In Him you also trusted,
after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also,
having believed,
you were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise.
Ephesians 1:13
The nature of faith is includes conviction, in other words, convinced of the truth of faith's object. By means of our minds we deem a thing to be true or trustworthy. But, the mind cannot affirm or not affirm that of which it know nothing. Affirming or not affirming something without knowledge is self-deception and based upon one's motives. God examines the motives of the heart: "Examine me, O LORD , prove me; try my mind and my heart" (Psalm 26:2). God chastened those He loves: " My son, do not despise he chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens (Proverbs 3:11-12) and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons" (Hebrews 12:5-8). Faith comes by hearing and hearing produces knowledge.
When one reads the Bible they come away with the fact that without knowledge their can be no faith. Paul in reprimanding the Corinthian Church because of the misuse of spiritual gifts, especially speaking is some unintelligible language he state; and I translate literally: "he for speaking in a tongue not to men speaks, but to God; no one for hers, in spirit but he speaks mysteries" (1 Corinthians 14:2). It is to admitted that the word translated tongue refers to language:
Ὁ γάρ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ (language, often translated as tongue which is easily misunderstood) οὐκ ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ, ἀλλά τῷ θεῷ· οὐδεὶς γάρ ἀκούει, πνεύματι δὲ λαλεῖ μυστήρια.
Furthermore, if one does not understand, come to a knowledge, of what a person speaking states, he might as well just be speaking to God for no one knows what he is saying, it is a mystery. Then Paul add: "There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me" (1 Corinthians 14:10-11). If one does not understand the Gospel how can they affirm or assent to it? Paul states: "For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher" (Romans 10:13-14). The preacher as a side note is us, not just the "Pastor" it is all who proclaim the Gospel. The command to His followers was to preach the Gospel everyone, to every nation, and a person accepts this Gospel he is saved, if he rejects the Gospel he is condemned. This is the message that the Apostles spoke everywhere they went proving the truth of our Savior by means of the Scripture, in that case it would be the Old Testament. You see, it is the communication of knowledge that proceeds the demand for faith.
This is the connection between faith and knowledge, the Scriptures use those terms interchangeably. To know Christ is to believe upon Him. by intelligently believing we apprehend and appropriate the truth. Knowledge is the beginning but not the affection of saving grace for if the truth is not revealed to a person by the Holy Spirit, that is Christ within him he will not be, or is not a believer. Paul is an example of the inward working and revelation of the truth by means of his conversion. When his eyes of understanding were open by Christ on his way to Damascus, then he was renewed, changed from the darkness of this world into the light of the kingdom of God. God's children are children of the light: "He was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:9). Men perish for the lack of knowledge and the Bible assigns importance to the knowledge of the truth. We are begotten of the truth, and it is our duty as ministers of Christ to preach the word of life, hold out by our example that word of life.
We as Protestants hold to the fact that knowledge is essential to faith, we insist upon it, and by this insistent we are faithful to send all around the world, Bibles, tracts, literature, and missionaries, giving instruction to the people.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God (Romans 10:14).
For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will
enlighten my darkness.
Psalm 18: 28
May the God of Mercy Lead Your Life
Richard L. Crumb
Ὁ γάρ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ (language, often translated as tongue which is easily misunderstood) οὐκ ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ, ἀλλά τῷ θεῷ· οὐδεὶς γάρ ἀκούει, πνεύματι δὲ λαλεῖ μυστήρια.
Furthermore, if one does not understand, come to a knowledge, of what a person speaking states, he might as well just be speaking to God for no one knows what he is saying, it is a mystery. Then Paul add: "There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me" (1 Corinthians 14:10-11). If one does not understand the Gospel how can they affirm or assent to it? Paul states: "For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher" (Romans 10:13-14). The preacher as a side note is us, not just the "Pastor" it is all who proclaim the Gospel. The command to His followers was to preach the Gospel everyone, to every nation, and a person accepts this Gospel he is saved, if he rejects the Gospel he is condemned. This is the message that the Apostles spoke everywhere they went proving the truth of our Savior by means of the Scripture, in that case it would be the Old Testament. You see, it is the communication of knowledge that proceeds the demand for faith.
This is the connection between faith and knowledge, the Scriptures use those terms interchangeably. To know Christ is to believe upon Him. by intelligently believing we apprehend and appropriate the truth. Knowledge is the beginning but not the affection of saving grace for if the truth is not revealed to a person by the Holy Spirit, that is Christ within him he will not be, or is not a believer. Paul is an example of the inward working and revelation of the truth by means of his conversion. When his eyes of understanding were open by Christ on his way to Damascus, then he was renewed, changed from the darkness of this world into the light of the kingdom of God. God's children are children of the light: "He was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:9). Men perish for the lack of knowledge and the Bible assigns importance to the knowledge of the truth. We are begotten of the truth, and it is our duty as ministers of Christ to preach the word of life, hold out by our example that word of life.
We as Protestants hold to the fact that knowledge is essential to faith, we insist upon it, and by this insistent we are faithful to send all around the world, Bibles, tracts, literature, and missionaries, giving instruction to the people.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God (Romans 10:14).
For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will
enlighten my darkness.
Psalm 18: 28
May the God of Mercy Lead Your Life
Richard L. Crumb
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