Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “The Seal of God and Mark of the Beast: Part 1”. I honor the principal contributor and/or editor for tackling this subject. We sometimes think that we have all the details of the final conflict and will not be deceived because we know those details. But there is no safety in knowing what will happen, unless we know the God who knows what will happen. Knowing Him is eternal life. Knowing the facts is nothing without knowing the God of the facts.
In Monday’s lesson we are once again brought to the idea of “the faith of Jesus”. And in our lesson, an explanation of that “faith” is given. And all that is written there is so true. Yet, I want to look at this from a different point of view. The word “faith” can also be translated as “belief” or “trust”. But belief/ trust/ faith in…. well… in what exactly? Faith in God? But what does that mean? What does “faith in God” mean?
“The faith professed must be the faith acted” (Signs of the Times, 3/8/1899). A faith/belief/trust in God will always be displayed in the life. And, of course, the only faith “that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6 NRSV). So here we have a better definition of “faith”. It is really, a life of love. Faith is “the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love” (Signs of the Times, 1/18/1904).
This is really what the “faith of Jesus” is. It is placing “love” as the guiding principle of all you do and all you are… just like Jesus did and was. Jesus placed you above Himself. And this is what will “enable us… to steadfastly endure when Revelation’s mark of the beast is enforced” (quarterly for Monday, June 5). At that time, love for others will be the great “offense” of our lives. Rather than a hunkering-down or stoically protecting and defending our own precious little lives, we will be actively engaged in the salvation of others. Loving others more than ourselves. Taking no thought for ourselves. Love for God, love for others, as we love ourselves is what will guide us through those end-times and lead us “Home” in the end.
If this is to be the “faith” we have at the time of the end, it must be the faith cultivated now… “faith working through love” (op cit.). This “faith” is often quoted as being a “gift” from God. We get this idea from the famous scriptural quote… “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, NKJV). The “New Living Translation” has a slightly different translation of this which can give us some clearer insight; “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”. This says that the gift is being “saved by His grace”. And this makes more sense. Ephesians 4:8 validates this idea; “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift”. Grace is the overarching gift. Actually, Christ is the gift. For only a person can be gracious. Grace cannot be given apart from the Person who is gracious.
In Romans 12:3, Paul ties this all together; “through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”. In this as in Ephesians 2:8, grace is tied to faith. And such it is. The grace of God is what establishes trust/faith/belief. Faith is our response to that grace. Trusting God is our response to the grace of God. The Love-of God, seen in His graciousness, is what leads us to trust Him… if we will. This “measure of faith” we each have is seen in our valuing and desiring-for love in each human heart. Humanity responds to love. Thrives on love. Such is this measure we each have. We truly desire love. We truly keep striving for love. We crave to have faith/trust/belief in true love. Such is that measure-of-faith. Such is the “faith of Jesus”. Such is love.
With brotherly love,
Jim