Genuine faith has both an active and a passive quality to it, which can be seen in the lives of those who possess it. In the active sense, it is the physical expression of the loyalty we have to a person or the fidelity to an obligation or trust and the exercise of their duty relating to it. In the passive aspect, it is confidence which rests with certainty in the word or assurances of another. For believers, it is finding and having their all in Christ.
In studying the Bible, we are taught what genuine faith is in the examples given of those who committed their lives to God, trusting in His faithfulness and care toward them. It is found in those who stand in awe of Him, recognizing Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things and the Judge of the whole universe. This is not to suggest the people involved were perfect and without any form of doubt, but that even in error or under trial, they looked to the Lord for deliverance through it all. These examples are in every book of the Bible, Old and New Testaments alike. Those declared as righteous all have the same thing in common: believing God’s Word and trusting solely in His grace towards them (Heb. 11:3-38). Simply put, faith is that which owns God as being true and faithful in His Word.
As Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Job, Moses, Rahab, David; as of the prophets; as of Peter, Thomas and Paul; as for us — the heart given to God in utter confidence in His faithfulness will be characterized by loving obedience to do His will (faithfully knowing that, even if we should fail from time to time, God is gracious and just, His correction true, and He is to be relied upon for all things and to set all things to the right, according to His own purpose — 2 Tim. 2:11-13). Of course, faith’s fulfillment is in the Person and work of Christ.
The Product of Faith
While some may think of Hebrews 11:1 as the definition of faith, it is actually the product of what true faith is. The simple scriptural definition of faith, however, is found in John 3:33: “He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” What is meant by “his seal,” in context, is what is known as a signet: It is the stamp of ownership impressed as a mark of the genuineness of the contents or of the privacy of access (as to its possession) on which it appears. It does not mean that the one believing endorses what is being stated as true, but rather ascribes that truth as coming only from God. He possesses it in place of his own.
God’s Testimony
To “receive” the Son’s testimony then is to believe on the Son by holding that all which God had foretold is fulfilled in Him (Matt. 5:17). This is shown by the believer’s obedience to His Person and authority as both Savior and Lord. While this does include obedience to His commands, it is obedience produced and manifested by love in those who own that they are already accepted and complete in Him (Rom. 1:17; 3:21-26). Some may say they believe that Christ is God’s Son, and even that He is the Messiah, but it is meaningless unless they receive Him as such and submit themselves to Him in the fullness of His Person and authority as well (see also Matt. 7:13-27). This is the obedience and submission which only the possession of God as being true creates.
In the Old Testament, receiving God’s testimony meant not only to “call upon” the name of Jehovah, but those who called themselves “by the name of Jehovah” (Gen. 4:26 JND footnote). Abraham was an example of its meaning in practice: He took God at His word and acted as its being an accomplished fact in his life. He was not only considered righteous because of such, but he was called “the friend of God.” He was a man of Jehovah, “adopted” as such by Jehovah Himself, and known by his contemporaries as belonging to Him — a follower of God.
To “Call Upon” the Lord
To continue back into the New Testament, then, it is not as the seven sons of Sceva sought to do (Acts 19:13-16) — to “call over” the name of the Lord, but it is to have the ownership of being called by His name as well. It is of a personal love relationship to Him. What is meant to “call upon” the name of the Lord is ownership of all Christ is, and, in turn, our being owned of Him in such a confession being true. A love relationship must exist in both, owning Him in all that He is and being owned of Him as His own. The comparison in Scripture between the “signet” itself and the use of it in its application is a blessing to enjoy. This is the “signet” we receive as being owned by Him, in being sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of our full redemption (Rom. 8:14-23; Eph. 1:5-14; 4:30).
While owning God’s seal is shown quite beautifully throughout the Bible, it is of particular comfort in the examples of those not quite walking as they were fully meant to. It is in times when the person’s act of disobedience and sin led to the Lord’s correction of them, and they turned to Him in faith, that He would pardon and forgive.
David’s Life Example
David’s life is a perfect example of this. He was chosen of God, declared a person after God’s own heart, yet had committed sin under the law truly worthy of immediate death in the acts of adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11). In faith, and not just in this incident, he turned to God for pardon and deliverance (2 Sam. 12; Psa. 51). This was his repeated testimony of reliance on God.
However much a person of the world may look to find fault in David, seeing nothing by example except his sin, those of faith hear God’s own testimony of him. God Himself declared David as righteous, a man after His own heart. It is not David’s sin for which he is remembered, but for his faith, and of whom the promised Redeemer should come (Matt. 12:18-23; 22:41-45; Acts 2:25-36).
David “owned” God’s testimony as true; he owned it as a fact already accomplished. For one of faith, God’s Word, whether in prophecy or history, in promise or in learning, is seen as perfect — as already having been accomplished to the full. It is complete, with nothing we can add to it or take away from it: The counsel (word and decree) of the Lord stands (Psa. 33:11; Rev. 22:16-21).
A. Yerkey (adapted)