ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Wednesday March 15, 2017

“I know, therefore I agree”

28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:28-29

Faith in Christ

A.  ‘Faith’ in Scripture

B.  What is Faith?

            1.  Knowledge

            2.  Assent

While it is important to see intimate fellowship with God, as it primary aspect, faith also involves recognizing certain things as true and giving mental assent to them. Believing in Christ means assenting (agreeing) to the truth about Christ as well as coming to know him. In fact, there is a sense in which we may come to believe against our own wishes. It was so was Saul of Tarsus and has been with multitudes since, that they have come to faith despite their unwillingness, because the evidence which has persuaded them has proved to be so overpowering the strong. We speak in ordinary life about a man being so trustworthy that we would be compelled to trust him against our will. “The conception embodied in the terms ‘belief’, ‘faith’, in other words, is not that of an arbitrary act of the subjects; it is that of a mental state or act which is determined by sufficient reasons” - B.B.Warfield

Faith is forced consent. That is to say, when evidence is judged by the mind to be sufficient, the state of mind we call faith is the inevitable precipitate. It is not something we can resist or in respect of which we suspend judgment. In such a case faith is compelled, is demanded, it is commanded.… We do not trust the man simply because we have wheeled two, or even because we desire to. And we cannot distrust a man simply because we wish or will to do so. We trust the man because we have evidence that to us appears sufficient, evidence of trustworthiness. – John Murray

Naturally, if faith were merely assent, this would imply a very different picture from the biblical one. Faith is more than assent, but it is never less than assent. Thomas faith in the risen Christ was assent to the fact of the resurrection. But it was more. It was a hard which acknowledged, “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

Memory Verse:

He ‘oku fakae‘a ‘i ai ha mā‘oni‘oni mei he ‘Otua, ‘oku kamata mei he tui, pea iku ki he tui; ‘o hangē ko e Folofola, Ko e mā‘oni‘oni te ne mo‘ui mei he tui. – Loma 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17

Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)

Week 11 – Deuteronomy 1-3; Psalm 36; Luke 5