Paul uses many technical terms in Romans. Each week, we’ll define important word from this Epistle and focus on its special meaning for the text and your life.
What does Paul mean when he says “Faith”? Faith is confidence that makes us willing to trust our entire self and life to God through the work of Christ Jesus.
The word “faith” occurs 40 times in Romans, almost 20% of all occurrences in the New Testament. Sometimes Paul uses “faith” in a technical sense to describe the fundamental experience of the Christiaan life. One of these technical uses occurs in 1:17, where the Apostle quotes the prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous shall live by faith.” It is vital the biblical reader understand the fullness of Paul’s word choice.
Broadly, The Holy Scriptures use the word “faith” in one of three ways. First, faith can describe a set of beliefs. The “Christian faith” is a collection of ideas one professes instead of other “faiths.” Jude uses faith in this way in v3 of his epistle, “I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith.” Second, faith describes trust in God. Faith is the instrument of religious life; it enables us to sense God and obey His expectations. Hebrews 11:1 captures this sense in context, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” But still, there is a third, more specific way Paul uses “Faith” in Romans. Theologians call this “saving faith.” Saving faith is the spiritual comprehension of divine truth, brought about by Holy Spirit, that leads to eternal life.
Saving faith is knowledge (definition 1) and belief (definition 2) that rests upon the promise of salvation made possible by Christ Jesus. Saving faith trusts what God has revealed about Himself in His Word and in Christ and leads to confidence in Him for salvation.
We might define saving faith as the confidence of grace available in Jesus Christ, worked in us by the Holy Spirit, that leads to resting and trusting in Christ for salvation. Faith is a spiritual power that transforms us to have reverence for God, hunger for righteousness, and confidence in His promises. Faith believes we have been delivered from the punishment of sin and will have eternal life with Christ.
The biblical reader who appreciates this emphasis in Paul’s letter can be reminded of several things. Saving faith is not bare intellectual comprehension of the Gospel’s ideas. Knowledge is not what God is seeking. Saving Faith is also not just strong belief. Saving faith has as its object and its end, the power of the Gospel accomplished by Jesus Christ for His people. Those who rest and receive Him as he is presented in the Gospels, to use the language of the Shorter Catechism, can be assured they possess this precious treasure Paul desribes in Romans.
Recent Comments