In this message we come to the Author and Perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2). The saints of the old covenant were only witnesses of faith. None of them was the author, source, perfecter, or finisher of faith. In verse 1 of this chapter the witnesses of faith are considered as “a cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” The Lord was in the cloud to be with His people (Exo. 13:21-22). The children of Israel followed the Lord according to the move of the cloud. Where the cloud was, there the Lord was also. Furthermore, the cloud is for leading people in following the Lord. If you have a heart to seek out the Lord and you read Hebrews 11, you may immediately have the sense that by the people of faith you can have the Lord’s presence and His leading. If you have the cloud, you will have the Lord. But if you miss the cloud, you will also miss the Lord. All the people of faith, the church people, are the cloud. The best way to seek the Lord’s presence is to come to the church. If anyone is seeking the Lord’s leading, he must follow the cloud, the church. The Lord is in the cloud, meaning that He is with the people of faith. Since we are the people of faith, we are today’s cloud, and people can follow the Lord by following us. Those who seek Him can find His presence with us. The Lord is where we are, and where we are is the direction in which the Lord is moving in these days.
Only Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. As we have seen, the saints of the old covenant were only the witnesses of faith, but Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. The Greek word translated “Author” may also be rendered “Originator,” “Inaugurator,” “Leader,” “Pioneer,” “Forerunner.” It is the same word in Greek that is used for Captain in 2:10. Jesus is the Author of faith; He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. The Author is the Originator and the Inaugurator; then He is the source and the cause. Since the Author is the Originator, He is also the Pioneer and Forerunner. Therefore, He is also the Leader and the Captain. If we put all these titles together, we have an adequate definition of Jesus as the Author of faith.
We need Jesus as the Author of faith because, according to our natural man, we do not have any believing ability. We do not have faith by ourselves. The faith we have through which we are saved is “not of ourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). We have “obtained” this “precious faith” by God’s gift (2 Pet. 1:1). When we look unto Jesus, He, as “the life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45 ASV), transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, the believing ability arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. It is not of ourselves, but of Him who imparts Himself into us as the believing element to believe for us. Hence, it is He Himself who is our faith. We live by Him as our faith, by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own faith.
Jesus is the Author and the Originator of faith mainly in His life and in His path on earth. The Lord Jesus originated faith when He was here on earth. The life He lived was a life of faith, and the path He walked was a path of faith. In His life and path He originated faith. Hence, He is the Author of faith.
Jesus, being the Pioneer and the Forerunner, has cut the way of faith. If you read the four Gospels again, you will see that His life was a cutting life, a life that cut the way of faith. Wherever He went, it seems that there was a mountain or a river frustrating Him. But step after step, He cut the way of faith. If we have this view in reading the Gospels, we shall see that the very Jesus who is the Originator of faith was always cutting the way of faith, closing the gaps and removing the mountains like the builder of a highway. Since He has cut the way of faith, He is also the Pioneer and Forerunner on the pathway of faith.
As the Pioneer and the Forerunner of faith, Jesus is also the Leader and Captain of faith. He has cut the way of faith and, as the Forerunner, has taken the lead to pioneer it. Hence, He, as the Captain, can carry us through the pathway of faith in His footsteps. As we look unto Him as the Originator of faith in His life and in His path on earth, and as the Perfecter of faith in His glory and on His throne in heaven, He transfuses and even infuses us with the faith which He has originated and perfected.
Jesus is also the Perfecter of faith. The Greek word translated “Perfecter” may also be rendered “Finisher” or “Completer.” Jesus is also the Finisher, the Completer, of faith. By looking unto Him continually, we shall have Him finish and complete the faith which we need for running the heavenly race.
Jesus is the Perfecter of faith mainly in His glory and on His throne in heaven. He is sitting on the throne in glory to complete the faith which He originated while He was on earth. Being the Finisher and the Completer of faith, He will finish and complete what He has originated and inaugurated.
Now we come to the matter of the transfusion of faith. As we have seen, according to our natural man, we have no believing ability. The believing element is absent from our natural being. Naturally, we only have the unbelieving ability, the ability to disbelieve.
The saving faith is “not of ourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Ephesians 2:8 tells us clearly that the faith through which we were saved is not of ourselves. We have received it as a gift from God. God is the source and giver of faith, and we are the recipients of this divine gift. God has put something into our being which becomes our faith. Second Peter 1:1 says that we “have obtained like precious faith.” Faith is precious because it has been given to us as a gift by God.
When we look unto Jesus, He transfuses us with Himself as the believing element and He becomes our faith. We have seen that faith, the substantiating ability, is like a sixth sense. We acquired this substantiating sense through the preaching of the gospel. Proper gospel preaching is not merely a matter of teaching; it must also be a matter of transfusion. Suppose I am preaching the gospel to some sinners. Before I can preach the gospel to them, I must first receive something of and from the Lord. Then, as I am preaching, what I have received of the Lord will enter, like electricity, into those who are listening. While I am speaking and the people are looking at and listening to me, something spontaneously and unconsciously is transfused into them. Although they may shake their heads, not consenting to my preaching, deep within they believe what I am saying. Although some may say to themselves that it is silly to believe, something within them continues to react and brings them to the point where they say, “Lord Jesus, thank You. You are so good. Lord, You are my Savior.” Because some element has been transfused into their being, they are able to believe in the Lord. I know of many stubborn ones who would not express in the meeting that they had come to believe in the Lord Jesus. They went home, but they had no peace, for something within stirred and troubled them. When it was time for the next gospel meeting, they said, “I would like to go there again.” This is the result of the transfusion of faith by God through a preacher.
Every gospel preacher must be a charming person. He must firstly be charmed himself and then he will be able to charm others. What he says may not seem logical, but, like a battery that is being charged, the hearers will be charmed. For this reason, the church must pray a great deal for the preaching of the gospel. The more we pray, the more charming the gospel meeting will be. The gospel preacher must pray until he has a heavenly charm and is fully charged with the divine element. If he is charged and charming, as he stands in front of the people, he will have the sense that something is being transfused into them. Some have even been afraid of such a preacher, saying, “Don’t look at him. If you do, you will be attracted by him because he is so charming.” This is the power of the gospel. Other speakers may be eloquent and well educated, but they are not charming. The gospel preacher may lack eloquence, but because he is so charming, others are charmed as they listen to him. Some element is infused into them through that charming preacher, and nothing can take it out of them. This infused element is faith.
This principle not only applies to the preaching of the gospel but to other forms of ministry as well. Ministry does not depend upon our eloquence but upon our utterance. Utterance is different from eloquence. Eloquence, like music, is something pleasant to the ear. Utterance, on the contrary, is the release of the divine element. If your ministry is correct, you will be charmed and charming whenever you come to minister. The proper ministry is altogether a matter of being fully transfused with God Himself. Firstly, we are charged with the divine element, and then, in the ministry, we radiate that divine element into others in a charming way. This is altogether a matter of God’s grace.
As we have seen, God’s grace is simply God Himself dispensed into us to meet our need. Sinners certainly need to have faith, but how can they have it? Naturally, we have no belief, only disbelief. But when the sinners come to the church and hear the proper preaching of the gospel, they are charged with God. The heavenly electricity, which is God Himself, is transmitted into them. Because God Himself is transfused into them in this way, they find that they have faith. This is the gift of faith, the nature and element of which is God Himself.
If we would have faith, we must look away unto Jesus, the source of faith. When we look away from all other things unto Him, He will radiate Himself into us, charging us with Himself. As a result, spontaneously we shall have faith. Faith does not originate with us; it originates with Him. Faith is Christ Himself believing for us in a very subjective way. He transfuses us with Himself, working Himself into us, until He, the very Person, becomes the believing element in our being. Thus, it is not we who believe; it is He who believes within us. In this way, He makes us a believing being. Apparently it is our believing; actually it is His believing. This is genuine faith.
Once Christ has originated this faith within us, He will never let it go. Rather, He will complete, finish, and perfect it. Do not think that you can be a giant of faith on your own. No, we do not have the slightest amount of faith. All the faith we have is just Christ Himself believing in us and for us. We live by His faith, by Him as our faith (Gal. 2:20).
Christ’s believing element is charged into our being through the law of life. The more we allow the law of life to work in our being, the more we are able to believe. If we give the law of life the opportunity to work continuously in our mind, emotion, and will, its working will produce great faith in us. The book of Hebrews is focused on the law of life, and faith is the firstfruit of the working of the law of life in our being.
We have seen that the ultimate and consummate point of the arrangement of the furniture in the tabernacle is the law of life typified by the tables of the testimony. The law is called the testimony because it is the expression and definition of what God is. Every law is the expression of the lawgiver. A good man makes good laws, and a bad man makes bad laws. The law one makes reflects what he is. Hence, the law of God is the reflection of God’s being. Because God is a God of light and love and because He is righteous and holy, His law is also a law of light and love and is righteous and holy. The law, being the reflection of God, is the expression and testimony of God. It is also a shadow of the law of life. The law of life within us today is actually God’s reflection and expression. The more the law of life works in our being, the more we bear God’s image. In this way we become His expression and testimony.
The arrangement of the furniture in the tabernacle ultimately leads to the law of life — the expression and testimony of God. In like manner, the experience of Christ which begins at the cross and consummates with the law of life issues in the testimony of God. Its goal is to have the expression of God. As the law of life works within us to bring about the expression and testimony of God, the first issue of its working is our believing. The most believing person is the one in whom the law of life has worked the most. Such a person will have the faith to believe God to the uttermost without any strain or strife. His believing is spontaneous because it comes from the working of the law of life within him.
The Bible is consistent. Although many different words, expressions, and terms are used, they all reflect one point. The law of life in Hebrews 8 issues in the believing ability, the faith, in Hebrews 11. Although we cannot understand this simply by reading the Bible, we can know it by our experience. Firstly, we have the experience and then we have the confirmation from the revelation of the Bible. Apparently Hebrews 11 is unrelated to Hebrews 8. Nevertheless, according to life, Hebrews 11 is the issue of Hebrews 8, for the believing ability results from the working of the law of the divine life. When the law of life operates within us to make us the very reflection, expression, and testimony of God, we find it easy to believe. Our believing is spontaneous. In fact, we are unable to disbelieve, because the believing ability has been wrought into us. Now we can see why we must look away from all things unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. When we look away unto Him, we give Him the opportunity and the freedom to work Himself into us. In this way the law of life can work in every inward part of our being until we are fully saturated with Him. The more we are saturated with Him, the easier it is to believe. This is the way to have faith. May we all experience faith in such a subjective way by looking away unto Jesus.
