The Source of Faith

 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

(Romans 10:17 ESV)

I’ve run into few, over the years, who dispute the importance of the Bible. I’ve run into few who dispute the value of the Word of God. However, that being said, most are prone to neglect it.

Even those who believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible tend to neglect it. They fail to make use of it. They ignore and disregard it.

As we look at the above passage, we see one reason why the Bible is so important. We find that it’s indispensable for us as Christians. We find, in fact, that we cannot be saved without it.

Paul made clear to his readers that salvation is available to all people. He said that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. He then asked how we’re to call on the Lord if we haven’t believed in him.

It’s clear that we can’t. Unless we believe in the Lord, we will not call on him and be saved. And he went on to argue that we can’t believe in the Lord unless we first hear of him.

This, you see, is why the Word of God is essential. This is why we can’t be saved apart from it. Unless we hear the Word of God, we cannot believe in Jesus. Unless we believe in Jesus, we cannot call on him. And unless we call on him, we cannot be saved.

Faith, you see, is not an inherent quality that we possess. Nor is it an ability on which we act. Just as our salvation is a free gift, given to us by God, so too is faith.

According to Paul, faith comes from hearing. As we hear the Word of God, we are enabled to believe. The Holy Spirit works in us, through the Word, drawing us to faith.

In the same way, God sustains us in faith. He upholds us in faith. And he enables us to persevere in faith. 

It’s for this reason, while explaining the Third Commandment, Martin Luther says we’re to fear and love God so that we do not despise his Word and the preaching of the same, but deem it holy and gladly hear and learn it. The reason we honor the Sabbath Day is that we might hear the Word of God. The reason we keep it holy is that we might receive the blessings God offers to us in his Word.

Knowing that Scripture is vital to our faith, we’re to make use of the opportunities God gives us to receive it. We’re to read it regularly. We’re to study it, both independently and corporately. And we’re to listen to it, we’re to hear it, as it’s preached and taught.

We must not make the mistake of believing that, in this way, we earn or become deserving of God’s mercy. We must, rather, recognize it as God’s gift. We must recognize that God works through his Word, enabling us to believe, that we might receive his salvation.

The Source of Righteousness

 “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

(Romans 10:1–4 ESV)

When it comes to our faith, and when it comes to our desire for salvation, there is a common trap into which we fall. And the reason we fall into it is because it flows from our sinful nature. It is, in fact, our default.

The trap to which I’m referring is that of works righteousness. It’s an attempt to earn or to become deserving of the salvation of God. It’s the belief that we determine our salvation by way of ritual or deed.

This is the basis of every religion practiced in the world today, outside of Christianity. It’s the center of their teaching. And it makes up the core of their practice.

This was also the trap into which the Jews had fallen. As Paul expresses his desire for their salvation, in the passage above, he makes clear the reason they were not. Although they were zealous, he says, they were ignorant of the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own.

The righteousness of God, you see, was freely available to them in Jesus. It had been provided to them by his death and resurrection. And it could be received by faith.

Rather than receive the righteousness of God, however, they sought to secure their own. They sought to enact their own. They sought to achieve their own.

But this led only to their condemnation. It led only to their judgment. It did so because righteousness cannot be attained in this way. It did so because true righteousness is found only in Christ.

This, then, results as we attempt to establish our own righteousness. This is the result when we attempt to gain God’s favor apart from Christ. In that case, we receive only condemnation and judgment.

But, in Christ, this righteousness is received freely. And it’s in no way dependent upon us. It results neither from our nature nor from our accomplishments. 

This, then, fills us with peace. It comforts us with certainty. It enables us to rest in the fact that this righteousness is ours in spite of our deficiencies and failures.

Children of God

 “This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”

(‭‭Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Christians, today, have some really strange ideas when it comes to the desire of God. We have some really strange ideas when it comes to the work of God. Some of us believe, for example, that God was interested in only one nation of people in Old Testament times while, today, he is interested in all. 

Many Christians tend to believe that the Israelites, that the Jews, were and are God’s people because of their bloodline. We believe that the Israelites, that the Jews, are God’s people because of their physical lineage. We believe that the Israelites, that the Jews, are children of God because they are descended from Abraham.

This, then, leads to our focus on world events, as they pertain to the modern-day nation of Israel. It leads to our anticipation of the rebuilding of a Jewish temple and the restoration of the sacrifice, even though we believe Jesus’ sacrifice to be sufficient. And it leads to our belief that the Jews are saved apart from faith in Christ, even though this contradicts the very gospel that we confess and proclaim.

This is addressed  in the above passage and, really, Romans 9 as a whole. Paul makes clear to us, in this chapter, that God’s people have never been identified or defined based on their bloodline. They have always been identified, rather, by faith. They have been defined based on their trust in the promises of God.

Paul tells us in Romans 9 that not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. In other words, the fact that they are Jews, the fact that they are Israelites, does not make them the people of God. Their heritage plays no role whatsoever in their standing before God.

He then, in the passage above, explains to us what it is that does so. He explains what it is that makes us the people of God. And he explains to us what changes our standing with God, placing us in a right relationship with him.

It is not the children of flesh, he says, who are the children of God. It is the children of promise. It is those who have received the promises of God by faith.

He goes on to use Isaac as a case in point. He was not Abraham’s offspring because he was his naturally born son. He was the offspring of Abraham because he had been promised to Abraham by God. And,  more than that, he was the offspring of Abraham because he received this promise of God by faith.

In this way, you see, we are children of Abraham. Even though we are not descended from him in a physical sense, we are his offspring. And we are his offspring because we have received his promise in faith.

From the beginning of time, God has desired not only one people to be his own, but all people. He has desired not one nation to be his own, but all nations. And he has enabled us all to become his people, to become his children, by faith.