Today on Truth Time.
Another way that some will attempt to define faith of God is by claiming that God needs to have faith.
Exactly what is...
Just ask yourself this question.
Exactly what is it that God needs to have faith in?
Hmm?
Himself?
Hey, the object of our faith does not require an object to put his faith in.
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We're back today as we explore further through the book of Romans, part 8.
We've made it to Romans chapter 3, let's begin with verse 1, What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?
Verse 2, Much every way, chiefly because that into them were committed the oracles of God.
After explaining to the old man there in chapter 2 how he's not a real Jew, Paul asked the question, What advantage does the Jew have? And what profit is there of circumcision?
We already established in chapter 1 how that the Jew was committed to the oracles of God, whereas the Gentiles were without God, having no hope.
In chapter 2 verse 25, we read that the circumcision, there where Paul said, ...verily profiteth, if thou keep the law:...
But what is the profit?
The answer is the profit, and advantage of being a circumcised Jew, is having direct access to God.
Specifically, the Jews have been given the oracles of God and are also the stewards of those oracles.
What are the oracles of God?
Stephen's sermon gives us that answer.
Acts chapter 7 picking up in verse 37, This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me him shall ye hear.
Verse 38, This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, which the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.
The oracles of God are the words of God given to Moses for the children of Israel to believe and obey. The Mosaic law, along with all the blessings and curses that come with it.
Now back to Romans chapter 3 verse 3, look there, For what if some did not believe?
Let's stop right here, because again, Stephen is going to tell us about the, ...Some that did not believe... in the verses that immediately follow what we just read about, the lively oracles that were given to Israel.
Acts chapter 7, verse 39, To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt.
Verse 40, Saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us, for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him.
Verse 41, And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Verse 42, Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it was written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Verse 43, Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Molech, and the star of your God, Remphon, figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Hmm, it sounds a lot here like, like Romans 1, does it not?
So, hopefully this helps us to see and understand exactly why Israel, as well as the old man there of chapter 2, why they are all without excuse.
Let's look at Romans 3:3 again, For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
We are certainly going to get our answer to that question in the very next verse.
But before we get to that, on this phrase, faith of God, let's park here for a minute, and as we just showed with scripture, Stephen calls the law of Moses the ...Lively oracles...
And Paul says, The Jews were given the oracles of God in Romans 3:2.
So, let's back up, back up to the second part of verse 2, and all of verse 3, okay?
Unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Did you catch that?
Oracles were given, and if oracles were not believed, does that make God's faith without effect?
Is that what this verse says?
No, this verse absolutely does not declare that God has faith.
You have to read that in.
It doesn't say that.
Paul's question is this, Does the lack of belief in the oracles of God, Mosaic law, make the faith of God, this body of doctrine, Mosaic law, without effect?
See, it's important that we understand the context of this passage.
Some will say that the faith of God is defined as faithfulness of God.
And while our God is certainly faithful, is that what is to be taken away from this phrase?
No.
If it were, then it would read like this, Make the faithfulness of God without effect.
Now, if you heard our last installment, you know that faithful does not mean full of faith.
If you missed that, we'd encourage you to go back and check it out.
So, faithful does not mean full of faith, and faith of God does not mean faithfulness of God.
In our King James Bible, the word faithfulness is used 19 times.
The word faithful is used 78 times.
So, if that is what God meant in Romans 3:3, if he meant to say faithfulness, he certainly would have said it there.
Another way that some will attempt to define faith of God is by claiming that God needs to have faith. Mankind has the habit of trying to humanize God, to bring his deity down to our level in an attempt to better comprehend the person of God.
Exactly what is it... Just ask yourself this question.
Exactly what is it that God needs to have faith in?
Hmm?
Himself?
Hey, the object of our faith does not require an object to put his faith in.
I'm not sure why anyone would think that God needs to have faith in anything.
Perhaps the breakdown is a lack of understanding in what exactly faith is according to the scriptures. So, let's go there for a moment.
The first place we need to go is the famous faith verse in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1, Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Let's break this down.
Substance.
That's what something consists of.
So, with that in mind, according to Hebrews 11:1, things hoped for consist of, or are made up of, faith. The second part of the verse says the evidence of things not seen.
So, we can deduce from this one verse that faith is two things.
Number one, what hope is made of.
Number two, evidence of the unseen.
It is impossible to talk about faith without also talking about hope.
Because we just learned that faith is what fuels hope.
And hope depends on faith to exist.
So, although the words are different, you cannot have one without the other.
No faith equals no hope.
No hope equals no faith.
Paul says this in Romans 8.
Romans chapter 8, look with me at verse 24, For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Verse 25, But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it?
Hope is made up of faith.
Hope is not seen.
Faith is evidence of hope.
If hope that is seen is not faith, like Paul says in Romans 8:24, then it only stands to reason that when the expectancy of hope comes to pass, faith is no longer needed.
2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says, For we walk by faith, not by sight.
In this verse, the opposite of faith is sight.
Remember, we just read in Romans 8:24, For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Even Peter speaks of the coming salvation of the little flock in this manner.
First Peter 1:9, Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Since the little flock will have to endure unto the end for their salvation, they had to maintain their faith until the end of their lives.
Peter goes on in verse 13, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So, Peter is telling his audience that there will be a time when their faith will end.
And yet, he is also telling them to hope to the end for the grace that is to come.
And do keep in mind that when it comes to terminology, the definitions do not change from dispensation to dispensation.
Repent means the same thing in the Old Testament as it does when Peter said it in Acts chapter 2.
It's the same when Peter mentioned it.
It's the same when Paul mentioned it.
It's the same in the Old Testament.
And just like the words atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness, justification, righteousness, etc, same thing.
Same goes for those as well, just like we showed in our understanding the terms series.
The definitions of words in our King James Bible do not change according to the dispensational changes.
But the context that those words are used in and the specific instructions regarding those words do change.
Same thing goes for faith and hope.
The definition of faith and hope does not change from Peter to Paul.
And it's why we can use what Peter said to the little flock concerning their faith and hope.
We can use that to help us see how these words were used in order to gain a better understanding of their meanings.
Now, for those of us with faith during any dispensation, there will come a day when our faith will no longer be needed because that which we hoped for will clearly be seen.
And if walking by faith is the opposite of walking by sight, then, when we see our hope manifested before us, we will no longer need to have faith.
Like the old song goes, O Lord, hast the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
Now, having understood all of this, what need would an all-knowing, all-seeing, holy God have of hope?
Think.
Hope that is seen is not hope.
Can God see everything or not?
This should be clearing this issue up for anybody who has any questions.
I mean, hey, can God see everything or can he not?
Does he not already know the beginning from the end?
Has he not already seen this whole thing play out in eternity?
So, if God doesn't need hope, then why does he need faith?
He don't.
We learned in Hebrews 1 that faith is what hope is made up of.
If God doesn't need hope, then he certainly does not need the substance that the hope is made of.
Hebrews 1 also educated us in that the faith is the evidence of unseen things.
What is unseen to God?
There's no reason to ever believe under any circumstance that God needs faith.
The only way that God would need such a thing is if he were not all-knowing and all-seeing.
But Psalm 147 says he telleth the number of the stars.
He knows their names.
Jeremiah 23:23 says, Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
He sees things right there in front of him and things that are afar off, my friend.
No hope, no faith needed.
And the prophet Jeremiah in the next verse says, Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord?
In 1 John 3:30, we read, For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.
This faith that God supposedly needs, this gets obliterated with the word of God.
It's simply not here.
If God needs faith, their Bible contradicts itself.
We often like to quote Hebrews 4:12, but what about the next verse, Hebrews 4:13, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
And Isaiah chapter 46 verse 9 says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
This is clear.
In addition to all these verses, Peter talks about the fact of God's foreknowledge, and anyone with foreknowledge does not need to have hope.
I think you get that, right?
And if they don't need hope, there's no need of faith.
Acts 2:23, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.
1 Peter 1:2, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
If you play the lotto and you already know the winning numbers, what need would you have of hope?
Would you need faith that the numbers will be correct?
No.
Either I know the winning numbers or I don't.
The only reason why I would hope to win or need to have faith that I might have the numbers correct is if I didn't know the right numbers and was only guessing.
God isn't guessing, folks.
And God has no need for hope or faith.
His understanding is infinite.
He's declared the end from the beginning, just like Isaiah said.
There are no secret places hidden from him. Jeremiah 23.
He knows the names of the stars and how many they are. Psalm 147.
And he even knows the words before anyone says them. Psalm 139 verse 4.
John said he knows all things. 1 John 3:20.
All things are naked and open unto his eyes. Hebrews 4:13.
There is no searching of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28.
His foreknowledge is from the foundation of the world. Acts 2:23 and 1 Peter 1:2.
Ladies and gentlemen, God doesn't need faith.
If your God needs faith, he's the little g.
And you need to find the real one.
The one who is the object of faith, and not the one who needs to have an object of his faith.
Okay, next time we'll pick up right here where we left off in Romans chapter 3 verse 3.
We will see exactly why a lack of belief does not, does not make the faith of God without effect.
Now that we know that the phrase, Faith of God, is not equivalent to God having faith.
Nor is it a reference to the faithfulness of God.
And next time we'll show you exactly what the faith of God is.
And then we'll move on through this important chapter.
We're still talking about things that Israel would understand just like we were in chapters 1 and 2.
Paul, he's talking to people who know the law and people who know about the law.
You need to make that distinction if you're going to have good understanding of what we're reading.
Don't lose sight of that.
You're here today, uncertain of your salvation.
You can change it right now.
You can do that with placing your trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He died for every one of your sins.
He was buried and he has risen.
All those sins went with him in the tomb.
Regardless of what we just heard from a pastor who says the sins remained on the cross.
No, they did not.
Jesus was made to be sin and Jesus was put into the tomb, and that's where your sins went.
This pastor who says that obviously has no understanding of the operation of God that occurred in the tomb.
Christ died for all your sins.
He took your sins to the tomb with him on his body.
Your sins were on his flesh.
Went into the tomb where the operation of God was performed.
And he did not come out with your sins.
They're gone.
Forgotten.
Now what you need is his righteous life.
Justification.
How do you get that?
You gotta' believe.
Believe this good news and put your trust in Christ Jesus alone.
Now rest.
Go rest in that.
Grace and peace.
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