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subject of faith is concerned there is. No gospel of salvation attaches to
'1066 William the Conqueror', therefore though my faith in the accuracy of
that date leaves nothing to be desired, it produces nothing. Salvation from
sin and death was the very purpose of the death and resurrection of the Son
of God, and it is quite impossible for anyone to believe the historic fact of
the death and resurrection and deny the purpose and the results of that death
and resurrection. This it is that makes 'historic faith' 'saving faith', and
not anything attaching to faith itself.
A. Do we not read that the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit, for they are foolishness unto him? Does not this statement overturn
yours?
B. Whether it is within the power of natural man to overcome the bias and
enmity of his unregenerate heart is one thing, and whether the faith
exercised in believing the testimony of God which is said to be 'greater than
the testimony of man' is different in its nature from believing any
accredited testimony, is another.
A. I think I begin to see where we have differed. You do not deny the
inability of the natural man to believe God; you agree that apart from grace
he never will, but what you do say is that when by grace a man does believe
the testimony of God, it is only what any reasonable creature should have
done long before.
B. When Scripture affirms that the natural man cannot receive the things of
God, it does not mean that the natural man cannot understand, read, hear,
ponder or think, but that seeing that his understanding is darkened, his
heart hardened, his intelligence subjected to vanity, he can no more believe
the testimony of God than he can perform the right acts that even his own
conscience indicates. The very simplicity of faith is the severest
condemnation of sin and natural man.
We must pursue the subject further, however, so that we may obtain an
all -round view of this important subject.
A Few Sidelights
A. I do not bring forward any particular difficulty this time, but simply
ask for any further light you may have upon the subject of faith.
B. Let us take notice of some of the contexts of faith in the Scriptures.
These will include the objects of faith, the parallels of faith, synonyms and
antonyms. All these will illuminate our understanding. Take a few instances
of the objects of faith as set forth in John's Gospel:
Belief is said to be 'on His name' (1:12); 'in Him' (3:16); 'on the
Son' (3:36); 'on the Son of God' (9:35); 'on Him that sent' the Son (5:24).
The Lord said, moreover, 'If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in
your sins' (8:24). This reference to the great name I Am not only takes us
back to Exodus 3 but also comprehends the seven great claims recorded in
John, such as 'I am the light of the world', 'I am the bread of life', etc.
The whole purpose of John's Gospel is concentrated in the one note: