What Is Belief? : Part Four

I know in whom I have believed and have been persuaded that

he is able to keep that which I have committed to him unto that day (2 Tim 1:12)

We previously discussed the meanings of knowledge and persuasion as essentials to Paul’s understanding of faith/belief.

“. . . and Have Been Persuaded"

The concept of faith that made Abraham “a man of faith,” as he and other patriarchs are depicted to be by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11, is faith in, what may be called in the words of Paul in the text quoted above. Abraham knew God; he is the patriarch best known for his devout monotheism. His God was El Shaddai (God Almighty). Abraham was persuaded that there was only one God and that this God had spoken to him. This is the concept developed in Francis Scheffer’s books, The God Who Is There and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. What made Abraham “the father of faith” to the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews was the fact that his knowledge of God, and his persuasion that God had spoken to him led to commitment; i.e., a giving or entrusting of himself to the care of God. It was when he acted on his beliefs that he became “faithful,” pistos, a derivitive of pistis (faith/belief), meaning “full of faith,” It was when his knowledge of God, and his persuasion concerning God’s existence, and that God had spoken to him, that he was willing to commit himself to a journey to a land he had never seen, the land of Cannan.

Another essential to faith, as a biblical concept, presented in the story of Abraham, is that present in 2 Tim 1:12, is the role of commitment. “I know in whom I have believed,” said Paul, and “I am persuaded” he continues, that he is able to keep that which “I have committed (paratheke) to him until that day.”

The Greek language is a language of word pictures. Here we have such a word and the picture it gives us is that of a person setting something before someone or giving something to someone for a deposit for safekeeping; to “commit” something to or “give it over to,” or to “entrust it” to the care or possession of someone else. What Paul had committed as a result of this faith was, himself, his life, his spirit or soul.

Paul believed that Jesus of Nazareth was who he claimed himself to be and who his disciples proclaimed him to be, and was so persuaded of his beliefs that he had given himself over to the one who was the object of his faith. Through his faith he had become one with who and what he believed.

A story I once heard well illustrates the concept of biblical faith I am laboring to present here. The story is told of a family who lived in a two-story house. The house caught fire and a little girl was trapped in an upstairs window. A fireman came below the window and called out to the little girl, “Jump to me, I will catch you!” The fireman could save the little only if she would believe his words , be persuaded of his words, and commit herself, or jump, into the fireman’s arms where she would receive the deliverance offered by his words. All three essentials are present in the concept of faith that I have presented are here, taken from Paul’s words of 2 Timothy 1:12. First, she would have to know what the fireman wanted her to do, “Jump to me.” Secondly, she would have to be persuaded that he would and could do what he said he would do, “I’ll catch you!” But these two essentials without the third would not save her. Her faith could only save her if and when she jumped from the window into the arms of the fireman, when she committed herself “into the arms of the fireman.” She was saved by her faith when her faith took her out of that window into the arms of the fireman. This is the sense in which she was saved by faith; and this is the biblical concept of faith Paul uses in his writings.

Having knowledge as gained from biblical studies is not enough. I’ve had over fourteen years setting at the feet of scholars and theologians in graduate schools, some who have held the most prestigious degrees from the highest ranked schools the America and Europe. I would say that of the whole number of those with whom I’ve studied, many have had impressive knowledge in their specific area in the field of religion, many of whom were persuaded of the truths in the areas of their instruction. But many were lacking in commitment of belief of the supernatural and in the biblical truths of Christianity as revealed in the New Testament. Knowledge alone is not enough, persuasion in addition to knowledge is not enough, both areas must lead to a commitment to the reality of the supernatural and the truths of the revelation of the knowledge found in the New Testament Scriptures.