Rise up O Lord to hear me, for Your silence will not be matched by my own.
Many are the considerations of my soul, You know them well.
Many are the thoughts of my mind, Your attention to them is broad.
Come down, my fear, and listen to the One who made you.
 
You made us to walk in Your statutes, to worship after You;
That we desire deeply the knowledge of our God.
Yet, in this condition, we can only know so well.
For the sin we hold keeps You veiled.
 
But, have we sinned more than those of old?
How have you once spoken plainly to your servants
But from us You withhold Your speech?
Have we sinned more than those of old?
 
For those who despise Your words once spoken,
Who teach others to despise Your commands,
Do I not wish for them failure?
Those who rob us of what words we have from You.
 
Every word from You proves true
And in the silence, I will recall them
The words You have spoken to me through Your servants
You will make alive in these deafened ears.
 
The Lord rises, and He has heard my call
For His promise stands in the silent halls:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them.”
Hear me this day, for I trust in you.

One could imagine that such a basic question does not warrant its own article. It just means 'to believe,' right?

No. No it does not.

When Christians say they are saved by faith in Christ it is not a mere acknowledgement that Christ is real and actually came to live, die and rise from the dead. Those are historically provable facts. It is also not the admission or realization that He is a great Savior. Both of these aspects are necessary to saving faith, but they are not sufficient.

Then what makes saving faith different?

Imagine, if you will, that a ship you were on has just sunk. You have no life jacket, and around you on all sides are bits and pieces of the ship, none of which are of sufficient size to save you. You see people likewise in the water and some of them are placing their faith on planks and random items that are adrift in the water. You witness their struggle and realize that what they are trusting on is not satisfactory. 

Then you see in the distance one of the ship's lifeboats. You hear someone next to you call out, "We're saved!" You look over to him, bobbing in and out of the water, and remind him that he is still not in the boat.

"But I know that boat! It's strong and true. It will never sink and those who are near it are safe."

You both begin swimming over to it, driven by the familiarity and promised safety. Arriving to it you place your hands on the side and begin pulling yourself in. 

"What are you doing that for?" He asks, "You already know this is the lifeboat, right? What need have you to climb in? If there arises trouble, we are right here with the lifeboat."

"But, are we not in trouble already?" You ask. 

He replies, "Well, yes, but that is why we are here at the lifeboat." He knocked on the side of the boat, "Look how solid the craftsmanship is! This really is an amazingly sturdy lifeboat that could hold up to the greatest of storms; there really is no need to look for another lifeboat, this is the only one for me!"

Climbing in, I looked back to him and asked, "Don't you want to get in?"
 
"No," he said, "I am happy just knowing that I found this lifeboat."

The differences between people's definitions of faith can lead to some of the most destructive heresies in the church. When it comes to definitions, few could ever tell you properly what faith itself is, nor how efficacious faith is contrasted with dead faith. 

The illustration above is one that focuses on the two misconceptions of saving faith, and the one example of saving faith. 

First, we have the easily dispelled notion of "believe on whatever you want, just be sincere about it" crowd. These are those who, in that shipwreck, placed all their hope and trust (faith) on random pieces of wood that were insufficient to save them. This would be an apt description for anything but Christ.

Second, and much more common among the assembly of saints, are those unsaved who think themselves saved because they admit Christ is the Savior. Good for them, even the demons believe such. This is the man who swims with all his might to the lifeboat, throwing off all other hopes, but instead of getting into it he merely studies it. Appreciates it. Talks about it. 

Third, and the rarest of all, is the only saving faith. They will not trust in other things, they learn and admit that Christ is the Savior; and then they trust Him to save them by being "in Christ." In the metaphor of the lifeboat, it is the one who climbed in that actually experienced salvation, not the one who simply admitted the reality of the lifeboat's existence and power.

How quickly are some evangelists satisfied with a mere admission of Christ's ability and power to save! 

For salvation, one must place their trust, their hope, their all in Christ.

Recognizing a lifeboat's ability to save while remaining in the water will not save you in the least.

Get in the boat.
 

1 John 1:1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Ignorance is no declaration of inability, rather it is the declaration of a lack of information or experience. Having not lived in the time of the incarnation, we are ignorant of the level of physical experience the disciples were privy to. Can you imagine being one of them? To have literally walked with God in the flesh? To have eaten with Him? To have watched Him die and rise from the dead?

These are experiences reserved for those who were alive and present with Jesus when He was here. And we are dependent on their communicating to us these experiences. This is one of the reasons the Scriptures must play a central role in our lives and growth as Christians.

We do, however, have the Holy Spirit amongst us, in a way that was only dreamed of in the Old Testament times. In fact, the writer of Hebrews focuses on the same issue. After one of the most glorious retellings of OT saints and their sufferings he lays down the final verses regarding their lack of experiencing the Promise, the coming Messiah.

Hebrews 11:39-40
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Peter says much the same in his discussion of the salvation that his readers had experienced being in the midst of a lack of experience with Christ himself.

1 Peter 1:8-12
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, thing into which angels long to look.

But in our admittedly privileged state of clarity when it comes to the gospel, we sometimes become envious of those who were able to, as John says, "see with our eyes" and "touch with our hands". We want to experience that, if only for a moment, so that our appreciation of the physical realities of the gospel would grow in the midst of our ignorance. 

But it is not so. 

God has designed that at this time in redemptive history we are to remain ignorant of the experience that the apostles lived through, that we are to depend on their testimony as the foundation of our understanding our great God.


Ignorance of the physical experience is part of it, and it is no accident. 


It is by God's design that the church would be driven to the Scriptures to see what is the truth, rather than their own experiences. When we understand that this is not intended to be a cosmic-level frustration for us, rather it is a safeguard of the church's solidity, then we may free ourselves of the pride that somehow God owes us an experience that solves our ignorance, and settle ourselves on our God-given gift of relying on Him and His plan that He knows what is best for us. Even if it means sometimes frustrating, sometimes infuriating, ignorance.

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

God's intention, rather than ours, ought to be our preoccupation. His foolishness is wiser than you, and His weakness is stronger than you. The justified ones are those who live by faith and reliance on God rather than themselves. Let's seek to grow in that faith.

Doubt is the result of unmet expectations in a relationship.

Luke 7:18-20
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

None of us are protected from the error of doubt. It shows up in our relationships with other people when we suffer doubt regarding their loyalty or dependability. It may even be for good reason. There is no friend who is perfectly loyal or perfectly dependable. We will be let down.

But why is it that we suffer doubt in our relationship with God? Is it not that we fear He may let us down? That He may have us pass through unpleasent or even unbearable events? Dare we even think....

might God let us down?

John had to learn this lesson in the bowels of prison. The man who baptized our Lord, seemingly forgotten by all in his decrease while Jesus increased. I can see myself there. Cold. Dark. Alone. My mind racing back a forth trying to make sense of my imprisonment. I had expectations of Jesus setting up His kingdom, of me rightly taking my lowly place without the right to loose His sandle straps. 

But John's expectations went unmet. Was it because God was unfaithful? No. And John knew this. But he could not reconcile his experiences with his expectations. So he reasoned that it must be that he got the Messiah's identity wrong.

Wrong again. Jesus responded to John's messengers:

Luke 7:21-23
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus displays the power in which He comes. Not only a power to heal the sick or make the deaf hear again, but He comes with the gospel. The power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. This is the proof that He is the Lamb of God, as John himself identified, who takes away the sins of the world. This is the One he was waiting for.

Some look down on John for his lack of faith, but I find great comfort in Christ's reassurance to John. He didn't rebuke him. He responded with the answer to the question John asked. Christ also didn't go break him out of prison, but he reset his perspective in the midst of that prison.

What went wrong with John? And what goes wrong with us? When God doesn't meet our expectations is it because He has failed? Or could it be that we don't see the whole picture? Do you think that the christian walk is designed to be one of ease and comfort? Because it's not.

Let's learn alongside John this most basic of lessons, that when all seems to fail around us, it is not because God is out of control, quite the opposite, it is His very plan that is unfolding before us: That through thorny ways and winding paths, through dark dungeons and dank dispair, through loss of friend or loss of life.....

 He will bring us home.


Romans 8:31-39
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.


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