Faith in biblical context: part 2

The previous post provided a word study of the various words in the original languages of the Bible for faith, noting in particular how the Hebrew scriptures generally speak of faithfulness rather than faith.

The Word of Faith movement "emphasizes speaking, stating, or confessing verses found in the Bible, called the Word of God. The belief is that if one believes the Word of God and confesses it then the believer shall receive what they confess" [1]. This appears to be strongly supported by Mark 11:22-24, but I think the Word of Faith folk are missing some important points. Firstly, this is not meant to be a formula used as a magic wand to get what you want. We are to yield our desires to God, and then ask and trust (πιστις, pistis) God to fulfill them in our lives. If we really believe, we can rest in him, in "trusting faith" that he will provide. We don't have to wind ourselves up to believe, cranking up our levels of faith to some high, often elusive, level. We don't have to repeat certain words over and over to persuade our spirits to believe; that's brainwashing and it's based on a wrong interpretation of Romans 10:17. This verse does not state that faith comes "by hearing the word," but that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by (or through) the word." It's not about hearing the word spoken again and again; it's about our ability to "hear" coming through the Word. Hearing, in this case, suggests perceiving something spiritually, not simply hearing an audible message. That is, receiving the Word enables us to perceive God's revelation. (Nevertheless, to hear spiritually does require one to hear the Gospel audibly -- or to read it.)

The ESV says, "faith comes from hearing" (emphasis added), not "by hearing" because the Greek is εξ (ex, meaning out of, or from). Moreover, the text says "the word of Christ", though the King James Bible used a manuscript that said "God," not "Christ". Textual criticism suggests "Christ" was the original word. So, thus far, we have, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by/through the word of Christ." What word of Christ is the text talking about? All his words? One of his commandments in particular? No, "the word of Christ" is not Christ's word, but rather "the word about Christ" -- that is, the Gospel. If you are not convinced, try reading the verse in context: verse 14 speaks of someone preaching the Gospel to unbelievers; verse 15 speaks of sending people who proclaim the Gospel; verse 16 indicates that not everyone believes the Gospel. Verse 18, following our verse, says that the Gospel has been proclaimed abroad. So taking the word of Christ to mean the Gospel makes perfect sense. Thus we have come from: "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (often wrongly shortened to "faith comes by hearing the word of God"), to "faith comes from hearing, and hearing [comes] through the word about Christ [i.e. the Gospel]."

Finally, the word in this case is not λόγος (logos) in the Greek manuscripts, but ῥῆμα (rhema). It's not just talking about a single word, but rather a statement. I believe the statement it refers to is the Gospel -- the good news about Jesus' life, death and resurrection, making a way for the forgiveness of sin for all who believe (and go on believing) in Him. Putting it all together, my understanding of Romans 10:17 is that faith comes from spiritually perceiving [a divine revelation], and spiritually perceiving [this revelation] comes through the proclamation of the good news about Christ.

This has nothing to do with picking a verse from the Bible that contains a promise we have to meditate on in order to get God to deliver it! It's about hearing "the word of Christ" (Gospel). The Word of Faith people often claim the promises of blessing for themselves, not acknowledging that they are usually assuming they can take the conditional blessings of God's covenant with Israel and apply them unconditionally to themselves -- without any of the curses, of course! They argue that "all promises of God are yes and amen in him [Christ]" (2 Corinthians 1:20). However, this is not a licence Christians to adopt every blessing in the Mosaic Covenant. Rather, it means that every time God fulfills a promise, he does so through Christ.

That said, if we receive a genuine prophetic word (perhaps even through reading the Bible) about a specific response God will make to our prayers, we can rest in that. We don't need to wind ourselves up to a certain level of faith; the revelation itself brings a "knowing" that God will do it, and this allows us to rest (not strive to believe) in that word. This is a far cry from speaking a promise to oneself again and again like a mantra in order to generate sufficient faith to receive it.

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[1] Word of Faith. (2011, October 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:13, October 29, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Word_of_Faith&oldid=455301677

Faith in biblical context: part 1

Something valuable that I have learned over the past two years concerns the concept of faith in the Bible. The gist of it is that very often the Bible is speaking of faithfulness and trust, rather than the kind of 'faith' so strongly and widely emphasized in charismatic churches and the Word of Faith movement. Faithfulness is about being faithful on an ongoing basis. Trust is what I would call a 'resting belief'; it's not about winding oneself up to believe harder, it's about resting in the belief that the LORD will answer one's prayer.

In the Hebrew scriptures, there is no word that corresponds exactly to our English word 'faith'. Rather, the words used to convey a similar meaning are the verb אָמַן (aman, roughly pronounced uh-mun) and its cognates -- related words from the same root. Aman, in one of its forms (hifil), means 'to believe, put faith, trust, have confidence... believe to be true, be confident of' [1]. It is related to the word 'amen', which we typically use to affirm our prayers. The cognates of aman are אֵמוּן emun: eh-muhn) and אֱמוּנָה (emunah: eh-moo-nah). Emun can be an adjective meaning 'faithful, reliable, trustworthy', or a noun meaning 'faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness', and emunah is a noun primarily meaning 'faithfulness, trustworthiness, steadiness' [2]. And there is yet another word with essentially the same meaning, אֱמֶת (emet: eh-met): 'faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness' [2]. Emet and emunah occur 'in the context of moral language (steadfast love, righteousness, justice, etc.) and [are] used to reveal God's character, often in the language of praise.' There are many worship songs which praise God's faithfulness to us, or his faithfulness to his promises or covenants, with scriptures to support them like Lamentations 3:23 and Deuteronomy 32:4. Habakkuk 2:4 is worthy of special mention, as it is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). Traditionally the second half of the verse is translated 'the just [or righteous] shall live by his faith', but some newer translations are using 'faithfulness'. The NET is one example, as its translators' notes explain,

Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.”... In this case the LORD is assuring Habakkuk that those who are truly innocent will be preserved through the coming oppression and judgment by their godly lifestyle, for God ultimately rewards this type of conduct. [3, colour added]

Interestingly, the word 'faith' is hardly found in English translations of the Hebrew scriptures: 10 times in the NET, 28 times in the ESV. (The difference is largely explained in the ESV's preference to say 'breach of faith' or 'break faith' instead of 'unfaithful' (NET), for example, and 'acted in good faith' (ESV) instead of 'shown loyalty' (NET).)

The New Testament writers (except perhaps Luke) were living, thinking, and writing from a foundation of the Hebrew scriptures, even when writing in Greek, so there ought to be a continuity of meaning that flows into the New Testament. That is, the three quotations made of Habakkuk 2:4 I mentioned above should likely be interpreted, 'the righteous [person] shall live by his faithfulness'. In the NET it is, 'the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.' Certainly faith is needed, but the emphasis is on faithfulness.

The biblical Greek word for faith is πίστις (pistis), meaning trust, trustworthiness, belief, confidence, faith or faithfulness. So, are we saved by faith or by faithfulness? And if by faithfulness, whose faithfulness -- ours, or the Lords? The answer to both questions is: Yes! Amen! If that doesn't make sense to you, consider that we are saved by faith in Jesus, which is expressed through faithfulness to him throughout the rest of our days; yet we are also saved by his faithfulness to us, and to the covenant that binds us to him. Consider Romans 3:22; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 3:12 and Philippians 3:9 which all speak of the faithfulness of Jesus. Many Bibles have translated the phrase as 'faith in Jesus' which has merit in that we are required to believe in him, but it doesn't seem to be what the text is saying in those places. Rather, it is saying 'that we may be justified... by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ' (Galatians 2:16 NET).

The next post will discuss what I think is the wrong use of the concept of faith promoted in many churches today, particularly those aligned with the Word of Faith movement.

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Mounce, W. D. (2006). Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] Biblical Studies Press. (2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Hab 2:4). Biblical Studies Press.