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"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (the eyes of your heart having
been enlightened); that ye may know what is the hope of His calling."
As we get to know the present glory of Christ in His position "far above all", we add
to our understanding of the hope that will place us there with Him. Further, seeing that
this "one hope" of our "calling" is a part of the seven-fold unity of the Spirit, it would
appear that as our practical appreciation of the truth becomes manifest, so our
understanding of the One hope will develop.
May the Lord bless you in your labours for Him and His truth.
pp. 91 - 94
No. 27.--W.H.G.T. writes:--"I notice on page 58 of the Berean Expositor
for April, 1917 (Volume VII), that you distinguish between faith in
Christ, and the faith of Christ. I wish you would some time or other
elaborate this and justify it from Scripture, because the matter is a very
vital one. The word "faith" is followed several times by the genitive
case, and in several passages I have hitherto found it impossible to take
the words as meaning Christ's own faith. Thus, in Rom. 3: 22, I do
not see how it is possible to render the words other than by "faith in
Jesus Christ". There are other passages equally impressive, and one of
them is, as you know, Mark 11: 22, where the context seems to demand
the thought of "faith in God". I have sometimes felt tempted to render
"faith" as "faithfulness" in these passages, because, as we know, the two
renderings of the Greek word are possible, and when we look at the
distinct references to faith in Rom. 3: 22 it certainly yields a vital truth
to translate "the righteousness of God which is by the faithfulness of
Jesus Christ unto all those who believe", but of course it seems
impossible to render the same word in two different ways in one
text . . . . ."
We are thankful for this reminder to "search and see", to "prove all things and to hold
fast that which is good", and as we desire the truth and have no reputation at stake except
that of those who seek the truth of God, we set out upon a further and fuller examination
of the theme mentioned in out correspondent's letter.
We have continually found help and light upon vexed questions by following a simple
self-made motto "When in doubt, consult the Septuagint". The usage of pistis in the N.T.
is somewhat difficult to define. But seeing that the apostle Paul has practically founded