02 IS IT BIBLICAL?

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IS IT BIBLICAL?

The Foundations of Sanctifying Power

Faith is the Great Worker

1Th_1:3

[I] Constantly bear in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

2Th_1:11

To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.

2Th_2:13

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Act_26:18

[I send you] to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

Gal_5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

1Ti_1:5

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Heb_11:8

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Rom_9:31-32

Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

The Grace We Have Faith in is Not Only God's Disposition to Save the Unworthy, But the Power of God Exerted to bless Us in the Future with All that We Need

1Co_15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

1Co_1:3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co_16:23

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

2Co_8:1-3

Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. 3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord.

2Co_9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

2Co_12:9

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Act_4:33

And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

Act_6:8

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

Therefore, though grace was given to us in eternity past (2Ti_1:9) and was the disposition of God that moved him to send his son to die for us (Rom_3:24), it is also a power exerted by God in the future to meet all our needs. On this we rely. On this we depend and trust. Faith is not just faith in the past events but the future grace of God.

Faith Is Future-Oriented, It Trusts in future Grace

Heb_11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Rom_4:16-24

For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE." 19 And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore also IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written, that it was reckoned to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Col_1:22-23

He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach – 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Joh_14:1

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

2Co_1:8-9

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

Therefore, faith is future-oriented and embraces a future governed by God's grace and is therefore superior to the future promised by sin.

The Function of Bygone Grace: Solid Ground Under Faith in Future Grace

Rom_8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Rom_5:9-10

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Heb_4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

Faith Is a Being Satisfied With Heartfelt Valuing and Treasuring All that God Promises to be for Us in Jesus, Not Just an Assent to Truths (Past or Future)

Php_3:8-9

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

Joh_6:35

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Joh_7:37-38

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'"

Joh_3:19-20

And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

Joh_5:40

You are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.

Joh_6:37

All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

1Jn_5:3-4

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.

Therefore faith includes love for God in the sense of delight in him and valuing him and treasuring him above all else. And so faith is a being satisfied in all that God is for us — and promises to be for us in Jesus. Therefore faith severs the root of sin which is the promise sin makes for a better future and a better satisfaction.

What Is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Enabling Obedience?

Gal_5:22-23 a

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Gal_5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

Gal_3:5

Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Why Does the Spirit Unite Himself to Faith as a Way of Bringing about the Works of Love?

The answer seems to be that the Holy Spirit loves to glorify the all-satisfying dependability of Christ and his Word (Joh_16:14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you"). If the Holy Spirit simply caused acts of love in the human heart without any clear, on-going causal connection between love, on the one hand, and faith in Christ's promises, on the other hand, then it would not be plain that Christ's all-satisfying dependability is honored through love. But the Spirit is utterly committed to getting glory for Jesus. Therefore, he keeps himself quietly beneath the surface, as it were, and puts forward "hearing with faith" as the conscious cause of love.

1Pe_1:3-6 a

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice,

Joh_7:37-39

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."' 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

What Is the Role of Gratitude in the Motivation of Obedience?

Nowhere in the Bible is gratitude connected explicitly with obedience as a motivation. We do not find the phrase "out of gratitude" or "in gratitude" for acts toward God.

Christian obedience is called the "work of faith," never of the "work of gratitude" (1Th_1:3; 2Th_1:11).

We find expressions like "live by faith" (Gal_2:20) and "walk by faith" (2Co_5:7), but never any expression like "live by gratitude" or "walk by gratitude."

We find the expression "faith working through love" (Gal_5:6), but not "gratitude working through love."

We read that "the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1Ti_1:5), but not "from sincere gratitude."

We read that sanctification is by "faith in the truth" (2Th_2:13), not that it is "by gratitude for the truth."

We read that "faith without works is dead" (Jam_2:26), but not that "gratitude without works is dead."

And when Jesus deals with the disciples' hesitancy to seek the kingdom first because they were worried about food and clothing, he did not say, "O men of little gratitude," he said, "O men of little faith" (Mat_6:30).

Faith in future grace, not gratitude, is the source of radical, risk-taking, kingdom-seeking obedience.

The temptation to say: "God has done so much for me, what can I do for him?" is very great. But it is very dangerous for three reasons:

1. We can never pay God back – not one penny's worth – because every move we make in love and holiness is a move that God himself supplies (1Co_15:10), and so we are simply going deeper in debt to grace by our obedience, not paying any of the debt off. A better way to think is to say grace pays our debts to God which sin creates.

2. If we could succeed in paying God back for all he does for us, or for any of it, to that degree we would nullify grace and turn it into a business transaction. Grace is free or it is not grace. Grace does not establish an amortization schedule of obedience payments.

3. Thinking of obedience as empowered by gratitude directs our attention backward to bygone grace rather than forward to future grace. In this way the debtor's ethic tends to divert us from the wealth of grace yet to be known and distracts us from the very power of obedience we need – future grace. You can't run your car on gratitude for yesterday's gas.

Therefore, Our Passion for Holiness Involves a Fight for Faith in Future Grace. We Battle Against Sin by Battling against Unbelief.

1Ti_6:12

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

2Ti_4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2Co_1:24

Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

Php_1:25

And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.

Autor: John Piper