The
faith of God... the faith of Christ... your faith in them.
Rom 3:3
For what
if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect?
Rom 3:22
Even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe: for there is no difference:
God has
faith in Jesus, His only begotten Son. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased... be hearing him."
For
thousands of years, God had freely justified multitudes of His elect, and gave
them eternal life based on what the promised seed of the woman would accomplish
when the eternal Word was made flesh in time and begotten the Son of God.
How
could God justly forgive the sins of His people prior to Christ making the
actual payment for them on the cross?
Ro
3:24-25
24 Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God..."
In the
above text...
-
Through whose faith in Christ blood?
- What
do 'sins that are past' refer to? Whose sins? 'Past' with reference to what?
- Is
'his righteousness' referring to God's attribute of righteousness, or to God's
provision of righteousness?
- To
what is the forbearance of God related? What would have happened if there was
no such divine forbearance?
Joe
I'll
give you my view of the passage.
I
believe Paul is referring to all the sins of God's elect that were committed
prior to Calvary. God didn't save His people in the Old Testament era one way
and now in the New Testament era another way. He saves all of His chosen ones
alike.
If this
be the case, God relied on the finished work of Christ for the salvation of His
Old Testament people just as He does for us. From a human, temporal
perspective, Paul could describe this work as the Father's faith in His Son's
blood long before the Son came and shed His blood.
"Faith"
in this sense certainly does not carry the notion of hope, or of trusting what
we do not know. It rather carries the idea of perfect reliance. The Father
applied the finished work of Christ to His elect in regeneration, fully relying
on the work, although it was yet future. Hope this helps.
Dav
Q.
Through whose faith in Christ blood?
A. God
the Father’s – Knowing that the Son would be faithful to die for the sins of
many.
Q. What
do 'sins that are past' refer to? 'Past' with reference to what?
A. Sins
of God’s children prior to the coming of Christ.
Q. Is
'his righteousness' God's attribute of righteousness, or God's provision of
righteousness?
A.
Christ’s righteousness as the only acceptable sacrifice.
Q. To
what is the forbearance of God related?
A. God
tolerated the sins of His people and considered them as already forgiven, even
though the actual act of redemption had not been accomplished.
Bernie
Br. Joe,
you have exactly expressed my understanding of Paul's language in these precise
verses (Rom. 3:24-25).
People
err when they attempt to define the Father's faith in His Son by applying
Paul's faith definition that is labelled in Hebrews 11:1. This particular verse
(11:1) describes the faith of the regenerated elect, not the faith God had in
His Son. God's faith is that confidence and reliance had in His Son by reason
of God's perfect, absolute knowledge.
Man's
faith is variable (neither consistent nor absolute); whereas, God's faith is
constant and is with the absolute perfection of certainty. Brother Joe's post
is with such clarity of truth. Many thanks for it.
I
appreciate this needed discussion
Wells
Thanks
for your post, Bro. Sing. Just today I saw someone post this verse and then go
on to say that "past sins" refers only to the sins of believers prior
to regeneration. I appreciate your explanation.
========
This
illustration will help...
When I
was growing up in a little village, my late father had to go away for works,
often for weeks on ends. He would make the arrangement with the local grocery
store, to ensure that the shop should supply whatever his household would need
in his absence. Dad would leave the family with a notebook; we would bring
along that notebook to the shop to get whatever supplies the household
required, and the shopkeeper who had faith in my father would gladly supply us
everything we had need of in the Dad's absence, recording every item in the
notebook.
When Dad
returned, we would bring the notebook along and settled all the debts incurred.
The grocer man had faith in Dad and supplied us the groceries on credit.
God had
faith in the Word, the second person of the Godhead, absolutely confident that
the eternal Word would be made flesh and be begotten the Son of God in order to
execute the work of redemption for all those given to Him in the eternal
covenant of redemption.
