Commentary on "The Widow of Zarephath: The Leap of Faith"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 4: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - Total Surrender

 

Overview

“When was the last time you had to reach out in raw, naked faith, trusting in what you could not see or did not understand? What lessons did you learn about what it means for us, as fallen beings, to live by faith?” (Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Oct. Nov. Dec. 2010, page 130)

“Guide your class in a discussion of how God gently, step by step, built up the widow’s faith to prepare her for Elijah’s arrival and request… It was enough. After she had received a command from God Himself, followed by divine insight to recognize her guest, the way was paved for her not to reject, without at least testing, the third step—the promise.” (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Oct. Nov. Dec. 2010, page 131)

 

Problems

The first paragraph above is taken from the regular version of the quarterly. The second paragraph is available only to teachers.

Both paragraphs cannot be true. Are we are called to step out in “raw, naked faith” or we are led “step by step” through a faith-building process? Is it possible that both paragraphs are untrue?

Now we’ve arrived at the core issue: What is faith? If we can answer this question, then we can answer the related question: How does faith operate?

What is faith? The lesson references Hebrews 11:1, but does not explain it. Remember, the author already has made the assertion that faith is tied to Adventism, tied to the denomination.

Here is the verse: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

First, note that faith is inextricably tied to hope. In order to define faith one must know how to define hope. Here are three passages, out of many, that will provide an outline for a definition of hope.

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, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Our hope is alive “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We were born again to this hope. This hope points to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and will not fade away. It is reserved in heaven for us. We are protected through faith for a final salvation.

Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:25-27)

This hope was a mystery, but now has been revealed. It is “Christ in you.”

…Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13)

To be separate from Jesus is to have no hope. To be in Christ is to be brought near.

Based on these three passages (please feel free to read them, and many other related passages, in their wider context), here is a working definition of hope.

Hope is the absolute assurance of my salvation, wholly dependent on the finished work of Jesus, guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit in my life, and promised as an immutable fact by God Himself.

According to Hebrews 11:1, in order to have faith we must have this assurance.

What is the “conviction of things not seen?” John gives us the answer in his first letter.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:9-13)

This conviction is nothing less than the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we “have eternal life.” We can see neither this hope nor this conviction, but both are as real and true as the God who speaks them into existence.

So what is faith? Faith is applying hope to this moment.

How does faith operate?

Faith is neither available nor applicable to the past or to the future. It is meaningful only NOW. If I know that I am saved, completely and unreservedly, and that God Himself has guaranteed my future, then I am free to apply that reality to this moment. I can make and implement a decision in the utter surety that God is with me every step of the way.

There is nothing raw or naked about it. Faith is based solely on fact. God is that Fact, and He has done, and always will do, everything necessary to make it so. I don’t need to see the end from the beginning of my current situation, because I know, I KNOW, that He already has spoken me into His kingdom. If my current situation leads to physical death, then praise Him, because I will be absent from this body and present with Him. If my current situation leads to anything else, then praise Him, because I am free to be His child and proclaim His gospel.

Faith is not measured by the size of the step I take, whether it is barely a shuffle or a leap across a seemingly bottomless chasm. Faith is measured solely by the value of its object. Since its object is Jesus, faith always is of infinite value. And just like the widow, we never will be asked to do something which God has not already planned and which God will not complete in and through us (see Ephesians 2:10 and this week’s memory text, Philippians 1:6).

 

Summary

1. Faith cannot be both a raw/naked leap into the dark and a God-led step-by-step reality.
2. Faith is dependent on hope.
3. Hope is our guaranteed future – just as Jesus was completely victorious over sin and death by His death and resurrection, so is He completely able to glorify our flesh at the end of time as we know it. This is not speculation, but God’s promise!
4. Faith is the application of hope to this moment, resting in everything He is and allowing the Spirit to use us as He sees fit.

 

GO TO DAY 5–6

 

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