and other writers/speakers have championed the cause of questioning formative Bible teaching, while the state of uncertainty has become the new spiritual norm for Christendom.

This worldview has been popularly named post-modernism, being a reaction to rationalism that preceded.  Thinkers began to notice that reason was unable to carry mankind to the next level, so some began to deconstruct the faultiness of what had been purported, but, along the way, also they did the same for truth.  What was readily established with physical evidence and natural law was brought into question in order to consider alternative realities based on personal or communal experience.  Universal constructs were eschewed.  We now live in a society relishing in the dismissal of natural law so that groups can live by their own standards.

While we might expect the world to cast off such restraint, we would not expect so of the Church, yet so-called forward-thinking writers within the Christian milieu have determined that culture is the norm and rule of faith, rather than Holy Writ.  In a further move to entice the world with supposed relevance, local evangelical assemblies are seduced into believing that we are not to hold onto truth, but let mutual circumstances and gathering points be our guide.  No longer should we affirm:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.  (John 20:30-31)

No longer can we trust:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.  (1 John 5:13)

The mantra of relevance to which we might possibly cling (should we be so inclined) is now:

This is what Jesus means to me in my part of the journey, if you don't mind me saying that; and you can join in the same relationship, if you find yourself in a similar circumstance of life.

How does this help?  If we were “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1-3), in what sense can we offer anything of ourselves that might help another?  We have nothing.  We can only point to and proclaim with certainty the revealed and attested truth of our most holy faith in the grand redemptive work of the Triune God, bound up in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

An objection will be raised: “Doesn’t everyone have doubts?  I mean, even godly people in the Bible did.”  Yes, they did.

Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?  (Ps 10:1)
Will You forget me forever?  (Ps 13:1)
Awake! Why are You sleeping, Lord?  (Ps 44:23)

And that is only a small sampling.  Of course, there is doubt, because we do not know the end from the beginning, but in each case, there is the certain assurance of a God who is faithful in keeping His promises, who will act on behalf of His own.  We trust in that much as the desperate father who went to Jesus to cure his son: I believe; help my unbelief!  The father still had doubts about the final outcome, but he trusted in the ability of the One to whom he made his request.

We have a truth to proclaim—one which innumerable believers have died to uphold in stark contrast to the culture.  Let us consider so great a salvation.

You have been raised from your death.  Because Christ now lives and reigns, you too live.  Confess your faith boldly.  “This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.”  That isn’t a work to lead you toward righteousness.  Rather, it is a proclamation and confession that your sins have been burned away, and washed over by the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.  This reality is one to be boldly believed and unwaveringly trusted.  Trust it.  Repent, and believe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gaven Mize, “The Holy Trinity,” Gottesdienst Vol 24.2

A Cry Not of Despair or Distress, but of Faith

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Mark 15:34)

This prayer was not a cry of despair, not a complaint against God.  It was not a cry of disappointment that the help upon which He had hoped had not come in the end.  We understand this right away when we read Psalm 22 and see that of which it speaks.  First and foremost, we notice that here speaks a tortured person in his uttermost distress, a distress that strikingly reminds us of what happens with Jesus, of course.  The one who here speaks is mocked and ridiculed by the people: they shoot out the lip and shake the head, saying “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him.  Let Him deliver Him since He delights in Him!” (Psa 22:8).  He has become a reproach of men and despised by the people.  His enemies surround him.  They have pierced his hands and his feet and divided his garments among them.  His strength is dried up, and his tongue sticks to his jaws.  In the midst of distress, he can nevertheless confess that God is God, saying “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel” (Psa 22:3).  God will not despise nor abhor the affliction of the afflicted (Psa 22:24).  He will do what all the ends of the world shall remember (Psa 22:27).

In other words, we do not hear a cry of despair here from someone who has lost his faith.  This is, rather, a prayer that is indeed born of faith.  At the same time that Jesus lets us understand that He truly is forsaken of God and tastes of the utter and most awful consequences of our fall from God, He shows that He does this in obedience to God's will, in faith in God.  Therefore, this cry—this word from the cross—belongs well together with the other words from the cross.  When He says, “It is finished,” He means precisely that work work which His Father gave Him to do—that work which in every point kept the Law which we have broken.  To the last drop He tastes the consequences of all that we have neglected and done wrong.  And when He says, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (quoting Psalm 31:5), He expresses the same obedience and the same faith.  He was “obedient unto death,” says Paul, “even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8).

Eric Andrae/Bo Giertz, Gottesdienst, Vol. 22.1

Faith Is a Gift of God

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.… And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.  (1 Thess 1:2-3; 2:13)

Could there be a fuller or more evident proof that the faith of the believers is a gift of God, than these thanks given to God precisely because they who heard the word of God in man’s preaching did not disbelieve in it as coming from man’s mouth, but believed in God speaking through men and producing in their hearts this very faith?

Prosper of Aquitaine, The Call of All Nations I.23

God's Rest Is Still Available

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.  (Heb 4:1-2)

After making this digression to scare them, and to cause them to look forward to the hope given them, [the writer] gives attention to the rest bringing out that in times past the inspired David foretold it to us.  David promised us, he is saying, that there is a different rest, so let us be keen to attain it so as not suffer a fate similar to theirs.  Hearing the words does not suffice for salvation.  Accepting it in faith is necessary, and holding it firm.  After all, what benefit was God’s promise to those who received it, but did not receive it faithfully, trust in the power of God, or, as it were, associate closely with God’s words?

Theodoret of Cyrus, “The Letter to the Hebrews”

What Is Your Church Known For?

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.  (2 Thess 1:3)

Again [Paul] presents thanksgiving as commendation, and on the one hand he expresses admiration for their faith in God, while on the other he expresses admiration for their love for the neighbor.  On both scores he testifies to their perfect virtue.  The Lord said, remember, that in two commandments the whole Law and the Prophets is summed up.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Second Letter to the Thessalonians"

In Defense of the Faith

Psalm 48 is a beautiful meditation on Mount Zion: the place where God has chosen to place his name and to gather and contend for his people.  The sons of Korah use this backdrop to emphasize the response of a grateful people.

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
        in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
        so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
        Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
        because of your judgments!  (Psalm 48:9-11)

The Lord’s steadfast love and mercies have continued unabated for his people: they are knew every morning (Lam 3:23).  Indeed they are as eternal as God himself, knowing no beginning or end, so that before he laid the foundations of the world, the Lord Almighty created all things and acted in Adam’s rebellion not as a backup plan, but according to all his nature.  This he continued to do to a stiff-necked and rebellious people for his name’s sake in that promises were made to Abraham concerning a land, seed, and blessing.  The Lord’s faithfulness to act has caused his name and praise to reach beyond the borders of Israel.  He has acted in righteousness and is worthy to be praised for maintaining his cause.

Christians can relate immediately to this scenario for his or her own life.  As one once dead in sin and separate from the promises, he can look back on the mercies demonstrated during a life of rebellion until holding fast to the word of life.  Then after finding the life of faith is fraught with enemies on every side, he seeks refuge in the shelter of the Most High, who alone is our refuge and fortress (Psa 91:1-2).

The final section of Psalm 48 would do a child of Israel proud:

Walk about Zion, go around her,
        number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
        go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
        that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
        He will guide us forever.  (Psalm 48:12-14)

We can understand how the Jews would look to the strong, seemingly impregnable presence of Mount Zion as a source of exaltation.  The psalmist is drawing attention to those things that are set to guard the temple of God and his worshipers: towers, ramparts, and citadels.  Though not necessary for worship or governance, these fortifications aided the Levitical defense of the Lord and his things (Num 1:50-53), and they speak of what others had established for future service and protection.

Christians are able to use the same language.  Though there is no visible structure protecting the Church and her doctrine, we have centuries of “apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers” who have labored, many under dire circumstances, to correctly convey the scriptures.  As the faithful struggled to present sound doctrine against heresy and periods of persecution, one generation built upon the preceding.  They examined God's word to understand better his revelation.  When something heretofore undiscovered was brought to light, teachers would verify against previous orthodox teaching to ensure soundness.  Heterodoxy infiltrated when this check was not in place, future generations were required to quell the advance.  This body of historic, orthodox teaching is our tower, rampart, and citadel.  By remaining firm on scripture as faithfully taught, we can see the enemy approaching to sound the alarm, make the way of the false teacher more difficult in their uphill battles, and stand unconquerable in spiritual battle.

Ambrose of Milan tied the work of the local pastor in the defense of the faith to the work performed by the Levites:

You, then, are chosen out of the whole number of the children of Israel, regarded as the firstfruits of the sacred offerings, set over the tabernacle so as to keep guard in the camp of holiness and faith, to which if a stranger approach, he shall surely die.  You are placed there to watch over the ark of the covenant.  All do not see the depths of the mysteries, for they are hidden from the Levites, lest they should see who ought not to see, and they who cannot serve should take it up.  Moses, indeed, saw the circumcision of the Spirit, but veiled it, so as to give circumcision only in an outward sign.  He saw the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  He saw the sufferings of the Lord, but he veiled the unleavened bread of truth in the material unleavened bread, he veiled the sufferings of the Lord in the sacrifice of a lamb or a calf.  Good Levites have ever preserved the mystery entrusted to them under the protection of their own faith, and yet do you think little of what is entrusted to you?  First, you shall see the deep things of God, which needs wisdom.  Next, you must keep watch for the people; this requires justice.  You must defend the camp and guard the tabernacle, which needs fortitude.  You must show yourself self-controlled and sober, and this needs temperance.

On the Duties of the Clergy, I.50.260

This work is still needed today as men and women seek after unseen truths or innovative tactics to make a name for themselves in the name of furthering the church in the world.  God does not need our unseen and innovative to further the church.  He needs those who will defend and confess what has already been given through his word and expounded by faithful forbears.

Living Faith Demonstrated in Good Works and Peaceful Hearts

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.  (James 1:18)

When he says that we have been born again by the Gospel, he teaches that we have been born again and justified by faith.  For the promise concerning Christ is apprehended only by faith, when we set it against the terrors of sin and of death.  James does not, therefore, think that we are born again by our works.

From these things it is clear that James does not contradict us, who, when censuring idle and secure minds, that imagine that they have faith, although they do not have it, made a distinction between dead and living faith.  He says that that is dead which does not bring forth good works;* he says that that is living which brings forth good works.  Furthermore, we have frequently already shown what we term faith.  For we do not speak of passive knowledge,† such as devils have, but of faith which resists the terrors of conscience, and cheers and consoles terrified hearts.‡

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article V: Of Love and Fulfilling of the Law, 126-8

*  And fruit of the Spirit: obedience, patience, chastity, love, etc.
†  I.e., that merely the history concerning Christ should be known.
‡  The new light and power which the Holy Spirit works in the heart, through which we overcome the terrors of death, of sin, etc.

Beyond Comprehension, yet Every Bit True

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  (1 Tim 1:15)

The favors of God so far exceed human hope and expectation, that often they are not believed.  For God has bestowed upon us such things as the mind of man never looked for, never thought of.  It is for this reason that the apostles spend much discourse in securing a belief of the gifts that are granted us of God.  For as men, upon receiving some great good, ask themselves if it is not a dream, as not believing it; so it is with respect to the gifts of God.  What then was it that was thought incredible?  That those who were enemies, and sinners, neither justified by the law, nor by works, should immediately through faith alone be advanced to the highest favor.  Upon this head accordingly Paul has discoursed at length in his epistle to the Romans, and here again at length.  "This saying is trustworthy," he says, "and deserving of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Timothy

Works Neither Make Nor Keep the Sinner Saved

The sense is not that faith only in the beginning lays hold of righteousness and salvation, and then resigns its office to the works as though thereafter they had to sustain faith, the righteousness received, and salvation.  But in order that the promise, not only of receiving, but also of retaining righteousness and salvation, may be firm and sure to us, St. Paul ascribes to faith not only the entrance to grace, but also that we stand in grace and boast of the future glory, that is, the beginning, middle, and end he ascribes all to faith alone (Rom 5:2).  Likewise: they were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith (Rom 11:20).  He will present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith (Col 1:22).  By the power of God we are kept through faith for a salvation. Likewise: obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Pet 1:5, 9).

Since, then, it is evident from God's Word that faith is the proper and only means by which righteousness and salvation are not only received, but also preserved by God, … whatever elsewhere is set forth in the same sense, is justly to be rejected: namely, that our good works preserve salvation, or that the righteousness of faith which has been received, or even faith itself, is either entirely or in part kept and preserved by our works.

Formula of Concord IV.34-35

The Outsider Gets It

But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.… And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.  (Matthew 8:8-10, 13)

But I ask you to take note how [the centurion] signified that Christ is able both to overcome even death as a slave, and to command it as its master.  For in saying, “come, and he comes,” and “go, and he goes,” he expresses this: “If You should command his end not to come upon him, it will not come.”

Do you see how he believed?  For that which was afterwards manifest to all—that He has power both of death and of life, and leads down to the gates of hell, and brings up again—here is already made evident by the centurion.… But nevertheless, though having such great faith, he still accounted himself to be unworthy.  Christ however, signifying that he was worthy to have Him enter into his house, did much greater things, marveling at him, and acclaiming him, and giving more than he had asked.  For he came indeed seeking for his servant bodily health, but went away, having received a kingdom.  Do you see how the saying had been already fulfilled, “Seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you.”*  For, because he showed great faith, and lowliness of mind, He both gave him heaven, and added unto him health.

And not by this alone did He honor him, but also by signifying upon whose casting out he is brought in.  For now from this time forth He proceeds to make known to all, that salvation is by faith, not by works of the law.  And this is why not to Jews only, but to Gentiles also the gift so given shall be proffered, and to the latter rather than to the former.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, 26.4-5

* Matthew 6:33

Not Getting It the First Time

In John 4:43-54 we read the account of Jesus heading into Galilee, back to the city of Cana.  While there he is approached by an official of Capernaum whose boy is ill to the point of death.  The man asks Jesus to come to his house but instead of going, he did something better.

He simply sends the nobleman on his way, but with the message of hope and healing: "Go … your son lives."  And here suddenly we meet for the first time the word "believe:" "the man believed" "(v. 50).

But the word appears again later, as in conclusion: "And he himself believed" (v. 53).  This was considerably later, however, only after the journey northeast to Capernaum, only after his servants had told him that his son had gotten better precisely in that same hour of utmost need when Jesus spoke His Word.  Then "he himself believed."  In other words, the first "he believed" was not the faith, but rather a juncture on the way.…

This reading is evidence that even faith often comes to precisely those people on the periphery, at the outer limits, and that God's loving miracles often occur not "for the sake of faith," that is, faith that is already present, but rather confront, even wallop, a person so that he or she is shoved or dragged forward to the faith, the saving faith—saving because it received God's saving gifts.

Eric Andrae, sermon on John 4:46-54, Gottesdienst, Vol 20:3

I was struck when this sermon pointed out the timing and scope of the two mentions of the man's faith.  In Jesus' presence, he hears a promise and leaves believing the certainty of what was said.  There was no reason to doubt this man of God would effect a change in is son's condition.  That was good enough: he got what he came for though without a definite time when the son would be healed.

We might expect him to think there would be gradual improvement over a period of time, but when he got close to home the next day, the servants relayed that the son's condition turned around at the hour when Jesus spoke the word.  Now he really believes.  What had been the day before, an acknowledgment that a miracle worker was in their presence, was suddenly turned into believing faith that this Jesus was without doubt sent from God.  He was greater than first thought and could be trusted fully in all matters of life, both here and hereafter.  What began as a request to get someone over the hump of a serious illness became the vehicle for the entire household to be saved.

This pretty well undercuts the entire mantra that miracles only happen to those with greatest faith, which is rampant in the Word of Faith movement.  Yes, the official thought the trip might be worth the trouble, but he was probably grasping for any hope available.  We cannot even say he was a Jew, much less a God-fearing one.

What we have in this account is an example of the Lord extending his mercy upon his creatures to bring them to faith.  God does that regularly, though it is often so subtle we miss it until after the fact.  We overlook the bestowal of his goodness and end up presuming "the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience … meant to lead you to repentance" (Rom 2:4).  Here, though, the end was life, not just for the son who was physically ill, but for the entire house who needed a Savior from sin.

The Work God Requires Is Already Done

Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  (John 6:28-29)

The only work that will work is the work God does for us in Christ.  "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  He it is—Jesus—he it is who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  As the manna came down from heaven and sustained the life of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years, in an even greater way, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has come down from heaven as the Bread of Life who gives life—real life, new life, eternal life—to all who trust in him.

Trusting in Jesus to supply your greatest need, that is faith.  It is the work that gives up on one’s own works as the way to earn salvation.  Only Christ’s work on the cross does the job. He gives his flesh, he sheds his blood, for the life of the world.  This is the only thing that will take away your sin.

Charles Henrickson, "The Work That Is Not a Work."

Reformation Solas in the Early Church - Part 3

Sola Fide

Similarly we also, who by His will have been called in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, or our own wisdom or understanding or godliness, nor by such deeds as we have done in holiness of heart, but by that faith through which Almighty God has justified all men since the beginning of time.  Glory be to Him, forever and ever, Amen.

Clement of Rome (Letter to the Corinthians, par. 32)

Human beings can be saved from the ancient serpent in no other way than by believing in him who, when he was raised up from the earth on the tree of martyrdom in the likeness of sinful flesh, drew all things to himself and gave life to the dead.

Irenaeus (Against the Heresies, IV, 2, 7).

Indeed, this is the perfect and complete glorification of God, when one does not exult in his own righteousness, but recognizing oneself as lacking true righteousness to be justified by faith alone in Christ.

Basil the Great (Homily on Humility, PG 31.532; TFoTC vol. 9, p. 479)

They said that he who adhered to faith alone was cursed; but he, Paul, shows that he who adhered to faith alone is blessed.

John Chrysostom (First Corinthians, Homily 20, PG 61.164)

For you believe the faith; why then do you add other things, as if faith were not sufficient to justify?  You make yourselves captive, and you subject yourself to the law.

John Chrysostom (Epistle to Titus, Homily 3, PG 62.651)

"To declare His righteousness."  What is declaring of righteousness?  Like the declaring of His riches, not only for Him to be rich Himself, but also to make others rich, or of life, not only that He is Himself living, but also that He makes the dead to live; and of His power, not only that He is Himself powerful, but also that He makes the feeble powerful.  So also is the declaring of His righteousness not only that He is Himself righteous, but that He also makes them that are filled with the putrefying sores of sin suddenly righteous.  And it is to explain this, viz. what is "declaring," that he has added, "That He might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus."  Doubt not then: for it is not of works, but of faith: and shun not the righteousness of God, for it is a blessing in two ways; because it is easy, and also open to all men.  And be not abashed and shamefaced.  For if He Himself openly declares Himself to do so, and He, so to say, finds a delight and a pride therein, how do you come to be dejected and to hide your face at what your Master glories in?

John Chrysostom (Homilies on Romans 3)

Part 3 of 4 beginning here.

A Paralytic and Four Friends: Revisited

I have been thinking a bit more on the subject of becoming saved as a result of another's faith.  (See my previous post here.)  That led me to do some searching in the Church Fathers concerning the account of the men letting down the paralytic through the roof in Capernaum (Matt 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26).  There were several references to Jesus' proclamation that the man's sins were forgiven—generally given in the context of his willingness and authority to forgive.  Two authors had a more complete exposition.

John Chrysostom in Homilies on St. Matthew took the position that all five men had some measure of faith.

Now Matthew indeed says, that “they brought him,” but the others, that they also broke up the roof, and let him down.  And they put the sick man before Christ, saying nothing, but committing the whole to Him.  For though in the beginning He Himself went about, and did not require so much faith of them that came unto Him; yet in this case they both approached Him, and had faith required on their part.  For, “Seeing,” it is said, “their faith;” that is, the faith of them that had let the man down.  For He does not on all occasions require faith on the part of the sick only: as for instance, when they are insane, or in any other way, through their disease, are out of their own control.  Or rather, in this case the sick man too had part in the faith; for he would not have allowed himself to be let down, unless he had believed.

That is certainly possible.  Preachers have stated the same in the centuries following.  We have no way of knowing whether or not the invalid man had any faith in Jesus before arriving, however reasonable that conclusion might be.

Cyril of Jerusalem had a somewhat different understanding.  In a treatise on faith, exegeting Hebrews 11:1-2, he states:

Indeed, so much power has faith, that not the believer only is saved, but some have been saved by others believing.  The paralytic in Capernaum was not a believer, but they believed who brought him, and let him down through the tiles: for the sick man’s soul shared the sickness of his body.  And think not that I accuse him without cause: the Gospel itself says, when Jesus saw, not his faith, but their faith, He said to the sick of the palsy, "Arise!"  The bearers believed, and the sick of the palsy enjoyed the blessing of the cure.

Cyril attempts to bolster his argument with Jesus' statement to Mary, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40) as the example of supplying faith which saved Lazarus from the grave.  That seems to be outside the bounds of his argument.  Though the parallel of death between the physical and spiritual are certainly present, the former is temporary and the latter eternal.  Cyril was better served to let his point stand on its own merit.

For now, I will stay with the plain meaning of the text: the Lord saw the faith of the friends and healed the paralytic both spiritually and physically.  The man responded in faith by rising and going home.

Saved by Grace Through Another's Faith

How much does your faith or my faith play in the salvation of another?  Mark 2:1-12 speaks to this in a rich way as demonstrated through the determination of four friends.

And when [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. *  And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door.  And he was preaching the word to them.  And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Though early in his ministry, Jesus' reputation was already established, attracting those who desired good news of the kingdom or a healing touch, as well as those hoping to satiate their curiosity of this new rabbi.  On this occasion many were crowded around the door of the house, so much so that entry was impossible.  A person has to appreciate the tenacity and temerity put forth by these four men to get the paralytic to him.  Roofs at this time were flat and covered with tiles: time and energy were required to make an opening large enough to lower a person.  The paralytic, having been unable to come before Jesus on his own, was brought by his friends.  Upon seeing their faith, not that of the paralytic, Jesus pronounces his sins forgiven.  The man's greatest need was met first.  This is also our need.  Scripture tells us that we are dead in trespasses and sin (Eph 2:1) and completely unrighteous (Rom 3:10).  There is no ability you and I have in order to gain God's favor.  In ourselves, we are unclean, so that any attempt is no better than a polluted garment (Isa 64:6) having the same worth as rubbish (Phil 3:8).  It is only the Lord Jesus who has atoned for sin and whose righteousness is imputed to our behalf.

Is my faith the catalyst for this great work of grace?  How often we hear well-meaning or so-called Bible teachers tell us that the individual desiring a blessing must have the faith.  Not so.  Here we have a clear word that the faith of another is honored.  How does this truth manifest itself today?

An explicit reference is found concerning the family where one spouse is a believer, but the other is not:

For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.  Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.  (1 Cor 7:14)

Here we see the faith of the believing spouse has a sanctifying effect on the entire household.  All are touched as God honors the union because of one.

An implicit reference can be made to the act of spreading the gospel.  Unbelievers are brought to Jesus any time we expose them to the word of God.  When doing so, do we have the assurance of their sins forgiven?  Sadly, not, because the gospel may be rejected.  The promise we do have is that God has said of his word that

it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isa 55:11)

Reading the rest of the Mark 2 passage, did the paralytic have faith?  Apparently he did at the end when he got up and walked out.  Before that we have no idea, but we would expect this.  God gives faith through his word on account of Jesus' finished work on the cross.  The one who, like the paralytic, has had his sins forgiven needs only live in the certainty of the promise delivered to him and exercise the faith given him through the Savior who promised.


* Early in his ministry, Jesus used this house in Capernaum as his base of operations.  From Luke's account, only Peter, Andrew, James, and John had been called to follow him at this time.

Salvation Is Not Either ... Or

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

There is need of both, of faith true and firm and of confession made with confidence, so that the heart may be adorned with the certainty of faith and the tongue shine forth by boldly proclaiming the truth.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Romans" on Romans 10:9-10

Faith, Grace, and Promise Are Fulfilled in Christ

[T]he God of all, foreseeing as God that he would hereafter gather together one people of Gentiles and Jews and extend to them salvation through faith, represented both in the patriarch Abraham.  And thus then he calls him the father of the Gentiles, having shown that he had acquired, before his circumcision, the righteousness which is of faith, and after his circumcision, had not walked under the Mosaic Law but continued under the guidance of the same faith; in order that both Jews and Greeks, looking to him, might equally aim at his faith, neither the one anxious for his circumcision, neither the other his uncircumcision, for it is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but faith which the holy Scripture speaks of as righteousness.

Having thus shown faith was both older and more excellent than the Law, he now also shows that the Law was subsequent to the promise given to Abraham, in order thereby to make it manifest that grace was itself also prior to the Law: of this it was that the promises were given to Abraham.  For the promise was that "in his seed all the nations should be blessed," which promise received its accomplishment in Christ.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Romans"

Faith Completes What the Law Cannot Achieve

[Paul] neither extols the Law unduly, owing to Jews' impudence, nor does he provide the impious heretics with an occasion of criticism.  Instead he shows it giving the necessary instruction and proposing the teaching of righteousness, though unable to achieve this on account of the weakness of those on whom the law was imposed.  Then he teaches that faith put into effect the aim of the Law: what the latter was willing but unable to achieve, faith brought to completion through the grace of the all-holy Spirit.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Romans"*

* Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul, Vol 1, (trans. Robert C. Hill; Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox, 2001), 43.