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In this lesson we will continue to look at the various aspects of believing.
It is through the hearing of the word of the truth of the gospel (Eph. 1:13) that man believes in the gospel. Through the preaching of those who are sent by God, man can hear the word of the gospel and thus believe, call upon the Lord’s name, and be saved. In Romans 10:14-15 Paul says, “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who preaches? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Therefore, believing is produced through hearing the word of the truth of the gospel.
In the act of believing, man first believes with his heart. If man believes with his heart that God has raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead, he is justified (Rom. 10:9-10). The Bible does not ask us to believe in the death of the Lord Jesus; it only tells us to believe in His resurrection. His death is acknowledged by all men, but no one can believe in His resurrection unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to him. Objectively, He died as our Substitute to accomplish redemption for our sins. Subjectively, He was resurrected to impart life to us that we may have a union with Him. Without the subjective union, the objective substitution has nothing to do with us. Therefore, we must both believe that God has raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead and be joined to Him. Only then can we obtain the objective substitution and be saved. Otherwise, our faith is vain; we are still in our sins (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). This is why in their preaching of the gospel the early apostles especially preached the Lord’s resurrection, bearing witness of it (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33).
In Romans 10:10 Paul says clearly that with the heart man believes unto righteousness. Therefore, when man believes with the heart that God has raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead, the result is righteousness. This means that the righteousness of God is counted as the righteousness of those who believe in the Lord Jesus.
In the act of believing, man also confesses with his mouth. If we confess with our mouth, “Lord Jesus,” we will be saved (Rom. 10:9-10). To believe is not only to believe with our heart that God has raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead, but also to confess with our mouth, “Lord Jesus,” before men. Hence, if we desire to be saved through faith, we need to confess the Lord Jesus and call upon His name. This will result in our salvation (Rom. 10:13). God created us as vessels fit for containing Him (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 9:23). As vessels we have an opening—our mouth. Hence, we should open our mouth wide that we may receive Christ (Psa. 81:10). In order to be saved we need to call upon the name of the Lord. When we call upon Him, we receive Christ as our salvation and participate in and enjoy His riches. Therefore, we have a heart with which we can believe that God has raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead, so that we may believe into Him and be joined to Him. Furthermore, we also have a mouth with which we can call upon the Lord Jesus so that we may receive Him and gain His salvation and His riches.
Faith is not of man’s works nor of man’s endeavor or striving, but of God’s gift (Eph. 2:8-9). Faith does not exist in us. It is when we repent and confess our sins before God in the name of the Lord Jesus that the believing ability is dispensed into us, enabling us to believe. Therefore, faith is our appreciation of what Christ is and of what He has accomplished for us. When Christ is infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, spontaneously we appreciate Him and call upon Him. This is the genuine faith, which is of Christ and in Christ (Gal. 2:20b). Hence, the Bible calls this faith the faith of Christ (Rom. 3:22) and the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). Moreover, such a faith which is given to us by God is the common faith of the believers (Titus 1:4; 2 Pet. 1:1).
Faith is a gift given to us by God through the divine revelation, which is the revelation of the Bible. The entire Bible is a revelation of Christ, conveying as its contents the all-inclusive Christ in His all-inclusive person and His all-inclusive work. When we read the Bible or hear a gospel preacher preaching this all-inclusive Christ according to the Bible, the Holy Spirit causes us to see the revelation of the all-inclusive person and work of Christ through the word of the Bible. That is, by showing us the divine scenery, He causes the knowledge and appreciation of Christ to be generated in us. Thus, Christ can infuse Himself into us to become the faith within us. It is by this means that faith is given to us by God as a gift.
It is by the operation of the Holy Spirit that God causes us to believe in Christ through the revelation of the Bible. When we hear the word of the truth, the gospel of salvation, which is the divine revelation with the all-inclusive person and work of Christ as its contents, the Holy Spirit operates in us (Eph. 1:13), moving us to turn toward Christ, appreciate Christ, and believe in and receive Christ. Thus, He brings Christ into us.
The Holy Spirit causes us to see the divine scenery through the divine revelation, thus bringing Christ into us. This pneumatic Christ becomes the believing element and ability in us, so that we can believe in Him spontaneously. Hence, He is the Author of our faith. Such a faith is the faith of Christ, and it is also the faith of the Son of God.
As the Author of faith (Heb. 12:2), the Lord Jesus is the source, the cause, of our faith. According to our natural man, we do not have any believing ability. We do not have faith by ourselves. It is when we look unto Jesus that He, as the pneumatic Christ (1 Cor. 15:45b), transfuses us with Himself as the believing element. It is by this means that He originates the believing ability in us, enabling us to believe in Him.
Such a faith is called the faith of Christ (Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9) because it comes out of our knowledge and appreciation of Christ. When we appreciate Him, He infuses Himself into us to become the faith within us. This faith is also called the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20) because Christ is the Son of God.
The faith we have through which we are saved is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. We, the believers, have been allotted like precious faith by God’s gift (2 Pet. 1:1). This faith is the substantiation of the substance of the truth (Heb. 11:1), which is the reality of the contents of God’s New Testament economy. The contents of God’s New Testament economy are composed of “all things which relate to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3), that is, the Triune God dispensing Himself into us as life within and godliness without. The like precious faith allotted to us by God causes us to respond to the reality of such contents and ushers us into the reality, substantiating the substance of the divine truth in us and making it subjective to us in our life and experience. Hence, such a faith allotted to the believers is the real inheritance and precious portion given to them by God in the New Testament.
This precious faith within the believers, the God-given faith allotted to them through the Holy Spirit as the power and Christ as the element, is the key to receiving God’s New Testament economy (1 Tim. 1:4). In contrast, the law, which was given by God outside of Israel through the angels and Moses (Gal. 3:19), was the key to the Old Testament dispensation. It was used to guard God’s chosen people unto the faith which was about to be revealed. Furthermore, it was used as a child-conductor to lead them to Christ that they might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:23-26). In like manner, the precious faith given by God to the believers, which opens up all things relating to life and godliness, is the key to God’s New Testament economy. Through faith the believers may partake of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), enjoying all that God is. Moreover, they may enjoy the riches of the divine nature in its development to the fullest extent by the virtue of God unto His glory.
Believing comes through hearing the word of the truth of the gospel. Man’s believing act consists of man’s believing with his heart and his confessing with his mouth. With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth man confesses unto salvation. This faith is of God’s gift, not of man’s works nor of man’s endeavor or striving. It is the result of Christ’s infusing Himself into us through the preaching of the gospel. God gives, this faith as a gift to us through His divine revelation and the operation of the Holy Spirit, bringing the pneumatic Christ into us to become our believing element and ability. Hence, Christ is the Author of our faith. Such a faith, which is called the faith of Christ and the faith of the Son of God, is the like precious portion allotted to the believers by God. It is also the key to receiving God’s New Testament economy, for it opens all things which relate to the divine life and godliness in the New Testament. Therefore, through faith the believers may partake of the divine nature, enjoying all that God is. Moreover, they may enjoy the riches of the divine nature in its development to the fullest extent by the virtue of God unto His glory.
