Living a Life of Faith (no. 2)

When we reflect on the title of this series, “Living a Life of Faith,” what do you think of when you read/hear the word “faith?” Recall that in our first installment of this series we were considering the words of the Apostle James in the 2nd chapter of his epistle dealing with his teaching on “faith and works (deeds, actions).”

As a transitional point, allow me to share with you that the Hebrew language is a very ‘economical’ one. That is to say, it has far fewer words than does the English language. I learned how very rich the English language is when I was teaching and preaching in Brazil and in Russia. When I would meet with my translators to help to prepare them for a lesson or a sermon that we were going to deliver, we often had to work quite hard for them to find the ‘right’ word to use as some points of the message, because English has a separate and distinct word for every nuance of any given word of emotion, intent, or theological point. Where the other language was lacking in these different shades of meaning, my translator and I would have to work to make the right choices as to when to pause at a given point of the lesson or sermon and take a moment to explain, in their language exactly what we wanted to convey to the class or the congregation.

We have the same situation when understanding the true intent of the biblical authors when a certain word is being translated into English. For example, one must determine from the context how אחט (transliterated chata) is to be understood as “sin” or “sin offering,” because this one Hebrew word is used for both English terms which, although related etymologically as words, have very different meanings, and the distinction is critically important for correctly understanding the theological concepts that have been derived from the use of these words. A classic example is the passage in 2 Corinthians 5:21 wherein Paul states, “He (God, the Father) made Him (Jesus), who knew no sin to be (not in the original) sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (Explanations added)

Jesus, in order to be the atoning sacrifice for the our redemption, the one who paid the penalty for our sins (which we know from Romans 6:23 is death), had to be our “Passover Lamb,” one that was spotless and without blemish, just as all Passover lambs through all of history were required to be. The writer of the epistle “Hebrews” declares confidently, “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 (not in the original) without sin” (4:15, emphasis added).

Therefore, Paul (according to Philippians 3, remember, was “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless” (vv. 5-6). He understood both the proper uses of the term “chata” and Jesus’ sinless state when He was falsely accused by the Jews (the Jewish religious leaders) of blasphemy for declaring Himself to (be equal with) God.

Therefore, when Paul wrote his second letter to his disciples in the Church at Corinth, and declared that Jesus, who never knew (was never intimately acquainted) sin, became sin for us, do you think that, in the context of Jesus being our perfect “. . . Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29 – the testimony of John the Baptist), that Paul was identifying Jesus as “sin” (that is sinful, or as I have heard horribly taught and preached, “Sin Incarnate!”), or that Paul was identifying Jesus as our “sin offering” offered by the Father Himself on our behalf? Personally, I come down, and profoundly so, on the side of the latter interpretation. Why this is so profoundly important, we will deal with in our next installation of this series, and then we will get back to our consideration of living a Life of Faith!
(. . . to be Continued . . . .)

LIVING A LIFE OF FAITH
*(Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture quotes are from the New American Standard Bible – NASB.)

The Book of James is a favorite of my wife, Mary Jane. She relates to this Apostle’s emphasis on things practical. At this point, please read the 2nd Chapter of James. The editors of the edition of the Bible that I am using break this chapter into two parts. The first, vv. 1-13, they have captioned with the heading “The Sin of Partiality,” and it speaks of how we should lovingly treat those who come into our church services equally and not showing favor to the wealthy while denigrating the poor among us. The second section, vv. 14-26 they have captioned with the heading “Faith and Works,” and in this section we read the well-known “faith without works is dead” (v. 20 – KJV, or ‘useless’ NASB).

Many folks are good at arguing theology but not very effective in their witness for Christ, often because they do not put the love of God into action as Jesus so clearly exhorted us to do! His words resonate with us, especially at this time of the year, because He demonstrated that which He taught during the Passover meal He shared with His disciples just prior to His arrest and subsequent crucifixion.

First, in Luke 10, James and John, the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus and asked Him to grant them a request. They wanted the honor to be positioned at His left and His right when Jesus came into His kingdom (in power). In other words, they asked to be Jesus’ chief lieutenants, the first and second in command after Jesus and thus placed in authority over their fellow disciples. In verse 41 we read, “Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.”

Listen to Jesus’ response: Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever whishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not tome to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Luke 10:42-45)

In John 13, then, we see Jesus “walking the walk,” and not just “talking the talk.” (That is what we admire, isn’t it? ~ Those who ‘practice what they preach!) In John 13, in preparation to eat the Passover Meal, what we have come to call ‘the Last Supper,’ Jesus washed His disciples feet! (This filthy and unpleasant task was the assigned to the very least slave of the household, the one who was ‘at the bottom of the pecking order,’ so to speak.)

When He had finished, Jesus addressed His disciples and said, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord (which means ‘Master’), for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as a I did to you. Truly, Truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who went him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (addition added for clarity) . . . . To Be Continued