THE CONCEPT OF BIBLICAL FAITH Guest Writer: Bill Walton T he concept of Biblical faith has fallen into a maze of confusion. Faith, according to some of the liberal theologians, is a leap into absurdity; a totally irrational decision we make - not be-cause there is good reason to do so, but in the face of good reason not to do so. Faith, accord­ing to many of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, is a gift from God, an overwhelm­ing of tile inner man in decision for God which is accomplished by a direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart of one God has chosen to save. B ut what is the Biblical concept of faith? How do the inspired writers use the word "faith"? And how did the apostles and evangelists of the 1st century bring people to have faith? F aith, according to the Bible writers, is not at all mystical or complex. Rather than being a decision God makes for us, faith is a decision we make. And we make that decision, not blindly and without reason, but on the basis of reliable and trustworthy evidence. A n inspired writer defines faith for us in Hebrews 11:1. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And the New International Version helps us bring tile Bible definition of "faith" into sharp focus: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Notice: faith is being sure and certain. T hat the Bible writers intend for us to un­derstand "faith" in this way is made abundantly clear as we read through the New Testament and see that Jesus and the apostles always pointed to the evidence in calling upon people to believe. Please read these examples and consider them thoughtfully (John l0:37-38; John 20:30,31; Luke 1:l-4; Acts 1:1-3; 17:2-4; Heb. 2:3,4; l John 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:1-1l). In every case, people were called upon to believe, or were made to believe, on the basis of the evidence. G od does not call upon anyone to make a "leap of faith" - a "leap into absurdity". He does not call upon anyone to believe anything with­out convincing evidence. Being true to the Biblical concept of faith involves believing only what is warranted by the evi­dence. “TAKE…THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT” Guest Writer: W. Bruce Tooley N ot only has God provide us with armor to defend against the weapons of Satan and his hordes, but He has also given us one piece of offensive weaponry. It has been said, “the best defense is a good offense.” If a soldier goes into battle without an offensive weapon, his armor will eventually fail him. The Holy Spirit has thus seen fit to put a “sword” in the hand of every Christian who chooses to take and wield it.  The apostle Paul exhorts all Christians to arm themselves with “the sword the spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). L et us ever remember that “the weapons of our warfare art not carnal” (2 Cor. 10:4). In the daily struggle of our warfare we have an opportunity to use many weapons—our influence, the periodicals, our tongue. But we must make sure that we are using them properly and in conjunction with God’s word. In other words, we should not combat a false teacher by character assassination, by trying to keep him from earning a livelihood or by spreading unfounded rumors about him. We are to lovingly use the word of God to expose his errors. T he author of the epistle to the Hebrews states, “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (4:12). The task God has given man of wielding this double-edged sword is awesome, for by it the world will be convicted of sin and brought to the Lord (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 4:14-15; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:22-23). The word of God and is very powerful if it is used properly. There is a saving edge, which is sharp to con­vince, to convert and to sanctify the heart of the listener. But there is also a condemning edge for by it we will be judged (John 12:48). On the day of Pentecost, those who had crucified the Lord Jesus were cut to the heart by Peter’s preaching of the gospel (Acts 2:37). Because he wielded the sword of the Spirit responsibly and ably, 3,000 men and women were able to hear, believe, repent, confess and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37-41).     THE WORD “FAITH” (Continued) Bob Myhan J ust as Jacob did not initially hear the truth about what happened to Joseph, but a perversion of that truth, there are many people living today who have never heard the truth of the gospel. They have only heard a perversion thereof (see Gal. 1:6-8). As long as they believe what they have heard, they cannot believe the truth, for one cannot believe both truth and error on the same subject. They know what they have been taught but what they have been taught is not the truth. Therefore, they neither know nor believe the truth. I t is the responsibility of Christians to teach the truth. It is the responsibility of those who hear the truth to believe it. To hear the truth is to know the truth; this is a function of the mind. Believing the truth, however, is a function of the will. Some will not believe the truth but some will. I n many Bible passages, the word “faith” is used to mean mere mental assent. “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42,43). T hey “believed in Him” but they would not “confess Him.” This is mere mental assent to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. But this is not “saving faith!” O ne reason we know it is not “saving faith” is that Jesus said we must confess Him before men if we want Him to confess us before His Father (Matt. 10:32,33). Another reason we know this is not “saving faith” is that faith is “dead” if it is not acted on. Notice, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 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?” (James 2:14-20) T he word translated “dead” in the verse 20 is translated “barren” in the ASV (1901) and “useless” in the NASB (1960) and the ESV (2001). It means “barren, yielding no return, because of inactivity” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 100.) James continues to write, “You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only” (2: 24). T hus, although one must give mental assent to the proposition that Jesus is the Son of God in order to have life in His name (John 20:30,31), merely giving mental assent to the truth of that proposition is not sufficient for salvation; it is not “saving faith.” (To be continued next week)