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NOTE II.
THE IDEA OF FAITH.
We walk by faith not by sight.
2 COR. v. 7.
Faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the test of
things not seen.
HEBR.
xi. 1.
ALL action involves an advance into the unseen,
and we are so constituted as necessarily to act.
We believe in the general permanence of observed
laws ; we believe in the general permanence of the
character of friends; and act without hesitation on
our belief. Such belief is wholly different from a
belief in past facts which rests on testimony.
We may here leave out of further consideration
the nature of our belief in the permanence of natural
'laws,' represented in its simplest form by the first
'law of motion.' This belief, though it prepares the
way for our belief in the general permanence of human
character is yet different from it in kind. The one
deals essentially with fixed conditions, the other with
variable conditions due to a vital progress.
Faith properly belongs to the latter, to the
rela-
tions of life. It is the basis of all personal dealings
of man with man; and also of man with any other
being whom he apprehends personally. It is evident
beyond question that man is so constituted as to have
Faith which makes social life possible. By Faith he
enters confidently on the future and the unseen:
without it the future and the unseen world have for
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NOTE II.
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174
Religious Faith.
NOTE II.
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him no reality. The opposite to Faith is not Reason
but Sight.
The highest form of Faith is religious Faith, by
which we acknowledge that there is a divine purpose
of wisdom and love being wrought out in the world,
and that we are called upon and enabled to cooperate
towards its fulfilment. This purpose, partially seen
in creation and life and dimly shadowed out under the
Old Covenant, has been fully disclosed in the Incarna-
tion (Rom. xvi. 25 ff.). The consideration of such a
purpose involves the recognition of One Whose will it
expresses. We fashion a human conception of His
character from all that we can learn of His working.
And just as we read in the past the character of a
friend or of a parent, and without doubt trust our-
selves to our interpretation of it for the future, so it
is with our interpretation of the facts through which
God has been pleased to make Himself known. We
interpret them more or less perfectly and throw our-
selves upon the conclusions which we have drawn
with practical assurance.
This assurance is not due solely to an
intellectual
process, nor to feeling, nor to will. Knowledge,
emotion, volition all contribute to the result. The
Faith, on which it rests, is a harmonious energy of
man's whole nature. It corresponds with religion
which is its proper object. Man, as we have seen, is
born for religion, and he is born for faith through
which he realises the characteristic facts of religion.
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The elements of Faith.
175
Thus Faith includes three elements :
1. A conviction of the truth of that to which it
it is directed.
2. A quickening of love by which the conviction
is made personal confidence.
3. A readiness for action corresponding to the
conviction.
The starting-point in the establishment of Faith
is knowledge. Certain facts are apprehended clearly
which point to certain conclusions in regard to the
future and the unseen. We are so made as to draw
these conclusions. Such conclusions are not distin-
guished from conclusions as to past facts resting on
testimony as more or less certain in the same line.
We may be equally certain that the battle of Waterloo
was fought at a particular time and place, that the sun
will rise to-morrow, and that a parent will love his
child, but the certainty is reached by different ways,
and no comparison can be made between the degrees
of cogency belonging to the several forms of evidence
on which they rest.
The facts which call out Faith in the ordinary
conduct of life suggest the presence of a greater
counsel of love wrought out in the visible order.
This, when it is once grasped, we necessarily refer to
a 'Person,' to God; and as we recognise it we learn
to trust Him. The conviction, which was based on
knowledge, is now inspired by feeling; and it is in
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NOTE II.
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176
The elements of Faith.
NOTE II.
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this passage from an intellectual conclusion to the
sense of a personal relation in regard to the unseen
that we can recognise the working of the divine
element without which Faith cannot be.
But we cannot rest in feeling only. The will
which we recognise is to be fulfilled, and we have a
part in the fulfilment.
It often happens, as in the case of Religion,
that
the name 'Faith' is applied to a frame of mind in
which one or more of its constituent elements is
wholly absent or imperfectly represented. Sometimes
an intellectual conviction, sometimes a determination
of will is called faith. Sometimes the emotional
element overpowers the other two. But in each case
the incompleteness of the energy in relation to the
whole man is evident.
Faith is indeed the energy of our whole nature
directed to the highest form of being. Faith gives
stability to our view of the universe. As soon as we
pass outside ourselves, beyond deductions from the limi-
tations of our own minds, we rest on Faith. By Faith
we are convinced that our impressions of things with-
out are not dreams or delusions, but for us true re-
presentations of our environment. By Faith we are
convinced that the signs of permanence, order, pro-
gress, which we observe in nature are trustworthy.
By Faith we are convinced that fellowship is possible
with our fellow-men and with God.
The general conception of Faith which has been
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The view of Faith in the New Testament.
177
thus outlined is fully confirmed by the teaching of the
New Testament. It will be sufficient to indicate
some lines of inquiry which can be followed out in
detailed study.
1. The sphere of Faith.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
test of
things not seen.
By faith he forsook Egypt... for he endured as
seeing Him Who is invisible.
We walk by faith, not by sight (comp. c.
iv. 18).
Whom [Jesus Christ] not having
seen ye love;
on whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of
glory.
Without entering upon disputed details of inter-
pretation it is clear that the sphere of faith as de-
scribed in these passages is the future and the unseen;
or in other words that which cannot be directly
witnessed by testimony, or apprehended by the senses.
Faith brings conviction in regard to truths not other-
wise capable of being determined.
2. The special object of Faith.
The special object of Faith is a Divine Name,
that is a Divine Person made known to men and
recognised by them. By Faith man enters into
fellowship with God in Christ.
As many as received Him [the Word]
to them gave
W. H.
F.
11
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NOTE II.
Hebr. xi.
1.
Id. v. 27.
2 Cor. v.
7.
1 Pet. i. 8.
John i. 12,
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178
The elements of Faith.
NOTE II.
Acts iii.
16.
1John v.
13.
John xx.
31.
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He the right to become children of God, even to them
that believed on His name,
By faith in His name hath His name made this
man strong, whom ye behold and know ; yea, the faith
which is through Him hath given him this perfect
soundness in the presence of you all.
These things have I written unto you, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God.
These [things] are written that
ye may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing
ye may have life in His name,
With this fulness of faith on a Divine Person
(πιστεύειν εἰς) must be
compared the different partial
activities of faith. He who believes in the revealed
Person believes the whole revelation about Him
(πιστεύειν τῷ ὀνόματι, 1
John iii. 23, note), and definite
points in that revelation to be true (πιστεύειν ὅτι,
1 John v. 1, 5); and also believes Him (πιστεύετέ
μοι, John xiv. 11).
The passage Acts iii. 16 is singularly
instructive
as representing in combination the divine principle in
faith (ἡ πίστις
ἡ δἰ αὐτοῦ), the human activity in faith
(τῇ πίστει τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ),
the energy of the object
of faith (τῆ
πίστει τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ).
3. The elements of Faith.
Faith, it has been seen, includes elements of
knowledge, feeling, action.
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The seat of Faith.
179
(a) Knowledge.
Faith cometh of hearing.
Comp. Luke viii. 12 ; John i. 7; 1 Cor. iii. 5
ff.
The right interpretation of the past leads to the
understanding of the present : John v. 46.
(b) Feeling.
The knowledge of 'the Name of Christ,' of the
revelation, that is, of the Father and of the Son,
involves and issues in love.
Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of
God;
and every one, that loveth is begotten of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God;
for God is love.
(c) Action.
Love must if it be real prove itself in action.
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his
life for us : and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren. But whoso hath the world's goods, and
beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his
compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide
in him?
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom
he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen.
4. The seat of Faith.
The seat of faith is 'the heart,' the seat of in-
dividual character and of moral determination.
12—2
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NOTE II.
Rom. x.
17.
1 John iv.
7 f.
1 John iii.
16 f.
1 John iv.
20.
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180
The activity of Faith.
NOTE II.
Rom. x.
10.
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With the heart man believeth unto righteousness ;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
5. The activity of Faith.
The various aspects of the effect of faith is
shewn
in 'life,' 'righteousness,' 'salvation,' 'power.'
(a) Life.
Consider John iii. 36; 1 Tim. i. 16; John. xi. 25
f.
(b) Righteousness.
In this case it is necessary to distinguish the
different relations in which righteousness is placed to
faith. It comes 'by faith' (πίστει)
as the instrument
(Rom. iii. 28); 'of faith' (ἐκ
πίστεως) as the source
(Gal. ii. 16; iii. 8, 24; Rom. v. 1; ix. 30 ; x. 6);
'through faith' (διὰ
πίστεως) as the effective power
(Gal. iii. 9; Rom. iii. 22, (30)). Faith also charac-
terises the righteousness (δικ.
πίστεως, Rom. iv. 13, 11).
Compare Hebr. xi. 3 (πίστει),
13 (κατὰ
πίστιν), 33
(διὰ
πίστεως).
(c) Salvation.
Under this head the use of the phrase 'thy faith
hath saved thee' requires to be carefully considered :
Matt. ix. 22 || Mk. v. 34 || Lk. viii. 48.
Mk. x. 52 || Lk. xviii. 42.
Luke vii. 50.
—— xvii. 19.
There is a unity in man's whole nature which
must be recognised.
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Faith and Repentance.
181
Compare Acts iii. 16; xiv. 9 ; and Gal. iii. 14,
22, 26.
Without Faith man is in darkness (John xii. 46 ;
Hebr. xi. 6), falsehood (1 John ii. 22 f.; iii. 14), death
(John iii. 18, 36 ; viii. 24).
Generally Faith is the condition of the Divine
working (Mk. v. 36 only believe
πίστευε
|| Lk. viii. 50
πίστευσον;
Mk. ix. 23 f. if thou canst...; and negatively,
Matt. xiii. 58 || Mk. vi. 5 f. he could not; Matt. xvii.
19 f.); and the measure of the Divine gift (Matt. viii.
13; ix. 29 ; xxi. 22 || Mk. xi. 23 f.). The power of
Faith is unlimited (Matt. xxi. 21; Mk. ix. 23).
The obstacles to Faith are clearly marked: John
v. 44; xii. 39 ff.; 43.
One further remark must be added. 'Faith belongs
to the life of man as he was created, in his essential
nature. For man fallen the necessary supplement
of Faith is Repentance, which like Faith includes
elements of knowledge, feeling, will.
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NOTE II.
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