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LIVING BY FAITH

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 13, 1900

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 11.

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LIVING BY FAITH.

By Eugene Leland

EUGENE LELAND.
Four times in the Scriptures—once in the Old Testament, and three times in the New Testament—the statement is made that “the just shall live by faith.”
In a world where desolation reigns almost supreme in consequence of death written upon everything organic, where, in order to maintain even a semblance of life, the most rigorous and unremitting toil is necessary, it is a happy relief to be assured, from an authoritative source, that somewhere there is life; that some, at least, “shall live.”
Men love life. Yea, “all that a man hath will he give for his life.” I know that this statement originated from a somewhat questionable source; nevertheless the author told the truth for once, if never before nor since.
Yes; men do indeed love life; and it is true that they will gladly give all they have for their lives. But the life for which they thus willingly part with their possessions is but “a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” The hand of death may be stayed by one’s parting with his possessions, but it is only for a little time. The grim monster will return again, and sooner or later will claim his victim; for “there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death.” And though a man may be willing to give all that he has for his life, he will succeed only in losing all that he has, including his life.
Life is worth more than “all that a man hath.” It is worth more than all that all men have. Yet the price of life is within the reach of all men; for all men may be just, and “the just shall live by faith.” Four times, as we have noticed, the word of God has said that “the JUST SHALL LIVE.” And though “there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not,” yet abundant provision has been made whereby every man may become just. “Being justified by faith,” and “being justified freely by his grace;” for “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,” there is no reason why any one should abide in death, or part with his possessions in order to secure life; for “the just SHALL LIVE by faith.”
Let us notice briefly the character of this life, and of the faith by which it is secured. “I am crucified with Christ.” It was Paul who said that; but should not I, the speaker, and you, the hearer, be able to say, with Paul: “I am crucified with Christ”? The fact that Paul could say it, is of no possible value to us unless from our own individual experience we know that what he said of himself is true also of ourselves.
In our school days we were sometimes required to read or recite in concert, the whole school reciting the lesson or reading the same thing together. I have often thought what a grand concert it would be if all the people of the world would say together, and say it truly, “I am crucified with Christ.” What a glorious death dirge that would be to chant over expiring sin! It would be equal to that glad song of victory which all the ransomed hosts will sing when death and sin are forever banished from the earth: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Methinks that God, and Christ, and all the holy angel band would lend a glad ear to that triumphant dirge of death.
“Death!” I hear you say, “Death! We don’t want that! It is life for which we would give all that we have, not death! And such a death! It is the most painful, lingering death that one can die. We never could endure to die by crucifixion.”
Could you not? Christ could endure it, and Paul could endure to be crucified with Christ. “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise.” My brother, crucifixion is the price of life! Are you unwilling to pay the price? But Paul has more to say about life than about death in the passage that we are studying, though I fear that the life of which Paul speaks, and the life which the devil said a man would give all that he has to secure, are two very different things. Listen: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I LIVE; yet not I, but CHRIST liveth in me.”
Then, in order to live by faith, we are to die—to be crucified—with Christ, and he is to live in us. How much would “a man” be willing to give for that life? “All that a man hath”?—It will cost more than that, yet the price is not beyond our reach. But how few there are who, though they would gladly give all that they have for this present life, would be willing to give even a small portion of what they have for the life of Christ to be lived in them. Yet these same persons expect to live to all eternity in the kingdom of God.
My brother, let me tell you plainly that unless you live the life of Christ in this world, you will never get into the kingdom of God. And to live the life of Christ will cost you all that you have, and your life, too. That is the price. Are you willing to pay it? Listen again: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose HIS LIFE for my sake shall find it.” Are you willing to pay the price?
But Paul has yet more to say in the verse we are studying. He says, further: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
“The life which I now live in the flesh.” What is the meaning of that expression?—Is it not this: The things that I do; the work in which I am employed?—Evidently. Very well. Now let us substitute one of these expressions in the passage, and read it that way: “The things which I now do in the flesh I do by the faith of the Son of God.”
No violence has been done to the sense of the passage in making this substitution, and we are thus enabled to get a clearer understanding of it; but what is the significance of doing a thing “by the faith of the Son of God”?
To make this point plain we will consider another scripture. Jesus had cursed the barren fig tree. He had said to it: “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.” Having heard what Jesus said to the fig tree, they ought to have had as much confidence and faith in the word of Jesus as he had in it himself. Jesus had implicit faith in the power of his word to accomplish the object for which it was designed. When he spoke, he never doubted for an instant that the word which he spoke would come to pass. When he said, “Let there be light,” he confidently intended that there should be light, “and there was light.”
So in the case of the barren fig tree. When he spoke the curse, he confidently intended that the tree should “wither away.” He had perfect faith that the power of his word would accomplish the death of the tree; and inasmuch as “his disciples heard it,” they should have had no less faith. But “in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” Evidently this was said in surprise at seeing the effect of Christ’s words which he had heard the day before. Now mark the answer of Jesus: “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God;” or, as the margin reads, “Have the faith of God;” that is, Have the same faith in the word of God that God himself has in that word.
Why, brethren, all life, animate or inanimate, is dependent on the word of God for its existence; but in the case of man, God has so related him to his word that his continued existence depends entirely upon his continued belief of that word. We are not to regard the word of God as having been written merely for the pleasure of the reader, to be taken up as one would take up a volume of poems or a newspaper simply to amuse one’s self, or to while away the hour. Neither should it be regarded as a set of requirements written out merely to gratify the arbitrary will of the Author.
There is not a single requirement of God’s word that does not have for its primary object the life of the person to whom it is addressed. Said Jesus: “If thou wilt enter into LIFE, keep the commandments.” And again, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But in order to secure the life that the word of God is designed to give, it is necessary to believe the word implicitly,—to have the same faith in its life-giving power that God has in it himself. Hence the admonition before referred to: “Have the faith of God.”
Have we the faith of God? and are we living by faith every day? or does the word of God make but little impression upon our minds, and is that little soon forgotten? Do we think that a trifling deviation from the principles of the word of God on this point or on that will be of no serious consequence? Brethren, “be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Nothing short of implicit faith—“the faith which worketh by love”—“the faith of God”—will enable one to live.
To do a thing, then, “by the faith of the Son of God,” is to have implicit faith that the thing done is the very thing that Jesus Christ would have done were he to give directions in regard to the doing of it. It is to believe that the thing done is the very thing that Jesus Christ would be doing himself were he in my place. And, indeed, he is in my place; for “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME.”
Then for me to “live by faith”—to “live by the faith of the Son of God”—is for me to have implicit faith that the thing which I am doing is the very thing that I ought to be doing. That means much. It means thatmany who now profess the name of Christ must either change their occupations or, at the least, engage in them for an altogether different purpose from that for which those occupations are now carried on; for it would be the height of presumption to imagine that Jesus Christ would be engaged in the occupation in which many are employed; or if, indeed, he were engaged thus, it would be for an altogether different object.
Not that the occupation is dishonorable, nor that it is not conducted in a proper manner; but when there are millions of souls perishing all about us, and when God has put into our hands the means whereby they can be saved, it is for us to forsake the nets and follow Jesus if we would “live by faith.”
But if we are among those who are so situated that we can not forsake the nets by faith, let us by faith catch all we can with them, and by faith use the catch to help those who have by faith forsaken the nets and gone out into the world; and thus we shall all together “live by faith.”
And to live by faith means more, much more, to those who are looking for the personal appearing of Jesus Christ the second time than it did to any former generation; for of them it is written: “These all died in faith [not by faith], not having received the promises.” But we, brethren, do not expect to die in faith. We expect to “live by faith”—actually, literally live. We do not expect to die at all. But in order to endure the living presence of Jesus Christ when he comes, and to continue to live in his presence after he comes, we must now live every moment by faith.