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The Hidden Gospel

TRUE FAITH

Chapter Four

The Hidden Gospel, book by David W. Dyer

A "Grain Of Wheat" Ministries publication

Written by David W. Dyer

INDEX

Chapter 1: The Hidden Gospel

Chapter 2: The New Life

Chapter 3: More Translation Problems

Chapter 4: True Faith (Current Chapter)

Chapter 5: Transformation



Chapter 4: TRUE FAITH


Since we know that the true experience of the gospel about which we are speaking is ours through faith, it seems necessary to spend some time to investigate what faith really is.

If, in some way, our understanding of faith is insufficient or even in error, this will limit our experience of the marvelous truths which we have been investigating. Unfortunately, this is another subject which is fraught with misunderstanding.

It is very clear in the scriptures that our salvation is by God’s grace through faith. There is no reason for anyone to doubt this precious truth. Yet, what does “faith” mean? How are we to have it or, once we have it, how can we have more of it?
Since, as we have been seeing, salvation is something of which we desperately need more and more, it is important to understand what faith is.

How can we arrive at faith? Obviously it is not something we can generate from within ourselves. It is not a result of our “works” or self-effort. The scriptures teach us: “For by grace you are being saved through faith which is not your own, but instead is a gift from God” (Eph 2:8).

So we see that true faith does not originate with us. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. It comes through grace. It is something which God freely gives us.

But how does this work? How does God give us faith? He does it by revealing Himself to us. We read: “...everyone who sees the Son and believes into him, would have his eternal life {ZOÊ}” (Jn 6:40).

Do you understand this? Jesus gives us faith by revealing Himself to us. First, in some way which He chooses, He shows us something about Himself or speaks to us. Then, our reaction to this revelation is called “faith.”

This truth is reaffirmed to us in John’s gospel where we read: “This was the beginning of the signs which Jesus did in Cana of Galilee through which he manifested his glory – and his disciples believed into him” (Jn 2:11). The disciples’ faith was a result of seeing His glory.

Abraham, the “father of faith” came to his faith in exactly the same way. First, “...the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision...” (Gen 15:1). Then, “...he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). So we see that faith comes from God revealing Himself to us. Our reaction to His revelation is called “faith.” This is why He is called the “...author and finisher of our faith” (NKJV).

Another version reads: “...Jesus, the originator and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2). Our faith begins with Him and is perfected by Him as He increasingly shows more of Himself to us.

Still another popular verse which confirms this truth is Romans 10:17 where we read: “So faith comes through hearing and hearing by the word which is spoken {RHEMA, Gk} by God.” Please notice that the Greek word here is not LOGOS, which could mean the Bible, but words which God actually speaks to us.

All true faith is the result of the revelation of God. It is not a mental, intellectual exercise. It is nothing which we can achieve ourselves. It is not the result of Bible study, memorization, or constant repetition of Bible verses.

All these are just the efforts of the flesh through the human mind. Although many Christians are occupied with these things hoping to have more faith, it is a vain effort.

Far too many Christians are trying to arrive at faith in this carnal way. They are trying to “believe” in many scriptural truths, hoping that through this exercise, these precious truths will become real in their lives.

This is just an ineffective, natural attempt to arrive at something spiritual. It is engaging the efforts of the soul (PSUCHÊ) to try and produce something which only happens through the Spirit of life (ZOÊ). While some might manage to convince themselves of some biblical truth or other using these methods, this is not true faith. The source of faith is not of this earth. It does not come from ourselves. It is a gift which comes from God.

The truth that it is God who gives us faith is emphasized in the original New Testament language. There are many instances when some translations read “faith in Jesus,” but the Greek actually reads: “the faith of Jesus.” (Rm 3:22,26; Gal 2:16, 3:22; Rev 14:12 for example). This is a different meaning. Truly faith comes from Him and not from ourselves.

As an example of the way many Christians try to “believe” in Bible verses, let us look at 2 Corinthians 5:17. This is one verse which I have found many Christians trying to believe, yet without results. Since this verse is found in the Bible, they are assured that it must be true. They try and try to believe, but their experience is entirely different than what they read.

In the New King James Version we read: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” When we honestly analyze this verse, it doesn’t seem to fit with our experience. The fact is that not all the “old things” have gone away. Many of them are still here. Furthermore, everything has not become new. This is simply not true in our experience.

Yet many, many Christians are trying to “believe” this verse. They are trying desperately to imagine that what still seems to be “old” is not really real. They are trying to convince themselves that “everything has become new.” They are trying very hard to “believe the Bible.”

Unfortunately, concerning this verse in 2 Corinthians, our New Testament translations have again failed us. Did you notice that the words “he is” in the clause “he is a new creation” are in italics? This is because they are not in the original text. There is no personal pronoun “he” in the Greek.

Also, the Greek word translated “passed away” would be much better translated “bypassed” or “superseded.” With this in mind I would like to present an alternative translation which I believe fits better with our experience.

“When anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation inside of him. The original {natural} man has been superseded {passed by, Gk}; look, a completely new being has been generated [the new spiritual man].” This, then, is something which seems more real. It fits much better with our experience as Christians.

The unfortunate truth is that using our mental powers to try and create faith actually harms our faith. When we apply our mind to try and “believe” something and yet it does not become real to us, this makes our spiritual life more and more imaginary and less experiential.

Many, through continued effort with this kind of mental exercise, become discouraged and even lose the faith they had. Since what they are trying to “believe” is not happening for them, they lose hope and begin to doubt the truth of the gospel. This sad situation is made even worse when they are trying to believe in verses which have not been well translated.

It is also very common for Christians trying to believe in this way to end up in unreality and error. Since what they are trying to believe is not real to them, their spiritual lives become full of imagination.

Therefore, they are easily led to “believe” all sorts of foolish “visions,” revelations, teachings, etc. which have little, if any, basis in reality. This common condition is a result of trying to have a mental “faith” in things which are not really real in our experience. Today’s churches are full of just such unreality.

So we see that true faith is what God gives to us through revealing Himself to us. It is a spiritual certainty which we receive as we respond positively to all He is showing to us about Himself.

This is made very clear in Hebrews 11:1,2 where we read: “Now faith is when what is hoped for is made real to us [in the spirit]. It is when we have a genuine inner conviction concerning unseen things. For this is how those of old received God’s approval.” This is the faith which is given to us by God.

Let us suppose that we have come to faith through Jesus revealing Himself to us. But we find we need more faith. The faith which we have is limited and is not bringing us into the fullness of the salvation which we know we need. How can we have more faith? We can have more faith simply by asking God. Since He is the source, when we seek Him, He will reveal more of Himself to us. He will show us Himself, His plans, and His purposes (Lk 11:9). Then, our faith will grow as we respond positively to what He is showing us.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

When Jesus first reveals Himself to us and we believe, we become “born from above” (Jn 3:3). We become His children. At that moment because of our faith, God considered us to be just. This means that He overlooks our defects and interacts with us as if we were completely righteous. This is what is called “justification by faith.”

However, after Jesus first reveals Himself, He doesn’t stop there. He keeps on revealing Himself every day in various ways. Then, we can continue reacting to this revelation in faith, that is by believing in what He is showing us and acting upon it.

God’s revealing of Himself to us is meant to be a lifelong, unending process. Each and every day He is leading us more and more into His will. He continues to speak to us. He continues to reveal Himself, His will, and direction. Our part is to believe and follow Him into what He is revealing to us.

But what happens if we stop believing? What happens if we don’t respond in faith to what Jesus is saying to us? What about when we resist His will and do not do what He is asking of us? Can it be that He still considers us righteous?

The answer to this question has a lot to do with our new understanding of the aorist verb tenses in the New Testament. (If you have forgotten, please refer back to our discussion of the aorist tense in chapter 3.)

For example, in Acts 13:39 we read: “...and that by him, everyone who is believing is being considered just...” Further, Romans 3:24 teaches us that we are: “...being justified freely by His grace...” (NKJV).

As long as we are responding in faith to what Jesus is revealing to us of Himself, He overlooks our sin and considers us to be righteous. We “are being justified” by faith in Him.

But when we do not believe, when we resist His will, when we rebel against what He is showing us, then this justification is no longer in effect. When we stop believing, we stop being justified. This means that God is no longer looking upon us as “just” people.

Does this mean that we are “lost?” In no way! Once we are “born from above,” we will always be His children. His eternal life is indeed eternal. Yet, when we resist and rebel, He knows this. It is not hidden from Him. He then no longer deals with us as righteous children but as rebellious sons and daughters.

James, in his epistle, makes this very clear. He says that our faith can die. It can become inactive, not producing results in our lives.

He shows us that our faith, if and when it no longer causes a positive, obedient response within us, has become dead and no longer justifies us. We read: “For as the body separated from the spirit is just a corpse, in the same way faith separated from actions is dead” (Js 2:26).

This sentence was written by him to address the very subject we are investigating: being considered just by faith. He was trying to explain that dead, inactive faith does not justify us. Although we are still God’s children and are loved by Him, He is not so blind as to suppose that we are righteous when we are living in rebellion against Him.

In order for us to continue being considered just by our Father in spite of our defects, we need to continue believing. We must continue responding in faith to all that He is revealing to us. Just believing once, a long time ago, is not sufficient to be considered just today. It is our daily faith which results in our daily justification.

If and when we realize that we have been disobeying Him and not responding to what He is revealing to us, then we need to repent. We need to turn around and begin doing His will. We must begin actively believing in all that He is telling us.

For example, we read in Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God...’” But let us suppose that Jacob didn’t go and didn’t obey what God told him to do. Would God still be pleased with him?

What if he had reasoned in his heart saying something like this: “What difference does it make where I build an altar? God is everywhere. It’s inconvenient to move everything to Bethel. I’ll just stay here and serve God where I am. That should be good enough.”

Would such a thing satisfy God? Would He be pleased with Jacob? Would He still consider him as being righteous? God will only continue treating us as righteous, justified people when we obey him and respond in faith to all that He is revealing to us.

This truth applies equally to us if we are living in known sin. When we continue in sin, God speaks to us about His displeasure in our spirit. He reveals His will to us concerning our activities. He does not remain silent about such things.

When we respond in faith by repenting, He then considers us just. But when we resist His revelation, stiffening our necks and refusing to respond to what He is saying to us, then He does not consider us to be just. He thinks of us exactly like we are: sinful, rebellious children whom He needs to correct and discipline.

NOT FAITH IN FACTS

Another important aspect of the faith which causes God to consider us as just is that it is not faith in facts. It is not our believing in historical truths about Jesus.

For example, we are not justified simply by believing that Jesus died for us, rose from the dead for our sins, etc. Sorry, this is not enough. We must believe in a Person, not merely in facts. Facts cannot save us. Only Jesus can do that.

As we have seen, in order to believe in Jesus, we must first have seen Him. He must have revealed Himself to us in some way. Then, and only then, can we believe in a way which will cause us to be regenerated (be born from above) and be considered just by God. No one can be truly converted without having a personal, real encounter with Jesus Himself. We must actually meet Jesus!

Furthermore, true faith is not believing in biblical truths. It is not sufficient to believe in the Bible. It is not adequate just to be mentally convinced of the truth of some Bible verses. It is not enough to recite creeds and try to convince ourselves of the truth in them.

Facts, even historically verifiable facts, cannot save us. Bible verses also cannot save us unless God reveals Himself to us through them. Only Jesus saves. Once again we read: “...everyone who sees the Son and believes into him, would have his eternal life” (Jn 6:40).

INTO HIM

Did you notice the word “into” in this verse which states that we should believe “into” Him? In the Greek language this word is “EIS” which is defined as: “A primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered).” You see, this does not mean “in” as if we were believing in some fact. The ancient Greeks had another word for “in.”

This word EIS means “into,” indicating a change of position. Our genuine faith causes movement. We actually enter into Jesus. Our faith brings us into Him and Him into us in a way that radically impacts our lives. It changes us. It enables us to receive His own life and be “born from above.” And, it causes the Father to consider us as being just. This is true, biblical faith.

Once again, we can see a “hidden gospel” here. One is a gospel which emphasizes a belief in facts, creeds, doctrines, Bible verses, etc. It is a kind of dry, mental, conceptual message with very little, if any, experience of the risen Jesus. It seems to state that once we “believe,” from then on God considers us just, no matter what we might do, say, or think.

It is a religion similar to the sort which the Pharisees had which was based on their own analysis of the scriptures. It is something which does not seem very real, which does not impact our lives profoundly, and which does not change us very much.

The “other” gospel is one of an intimate, genuine relationship with Jesus through which we understand what He is saying and doing every day and are responding to this revelation through faith. In this way, we are walking with Him and He is considering us just.

This is the result of His loving grace. This is a gospel of life-changing (actually life exchanging) power which liberates us from who and what we are. It is a message that actually frees us from sin. 

End of Chapter 4

Read other chapters online:

Chapter 1: The Hidden Gospel

Chapter 2: The New Life

Chapter 3: More Translation Problems

Chapter 4: True Faith (Current Chapter)

Chapter 5: Transformation

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