Your Faith Has Saved You

I read through the last two Gospels (Luke and John) along with Acts this week. And as Luke and John tell of Jesus ministry, Jesus uses similar words directed to the people He heals.

To a centurion who sends for Jesus to heal his servant, Christ says, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 

To the sinful woman  who anoints Jesus' feet, He says, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

To the woman who interrupts Jesus on his way to Jairus's house, he says, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

To the one Samaritan who thanks Jesus for healing him from his leprosy, Christ says, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

To the blind beggar on the way to Jericho, Jesus says, "Recover your sight; you faith has made you well."

Jesus commends each of these peoples' faith. They were all sick, either physically or spiritually, and Jesus told them that it was their faith that had healed them. Their faith in Christ had forgiven sins, cured blindness, and healed sickness. These people were the ones who chose to believe in what they hoped for. They all physically saw the person of Christ, and they put their trust in Him. It was their faith that brought peace to their hearts, minds, and bodies. They chose to believe in what they could not see (their own healing), and they were blessed for it.

Faith today is still what saves us. Perhaps not always physically, but always spiritually. Placing faith and believing in Christ is what divides the saved from the unsaved. Jesus in His High Priestly Prayer (John 17) prays for those who believe and will believe on Him. He prays that they would be one in the Father, so that the world would believe that Christ was sent from God. Earlier, He tells Peter and His other disciples that has prayed that their faith would not fail when He was arrested and crucified. Thomas believes when he sees and touches the risen Savior. But those during Jesus time had the privilege of seeing Whom they were believing in. Thomas believed because he saw, yet Jesus pronounces blessing on those who would never see Him on earth, but would still believe in Him. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

We have the example of Abraham, who believed against hope, that he would become the father of many nations. And many of those who came after him also chose to have faith in the unseen. They were also commended for their faith and are recorded in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11). And this faith that was passed down through the ages is still the same faith which believers of today hold to. We believe in Him who is unseen. And like the man who begged Jesus "I believe; help my unbelief!", Jesus continues to strengthen and increase our faith as we live on earth. Faith and hope are only here for the present. In eternity, we will behold face-to-face the Man whom we have believed in, and our faith will be sight. But for now, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

The faith our eternity rests on is one that is steadfast and secure. A faith that does not die, for it is upheld by the Author and Perfector of our faith. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. This is the faith that saves the unsaved. This is the faith that secures the saved.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

Sola fide.

A Prophet Without Honor

Mark is the shortest Gospel chapter-wise, and I finished reading through it yesterday and today. But before I got to Mark, I read through Matthew. Jesus visits His home town, Nazareth, and is rejected by His own people. They take offense at what He says and are astonished at his teaching. And Jesus says this, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."

But He didn't just meet resistance and unbelief in Nazareth, for many people, homes, and towns refused to acknowledge who He really was. And as I read through Mark with that quote in mind, many of the accounts of Jesus ministry stood out to me as the Israelites rejected Him. He truly was a Man without apparent honor. He came to earth in a way that seemed dishonorable, and He died in earthly humiliation.

Perhaps the most forceful resistance came from the Pharisees, as they were the ones who ultimately rejected Christ and crucified Him. In Mark the scribes question Jesus' motives for healing the paralyzed man, and the scribes and Pharisees doubt Jesus when He goes to eat with the sinners and tax collectors. They accuse Jesus and his disciples of unlawful activity when they eat corn on the Sabbath, and they watch Christ to hope to accuse Him when He heals a man on the Sabbath. Other people beg Jesus to leave after he frees a man from the hold of demons. The Pharsees critisize Jesus disciples for not following man-made traditions, and though many are astonished by His teaching, their hearts are hardened to the truth. Those He ministers to can't decide if He's the resurrected John the Baptist, Elijah, or another of the prophets. And those who are so close to the truth turn away because it could cost them their material possessions.  His disciples consist of a bunch of men who don't understand His teaching and who fight for greatness among themselves. Men who betray and deny Him. And who leave His side at the moment they are needed most, even though they pledged their loyalty to Him. His forerunner, John the Baptist, is killed because of Herod's foolish oath. The most religious men of the time continue to defy the heart of the Gospel by selling and buying in His holy temple, and Jesus drives them out. He weeps when a friend dies and also when He looks out over the city He would have welcomed into His arms, but they would not believe. His brothers and sisters don't even believe in Him. He's captured by the people He will die to save. He's betrayed by one who had first-hand experience in the the love of the Son. He's denied by the man who proclaimed Him to be the Messiah. A ruler condemns Christ to death in order to please the Jewish leaders. He's dressed up in a robe and mocked. He's bears the curse of sin as He hangs on a cross. He's forsaken of God.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom mend hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted...[he] was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many. 

(Isaiah 53:3, 7, 12) 

But the Son of Man who endured so much dishonor from His own creation, received complete and lasting honor when He was taken up into glory and seated at the right hand of the Father. His dishonor here was finished, and He now shares in the majesty of God. 

But there were some who honored the Lord and loved Him. There were the disciples that, for all their unloveliness, did follow Him in His ministry and carried on His message. There were those in the crowds who gave glory to God when they saw the sick healed. Two of His brothers write of Christ and are included in our Canon today. The wind and the sea honor and obey Him when He commands them to be still. The woman whose great faith prompts her to just touch Jesus clothing in order to be healed. The disciple that Jesus loved. The Syropheonician woman's faith. The disciple to whom it is revealed that Jesus is the Christ. The father who says "I believe; help my unbelief!" The blind man who receives sight and follows Jesus. The widow who probably didn't even know that Jesus was watching her give all that she had.  Mary who anoints Christ's feet in silent worship. And the women who loved Him enough to watch His death and then prepare His body for burial. And the disciple who admits "My Lord, and my God!"

The Prophet who came with a message for His own people was ultimately rejected. And though He was without honor in His home, He isn't anymore--that's why we have salvation. And so, too, it is with us. Jesus' followers were all without honor in their living and dying here on earth, but they were received into glory, and the shame of a temporary life compares nothing to the glory which shall come.

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

Hebrews 2:9-11a

His Power!

     Since last week's post, I've read through the last chapters of Jeremiah up to the end of Amos. And most of these books describe the judgment, destruction, and rebellion of the Israelite nation. There is redemption and restoration promised, but they are sobering books nonetheless.

     However, one theme that I noticed mentioned by all the major and minor prophet authors was the power of God. And today I'm going to let Scripure speak for itself.

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

Jeremiah 50:34

It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Jeremiah 51:15-16

The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.

Lamentations 4:11

But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.

Lamentations 5:19

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.

Ezekiel 5:8

But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 14:22-23

And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezekiel 39:7

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

Daniel 2:20-22

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Daniel 4:35

But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, 

and besides me there is no savior.

Hosea 13:4

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Joel 2:27

"Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth--the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Amos 4:12b-13

     And we see God's power meet mankind's weakness at the cross, for there Christ demonstrated that He was given power over all things--even sin and death. And now He is seated at the Father's right hand, awaiting the Day of Judgment when He will gather together all His chosen and rejoice with them for all eternity. 

This is The Power of the Cross.

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

(Ephesians 1:16-23)

February Quotes

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

~Unknown

Sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

~General Douglas MacArthur

A foolish woman is complacent, which in this context, means she is contented with a mediocre Christian life. She fails to grasp the truth that there is no middle road, no fence-sitting, when it comes to discipleship, we are at all times either going forward or going backward. That's why living in limbo is really only an illusion.

~Lydia Brownback ("A Woman's Wisdom")

Relationships either get better or get worse; 

they never stand still. 

~Dr. Gary Chapman

[Jesus] was lionhearted and lamblike, strong and meek, tough and tender, aggressive and responsive, bold and brokenhearted. He sets the pattern for manhood. 

~John Piper

For where the glory of God is not made the end of the government, it is not a legitimate sovereignty, but a userpation.

~ John Calvin

Loneliness is a required course for leadership. 

~Elizabeth Elliot

Your emptiness is but preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up. 

~C.H. Spurgeon

’But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it,’ 1 Cor.10:13. Yes, God is faithful even if we are faithless: He is true to His covenant engagements, and though He visits our iniquities with stripes, yet His loving kindness will He never utterly take from one of His own, Ps.89:32,33. It is in the hour of trial, just with the clouds are blackest and a spirit of dejection has seized us, that God’s faithfulness appears most conspicuously. That is to say, He will either lighten the burden or give increased strength to bear it, so that we shall not be utterly overwhelmed by it.

~A.W. Pink ("Elijah")

If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part. Beware of halfhearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters – to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Half-hearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable.

~Horatius Bonar

Instead of the word submission, I should write acceptance, for more and more, as life goes on, that word opens doors into rooms of infinite peace, and the heart that accepts asks nothing, for it is at rest, and the pilgrim of love does not need a map or chart. ‘I know my road, it leadeth to His heart.’

~Amy Carmichael

Feelings are not scientific instruments for that which surrounds them. They speak only of themselves when they say, “I am cold; I am dark.” They do not necessarily speak of truths. Perhaps the final victory of our Lord came when he followed the cry of 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' with the words, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' Shall we then bemoan any darkness? Shall we not rather gird up our strength to encounter it that we, too, from our side may break through the passage for the light beyond? He who fights with the dark shall know the gentleness that makes man great—the dawning countenance of the God of hope.

~George McDonald ("The Laird's Inheritance")