The Litmus Test weblog

Faith is persuasion. That is true both in the natural and the spiritual realm. A natural man can be persuaded in his mind to do many things, and it is a sort of faith, but the faith that saves is the persuasion of the Holy Spirit which comes to a person as he hears the gospel. As Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”[7] But as Paul also labored to explain, the word of God must be spoken by a flesh-and-blood person who is “sent” [8] — that is, someone who has the spiritual authority to proclaim the gospel. The only thing that gives a person that spiritual authority is that he has obeyed the gospel himself and is living the life that it demands.[9]

So grace draws a person near to hear, and then through hearing the gospel from a true disciple, faith comes — but not automatically. It requires something very important, and very rare, on the part of the hearer: he must be willing to do the Father’s will.[10] He must have ears to hear, which means a heart to obey.[11] Otherwise he will not submit to the spiritual authority of the one speaking; he will not receive him as coming from God.[12] He will not be persuaded, for he is in the grip of a stronger persuasion — the fear of losing his own life.[13]

That is what happened in the case of the “rich young ruler” who came asking what he must do to inherit eternal life:

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22)

Although there was abundant grace at work, bringing him into the very presence of the Master, he did not receive faith from hearing the gospel, but rather dread and gloom, for he was not willing to give up his own life, in order to receive the eternal life that Yahshua offered him. He loved his life in this world.

But in the case of the 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, we see a very different story. The many other words[14] they heard that day from Peter evidently imparted faith to them, for it says they “gladly received his word[15].” Gloom did not descend on them at the thought of giving up their lives, for they were fully persuaded that this Messiah was worth dying for. Thus they were baptized into His death and received the same Spirit that had filled the ones who spoke the good news to them.[16]

Belief that Impels Obedience

The faith that came to those 3,000 caused them to believe in their hearts in this Messiah whom they had crucified,[17] that He had paid for their sins through His death, and that He had risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. And what happened next? Did they all go their separate ways, having added a new dimension to their lives? No. The message they heard called them to be saved from the perverse generation they were living in.[18] The Bible doesn’t record the “many other words” Peter spoke to them that day, but we do know what the Master had commanded the apostles to do in the preaching of the gospel, which surely they were careful to obey:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

And what was the first thing the Master had commanded them when He called them to follow Him? It was to forsake everything.[19] And lest we think that requirement applied only to the apostles, remember that after the woman broke her alabaster jar, her most precious possession, and poured out every drop of the fragrant oil upon Him, He instructed His disciples:

I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. (Matthew 26:13)

It is doubtful that Peter would have forgotten to include this story in his many other words, considering how deeply it had affected the disciples the day it happened.[20] But regardless of the exact words Peter may have spoken, the outcome speaks for itself:

All the believers were together and had all things in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47)

It was neither a coincidence nor a misunderstanding that those 3,000 new disciples all gave up everything, including their independent lives, and shared a common life together.[21] Their belief impelled[22] obedience to what they heard. It was not merely a mental assent to the fact of Yahshua’s death and resurrection. It was a total identification with Him and His people that cut them off from all past loyalties and occupations.

There is a belief that doesn’t impel obedience. The Master encountered this kind of belief on several occasions, such as:[23]

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. (John 2:23-25)

The words “believed” and “entrust” in this passage are actually the same word in the Greek manuscript. You could well say that they believed in Him but He didn’t believe in them, for He knew it was only a belief in their minds and not in their hearts. They admired Him, but He knew they would not obey Him at all costs, therefore He could not entrust His Holy Spirit to them.[24]

So the faith that saves produces a belief that obeys; otherwise it is not saving faith. That is exactly what the writer of James was laboring to express:

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one? You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? (James 2:17-20)

Sadly, many are so foolish as to be unwilling to recognize the futility of a faith that does not result in the works that followed the first preaching of the gospel in Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37. But the Master said that those who have ears to hear will bear abundant fruit — thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold — and so prove to be His disciples.[25]

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[7] Romans 10:17

[8] Romans 10:14-15; Matthew 10:40; John 13:20. There is not a single example in the New Testament of a person receiving the Holy Spirit without receiving a flesh-and-blood person filled with the Holy Spirit. So it is peculiar, to say the least, that most Christians believe that a person can become a disciple by simply reading a tract and saying a prayer, all by himself.

[9] John 7:18b; Otherwise he is living a lie and can only pass on the same deceptive spirit he is in communion with, according to John 7:18a; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 John 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

[10] John 7:17

[11] Matthew 13:9,15; Luke 14:26-35

[12] Matthew 10:40; John 13:20

[13] Hebrews 2:15; Luke 9:24; John 12:25; Revelation 21:7-8

[14] Acts 2:40

[15] Acts 2:41

[16] Acts 2:38 (NKJV); Rom 6:2-5

[17] Acts 2:36

[18] Acts 2:40

[19] Mark 10:28; Luke 5:1-11; Luke 14:33

[20] Matthew 26:8,14-16

[21] Acts 4:32-35; 5:20

[22] Impel means to urge, constrain, or motivate a person to an action; to cause to move forward with force.

[23] John 8:30-44 is another vivid example of vain belief.

[24] Acts 5:32; Hebrews 5:9

[25] Matthew 13:3-9; John 15:8; John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:14-18

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