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This is the sixteenth in a series of studies on the topic of faith and faithfulness. (If you are coming to this page from a search engine, I recommend this link for a table of contents of the topics covered in this series.)
I recently heard an evangelist talk about an experience with a man that had been attending his meetings. The man came up to him following one meeting and said that he would no longer be attending. He pointed to his Bible and said: "I can continue breaking every commandment in this Bible for the rest of my life and it doesn't matter." Is that really true? Where did he get such an idea?
I am reminded of the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). In the parable, it is clear that the son had a forgiving father, but we can also know from the story that he did not have an indulgent and permissive father. Why would he have left, after all, if he could have enjoyed "riotous" (KJV) or "prodigal" (NKJV) living at home? Here are some other translations— "wild lifestyle" (NET), "wild living" (NIV), "undisciplined and dissipated" (MSG), "reckless living" (ESV), "foolish living" (NCV), "extravagant living" (CEB).
Does the story give us the impression that the father was "ok" with his son's "wild lifestyle"? What did the son himself think? He said, "“Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." (NKJV). Yes, the father took him back, but there is no sense of approval in the story for his reckless living. The father said, "my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Let us not forget the context of this parable. A few verses earlier, Jesus tells us his purpose for the parables— "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (verse 7, NKJV) and "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (verse 10, NKJV). Jesus is forgiving, but he also calls for repentance.
So, what does this have to do with faith and faithfulness? If we understand "faith" as mere belief without obedience, then the parables of Luke 15 are meaningless. What does repentance mean if mere belief is all that God asks of us? Why, then, would Jesus say "sin no more" (John 5:14 and 8:11)?
I can not reconcile the concept of an unfaithful "faith" with the rest of the Bible— any attempt to live "by faith" and yet unfaithfully does not make sense. No, to make sense with the rest of Scripture, faith must be faithful.
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Perhaps the reason obedience has "gone under" is that it was often taken for granted by the NT authors. "Of course you have to be faithful" they would say if we posited any antinomianism. The problem is, exegetes have assumed anything not restated in the NT is abrogated. Partly this comes from reading selected passages in Romans as though they were superceding all else in Scripture; Partly from relegating passages on ethics to the footnotes. A good example of the former is the widespread idea that Christ is the end of the law (any and all) instead of understanding that Christ is the end of the Torah (Rom 10:4)!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comments. I have been reading at your site; your writing on faith and faithfulness is interesting and has been helpful in my understanding of the topic.
ReplyDeleteA year or two ago I spent quite a bit of time studying law/nomos/torah, but I have never pulled it together as a topic to blog about. I hope to write on that topic sometime. For now, here is what I have in my notes on Romans 10:4.
The word end translates telos (τέλος). The Greek telos has several meanings, as does the English end. Among the definitions for end in The Concise Oxford Dictionary is "a thing one seeks to attain; a purpose; the object for which a thing exists." The Oxford American Dictionary includes a similar definition: "a goal or result that one seeks to achieve." Thayer's Lexicon includes this definition for telos: "the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose." However, the more common uses end and telos imply "termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be." See Romans 6:22, 1 Timothy 1:5, James 5:11 and 1 Peter 1:9 for uses of telos that are clearly absurd if interpreted as "termination." Purpose or goal would have been better choices to translate telos in Romans 10:4.