The Priority of Faith by David McClister (Reprinted from The Palmetto Reminder, http://palmettochurchofchrist.org/)
While Jesus lived on this earth, He spoke some of His sharpest
words to the Pharisees. The picture of the Pharisees presented
in the gospels is of a people who had forgotten a few simple truths,
one of which was the primacy of faith in God. The Pharisees were
long on religious works, but short on proper faith. They took
upon themselves the Levitical purity laws, but they refused to
accept Jesus. Their refusal to accept Him indicated a more fundamental
rejection of God Himself, for Jesus said "You know neither
Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also"
(John 8:19). What had engendered such a hard-nosed rejection of
God - among people who were otherwise very religious-minded? The
answer is simple but shocking: they refused to believe in God
because they believed in themselves. Luke tells us plainly that
they "trusted in themselves, that they were righteous"
(Luke 18:9). There is only room within each person to believe
in one thing or person. Because the Pharisees believed in themselves
and their own goodness, faith in God simply was not possible.
To put it in different terms, the religion of the Pharisees was
not about God. It was about themselves. In Pharisaic Judaism,
the good works were designed to glorify the Pharisees, not God
(see John 5:44).
What had happened in the case of the Pharisees is well worth a
long, hard look on our part today. Their religion appeared to
be credible because it was modeled on the true religion God requested
in the Old Testament. It used the same terms and had the same
rituals, so outwardly it was scarcely possible to see any difference
between the religion of the Pharisees and the religion of the
Old Testament. Yet it was but a caricature. The difference was
on the inside. The Pharisees practiced their religion for self,
to glorify self, and even to satisfy their greed and lust. Matthew
15 shows how they twisted the law of God so they would not have
to spend their money to help their parents (thus satisfying their
greed; Luke says they were lovers of money, Luke 16:14), and Matthew
19 shows how they had used God's law on divorce to satisfy their
lust for women. Jesus accused them or being right on the outside
but wrong on the inside when He said:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier
provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but
these are the things you should have done without neglecting the
others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a
camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they
are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first
clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside
of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside
appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones
and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to
men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
(Matt 23:23-28).
The case of the Pharisees proves the simple but important point
that it is possible to do good, religious works and yet lack true
faith in God. That is, it is possible to do things that are outwardly
exactly like the things that please God, yet those works can fail
to please God because of the reason for which they are done. Just
because something is done in a religious spirit, or because it
is done in the name of God, does not mean that it automatically
pleases God. The work itself is not all there is to consider when
it comes to pleasing God. The Pharisees did many good works, yet
failed to please God. Good works are not the essence of being
right with God, not by far. They are manifestations of the essence
of such a relationship, they are the fruit of a right relationship
with God, but the relationship itself lies in something else which
the Bible simply calls faith.
Which comes first - faith or works? The answer is obvious
to any Bible reader. Faith must precede works if those works are
to please God. Works that are not done out of faith in God but
in the attempt to earn or merit salvation are works done in vain,
for no amount of good-deed-doing can earn a person's salvation
for them. The penalty for sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and no dead
person can accomplish works of any kind (Eph. 2:1). Those who
are saved enjoy that status because of the grace and mercy of
God. Paul says plainly that we are saved by grace, not by what
we do (Eph. 2:8-10), and salvation is the gift of God (Rom. 3:24).
In both those passages Paul specifically remarks that this means
no one can work their way into salvation, as if one could thereby
earn the right to boast about their own goodness.
The Jewish predilection with good-deed-doing was so great that
it pervaded everything in their world. It became like a pair of
glasses through which everything else was viewed. They took the
same view toward those great characters of the Old Testament whose
lives were models of pleasing God, especially Abraham, their original
ancestor. The Jews believed that Abraham was counted as righteous
because he obeyed God. In fact, they believed his good works were
so good that they resulted in a "credit" that could
be applied to his descendants, the Jews! Paul, however, takes
this view of Abraham's righteousness to task in Romans 4. He says
"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according
to the flesh, has found? 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 credited
to him as righteousness.' Now to the one who works, his wage is
not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who
does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness" (vv. 1-5).
When Paul says "to the one who works, his wage is not credited
as a favor, but as what is due," he makes it plain that it
is possible to do works and yet not have any faith in God. The
person who does these kinds of works instead trusts in the goodness
of his own actions and thinks that because his actions are so
good, he has earned his salvation from God and that God must,
as a matter of debt, save him. In that context, however, Paul
makes it very clear that 1) this is not what Scripture itself
says about how Abraham was counted as righteous before God, and
2) no approach to God through works of merit about which we boast
in ourselves can succeed.
Faith is fundamental to salvation. Without faith, nothing else
(confession, baptism, even repentance) avails anything. The primacy
of faith in a right relation with God is reflected in the fact
that Christianity is sometimes called simply "the faith"
in the New Testament, and the apostolic preaching can rightly
be described as a call for faith in God (John 1:12; 3:18; 6:29;
Acts 16:31; cf. Rom 3:22; 1 Cor 1:21; 2 Thes 2:12; 1 Tim 1:16).
Two lessons for us today emerge from all of this.
1) We must avoid the mentality that says that it is the goodness
of our works that makes us pleasing to God. What we do is meaningful
only when done out of faith in God. We must remember this we encourage
each other to good works.
2) While we often warn ourselves - and rightly so - about the
danger of having faith without works, which is a dead faith (Jam
2:17, 26), we must also warn ourselves about the opposite and
equally fatal mistake of doing works without having a true faith
in God behind them. Works without faith are just as dead as faith
without works.
Sometimes it is tempting to become cynical and give up. It is important that during times of distress that the Christian always seek to do that which is right. We are told "not to grow weary in well doing." Why? What's the use? The promise is made: "For in due season we shall reap." (Galatians 6:9).
The Psalmist described that season of reaping as a day of prepared tables and cups that overflow; of goodness and mercy and of "dwelling in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23). The New Testament reminds us that God is not so unjust that He would forget our work and love (Hebrews 6:10). We are challenged to live in hope, to keep on doing that which is good and to trust in God for the results. To live in hope will make this life better as we prepare for the next.
All of us have our weaknesses, but God's strength upon which we can choose to depend never diminishes. The Scriptures ask, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator.. does not become weary or tired... He gives strength to the weary. And to him who lacks might He increases power... Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up like eagles..." (Excerpts from Isaiah 40:28-31).
It was Peter, James and John that went up the mountain with Jesus. They were overwhelmed by what they saw and heard that day. It was awesome in every since of the word. We use the word "awesome" a lot. Even about things that are not awesome; like a football game or a movie or a car. But those things are not awesome. They might be interesting or exciting or even surprising. But here is awesome: Consider Matthew 17:2, 5-6; "And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. "
Now, why did these three men fall on the ground like that? Was it because they had the utmost respect for Jesus as believers? No! Anyone would have felt similarly. Suppose it had not been Peter, James and John with Jesus, but rather Herod, or Pilate, or even Caesar. Would these ungodly men have felt no awe? I suggest they would have been overcome with awe and with terror as well.
There will be nothing but awe when we see the glorified Son of God at the last moment of this universe's existence. This awe will not fill the hearts of only believers and disciples, but also the unbeliever, the doubter, the hypocrite, the blasphemer, the mocker. No tough guys that day! There will be awe and terror on the part of some, and awe and joy on the part of others. Let Jesus be your Lord and Savior. Let that final moment be one of victory. Obey His gospel and live for Him. Your eternal blessings are waiting. Yes, "For in due season we shall reap."
MONTHLY BIBLE READING: Jesus' teaching on morals and ethics - The Gospels
GOSPEL MEETING: Our winter meeting will be held during the week of February 15-20, 2004. Sunday night through Friday night. Services will be held at 6:00 PM on Sunday and 7:30 PM each weekday evening. It will once again be our pleasure to have Robert Harkrider as our guest speaker each evening. Bro. Harkrider is the full-time evangelist for the South Bumby congregation in Orlando, Florida.
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