When faith Came
Still on the subject of believing, let us look at Galatians 3:22 But the scripture had concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
The promise was given to Jesus through His faith which He exercised at the cross. This is saying that no righteousness could come except by faith and it was not our faith but the faith OF Jesus.
In v21 it says that if any law could have given life then righteousness would have been by the law. It makes it clear here that righteousness could never be by anything we do. When you look at the word law it means anything we do to achieve anything. The law required performance and it is clear that righteousness could not come by performance. “Verily righteousness would have been by the law”….in other words if righteousness was something that could have been attained by ourselves then it would have been possible under the law.
V 22 says it is given to them that believe. When it is given to someone he or she is only made aware of it. It is not their belief that makes it so but it becomes real in our hearts and minds. It is the faith OF Jesus that gave us righteousness, not our faith. We are made aware of it when we believe but we are made aware of something that has already been done.
If I have to rely on my own faith in order for me to have righteousness then how am I ever going to know if I have had enough faith? How will I know if I have exercised enough faith to make myself right with God? If you believe that it is your own works or performance that makes you right with God how are you ever going to know if you have worked or performed enough. If you think it is your belief that makes you righteous then how will you ever know if your belief has been strong enough. God did not leave something that important to man. Righteousness comes through the faith OF Jesus and not ours. We know Jesus had enough faith because the last thing He said on the cross was it is finished.
V. 23 says before faith came….when did faith come? Faith came at the cross of Calvary because it says that before faith came we were kept under the law. When was the law done away with? When He nailed it to the tree. Was there faith before that? No, Jesus concluded all under unbelief so He could have mercy upon all. So while the law was in effect there was no faith. Even during the time Jesus was on earth, faith was impossible because the law was in effect. It was required by Jesus but at the same time it was impossible to have any.
The reason it was this way is that Jesus knew He had to go to the cross with no believers. All had to be concluded under unbelief so that His mercy could abound to all. They believed the miracle and the signs and wonders He did but when Jesus went to the cross He went alone and without one single believer. The same way the law had been very successful in showing that no one could keep the law and while the law was in effect there could never be any believer. In the latter part of verse 23 it says that faith was shut up under the law and would only be revealed after the law was done away with.
When the law occupies the mind and the heart, faith can not occupy the mind and the heart, it is an impossibility. That is why no one had faith while the law was in effect. What about today? Can faith occupy your heart while you still think you have to perform to be righteous which is still being under law? No, when law is in effect in your life you cannot have faith. All your performance does is produce more and more self righteousness which is still as filthy rags in God’s eyes. Let us remember that we are righteous because of the faith OF Jesus and not ours. You do not believe to make it so, you believe after you know it is so. Before that you are under law and faith can never operate under law.
As always very interesting post this am. As I read it through I realized something that pertains to me at least. There is a statement towards the end that says this,( when law is in effect in your life you can’t have faith.)
What I realized as I read that was that there are still times in my life when I find myself operating out of a law mentality. At these times and they do exist I find it a struggle because In one sence I know better but in another sence I still get traped there. I’m not beating myself up over it. I only need to step back and see where I’ve come from or should I say what I’ve sat under for so many years.
The bottom line is as I continue on in this journey I will need to simply be aware of these things. The law is like a huge magnet in some ways, before you know it your pulled towards it and then you wonder whats going on as there seems to be a struggle once again. I know how many times Paul issued warnings to the various churches of the day dealing with this very issue. I think I ought to have more of an appreciation for those that found themselves entangled in the bondage of the law. There is a power there that we need to be aware of at all times and when we forget this we can find ourselves in trouble with the law once again.
As I share this I don’t mean to include you all, but this is where I am at times and I’m just being honest. I thank you Roy for todays post as it serves as a reminder to me of this whole issue of law and faith. I know for me at least these are things I need to carefully consider as I move forward in my walk of faith.
As I realize that faith only came after the cross and that this was impossible while the law was still in effect, it is clear that this is where the faith of the Son of God came into effect and this is what I’m to live out of. So much to consider on this topic, I look forward to what others may share on this one.
Safe in the faith of the Son of God, Randy
There are many of these things that are hard to get our heads around as they are almost still foreign to us. But I understand where you are Randy when you say it is easy to slip back and I guess “try again”. I am finding the more I study this and look at it from different angles it all points to the same One and that of course being Jesus.
It’s not easy to think we have to do nothing at all. Am I saying we don’t do anything? No, simply that there is nothing to do to obtain or gain God’s favor. Once we know that then of course things change when we work as we are not working for righteousness. To slip back under law, which simply means doing anything to attain or obtain righteousness, is very easy to do. All we have to do is forget for a moment that we are already His regardless of what we do, say or don’t do for that matter.
This is what is becoming more real to me as the days go on. I am His, He bought me, He paid a high price and I am His possession and nothing can undo that. That is where I rest. I remember Ian saying (Randy would know who Ian is) It’s all about Him. We heard that from him many times and I now know what that means. It is NOTHING about me at all. If I slip back into a performance mode (law) does that change anything? No of course it doesn’t. Nothing can change what He did for all mankind.
To say I have to believe it for it to be mine is simply a false way of looking at redemption. If my redemption is based on my belief I certainly hope I have believed enough. Anyone that believes it’s their belief that makes this real is living under law…plain and simple. And we have seen that under law there can be no faith. So how can that be? If I am under law and there is no faith under law, then how can I believe this at all? How can I say I have faith if I am relying on my own belief or whatever to make it?
We must remember that even the belief we have AFTER WE KNOW we are redeemed, and that is the only time you can believe, is a gift from God. I know I am rambling on and on here but I don’t know how else to make it clear that it is ALL ABOUT HIM. He is my all and in you all as well. I cannot have more of God than I have now as He lives in me and I live in Him. The key is to try and understand how God looks at us, not how we look at God. That is my journey I am on now. I have never understood God and likely never will. But it is extremely important to know how He looks at me.
Blessings to all!!
Roy
Thanks for that comment Roy. This topic your are on is so crusial to who we are in Christ. We end up relating to Him based on the law or based on a promise. Quite simply we function out of one or the other. It can’t be a mixture of the two because we know they don’t mix. As you say the whole key is to see and understand how God looks at us, not how we look at Him. I couldn’t agree more my brother.
Have a great day, Randy
Jesus became the “faith” that God knew we could never have.
An interesting exercise is to read through the NT, mentally replacing every instance of the work “faith” with the word “Jesus”. See if it doesn’t all make more sense then.
By the way, Randy. I believe very strongly that “we who are in Christ”, is every human being who ever existed. He made no distinction as to who was “in Him” and who wasn’t. Your thoughts?
bruced, I am not answering for Randy but I think the statement he made when I read it over again is not “we who are in Christ” but rather “who we are in Christ”. You are right in saying that there is no distinction made as to who is in Him and of course it is every human being.
I will try reading like you said and use the word Jesus instead of faith and I am sure it will read differently. He is our faith, no doubt about that.
Thanks for commenting Bruce. I visit your blog almost daily and really enjoy reading the posts and comments. Always something there to get me thinking and I am sure others as well.
Thanks Roy for filling in for me on this, you are quite right Bruce and I see why you brought the ? to my attention. I do have this revelation that we are all one in Christ. This ofcourse is where the mystery lies. I have done a little research on the mystery of the gospel and it is the fact that we meaning all have been brought in , grafted in , became the bride of Christ in the one act of redemption at the cross. This ofcourse is where the controversy begins and the debate continues. Fot the record I firmly believe that the many spoke of all the way through Rom chap. 5 includes all of mankind no if buts or ands. Thats my story and I’m sticking to it.
By the way thanks for that tip of reading and replacing faith, with Jesus, I’m sure this will bring great clarity to the faith issue. He is the personification of faith and this is a neat way to see it.
Randy
hey,where are you from??can u email me please,thx
You are so humorous, and your words are so attracted me.