 |
The faith of God; He has great confidence
in only begotten Son. |
December 1, 2017
https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10210504453423079
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 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's 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 labeled 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 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.
