THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians
Message Three
The Hearing of Faith
Scripture Reading: Gal. 3:2, 5, 26; 2:16, 20b; 1 Tim. 1:4; Heb. 11:6; 12:2; John 3:15; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 10:17, 12b-13; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Eph. 6:17-18; Isa. 12:2-4; Eph. 5:18; Rom. 3:22, 26
I. Galatians 3:2 says, “This only I wish to learn from you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?” Surely we have received the Spirit by the hearing of faith, not by the works of law:
A. In 3:5 Paul goes on to ask the Galatian believers, “He therefore Who is supplying to you the Spirit and doing works of power among you, is it by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?” God continues to supply the Spirit to us also through the hearing of faith, not at all by the works of law.
B. God’s New Testament economy is a matter of supplying the Spirit and receiving the Spirit; on God’s side, He supplies the Spirit; on our side, we receive the Spirit; day by day God supplies the Spirit, and day by day we receive this supply of the Spirit; therefore, by our experience we know that the supplying of the Spirit and the receiving of the Spirit take place continually—vv. 2, 5.
II. “Knowing that a man is not justified out of works of law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we also have believed into Christ Jesus that we might be justified out of faith in Christ and not out of the works of law”—2:16:
A. Faith is the unique requirement for people to contact God in His New Testament economy—1 Tim. 1:4; Heb. 11:6.
B. The faith in Christ by which the believers are justified is related to their appreciation of the person of the Son of God as the most precious One—12:2:
1. The experiential definition of faith is that faith is the preciousness of Jesus infused into us.
2. Genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to become our ability to believe in Him; after the Lord Jesus has been infused into us, He spontaneously becomes our faith.
C. When we believe in Christ, we enter into Him; we believe ourselves into Christ and thereby become one spirit with Him—John 3:15; 1 Cor. 6:17.
III. Faith is the unique way for God to carry out His New Testament economy with man—Heb. 11:6; 1 Tim. 1:4:
A. In the New Testament faith bears two denotations—objective and subjective:
1. In the objective denotation, faith refers to the entire revelation of the New Testament concerning the person of Christ and His redemptive work—Acts 6:7; 14:22; Rom. 16:26; 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Tim. 1:19b; Jude 3, 20.
2. In the subjective denotation, faith refers to the act of believing—Luke 18:8; Mark 11:22; 1 Tim. 1:19a.
B. The economy of God is a matter in faith, that is, in the sphere and element of faith, in God through Christ.
C. God’s New Testament economy, which is to dispense Himself into His chosen people, is not in the natural realm nor in the work of the law but in the spiritual sphere of the new creation through regeneration by faith in Christ—Gal. 6:14-15; 3:23-26:
1. By faith we are born of God to be His sons, partaking of His life and nature to express Him—v. 26; 1 John 1:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:4.
2. By faith in Christ we are put into Christ to become the members of His Body, sharing all that He is for His expression—John 3:15; Rom. 12:4-5.
IV. The subjective aspect of faith implies at least eight items—Rom. 10:17; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 10:12b-13; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Eph. 6:17-18; Isa. 12:2-4; Eph. 5:18:
A. First, faith involves hearing; without the hearing of the word, there can be no faith; faith comes from hearing; when the gospel is preached in a proper way, those who hear it will be stirred up and filled with appreciation; their hearing of the word of the gospel is the beginning of their believing; the reason Christians are lacking in faith is that their hearing is poor—Rom. 10:17; John 5:24; Gal. 3:2; Eph. 1:13.
B. Second, faith also implies appreciation; after hearing the word of the gospel, a sense of appreciation spontaneously rises up in those who hear; this is true not only of those hearing the gospel for the first time, but for all believers in Christ; whenever we hear the word in a proper way, this hearing awakens more appreciation for the Lord—Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14-15.
C. This appreciation is followed by calling, the third item implied in the subjective aspect of faith; all those who appreciate the Lord Jesus will spontaneously call on His name—Rom. 10:12b-13; Isa. 12:3-4a.
D. Fourth, faith implies receiving; by appreciating the Lord Jesus and calling on Him, we spontaneously receive Him—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 10:12; Gal. 3:2, 5.
E. With receiving, we have the fifth aspect, that of accepting; it is possible to receive something without accepting it; faith involves both receiving and accepting; those who hear the gospel and appreciate the Lord Jesus automatically accept Him as well as receive Him—2 Cor. 3:16-4:1; Eph. 6:17-18.
F. Sixth, faith includes becoming joined to the Lord Jesus; by receiving and accepting Him, we are joined to Him—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 11:17, 24; 6:3, 5.
G. Then, as the seventh and eighth items, we partake of Him and enjoy Him; faith partakes of and enjoys what it receives and accepts; in the preaching of the gospel, people hear of God’s grace; then they appreciate it and call upon the Lord; they go on to receive, accept, join, partake of, and enjoy this grace, this is faith—Isa. 12:2-4; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 5:18.
V. “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”—3:26:
A. Faith in Christ brings us into Christ, making us one with Christ in whom is the sonship.
B. We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may have the sonship.
VI. “The life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me”—Gal. 2:20b:
A. Faith is the way for God’s people to apprehend, comprehend, grasp, enjoy, and participate in all that God is to His people through His having been processed—Acts 10:43; John 3:18.
B. The faith of the Son of God refers to the faith of Jesus Christ in us, which becomes the faith by which we believe in Him—Gal. 2:16; Rom. 3:22, 26.
C. As we hear Him and treasure Him, He causes faith to be generated in us, enabling us to believe in Him—Matt. 17:5; Heb. 12:2:
1. He becomes the faith in us by which we believe in Him.
2. This faith becomes the faith in Him, and it is also the faith that belongs to Him.
Ministry Excerpts:
RECEIVING THE SPIRIT BY THE HEARING OF FAITH,
NOT BY THE WORKS OF LAW
Galatians 3:2 says, “This only I wish to learn from you, Did you receive the Spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?” Surely we have received the Spirit by the hearing of faith, not by the works of law.
In 3:5 Paul goes on to ask the Galatian believers, “He therefore Who is supplying to you the Spirit and doing works of power among you, is it by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?” God continues to supply the Spirit to us also through the hearing of faith, not at all by the works of law.
God’s New Testament economy is a matter of supplying the Spirit and receiving the Spirit. On God’s side, He supplies the Spirit; on our side, we receive the Spirit. The supplying of the Spirit and the receiving of the Spirit do not take place once for all. On the contrary, they are continual. According to 3:2, we have already received the Spirit. But according to 3:5, God continues to supply the Spirit to us. Day by day God supplies the Spirit, and day by day we receive this supply of the Spirit. Therefore, by our experience we know that the supplying of the Spirit and the receiving of the Spirit take place continually.
FAITH AND GRACE
In fundamental Christianity it is commonly taught that the law has been replaced by grace. Theological terms such as the dispensation of law and the dispensation of grace are used to point out this distinction. According to this understanding, the Old Testament was the dispensation of law, whereas the New Testament is the dispensation of grace. Hence, grace is versus law and replaces law. But have you ever heard that faith has come to replace law and that faith is versus law? It is possible even to say that in the Old Testament there was a dispensation of law, but in the New Testament there is a dispensation of faith. The dispensation of grace is also the dispensation of faith. When grace came, faith came also. Both grace and faith came with the coming of Jesus Christ.
What a contrast there is between the works of law and the hearing of faith! We must distinguish between a working Christian and a hearing Christian. What kind of Christian are you? We all should declare that we are hearing Christians, not working Christians. To hear is a great blessing. In the meetings of the church we come together for the hearing of faith. By this hearing we receive the supply of the Spirit.
If we would understand the meaning of the hearing of faith, we need to know what faith is and also what grace is. Both grace and faith refer to the same thing. Grace is on God’s side, but faith is on our side. As we have pointed out, grace is the Triune God processed to be everything to us. As we hear of this grace, we spontaneously have faith.
If I were preaching the gospel to primitive people who had never heard of God, Christ, the Spirit, the cross, redemption, salvation, or eternal life, I would tell them that the true God is a loving and lovable God. I would go on to tell them the story of how God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to accomplish redemption for us by dying on the cross. I would continue by telling them how wonderful Christ is. I would want them to know about His death on the cross and how He shed His blood so that we might be forgiven. I would tell them that through Christ’s death and resurrection, the divine life within Him has been released. I would also tell them that now Christ, the living One, is the life-giving Spirit who is waiting to be received. Those who hear such a gospel message would spontaneously have the hearing of faith. The word that I would preach would be a word of grace. But once they have heard such a word, in their experience it would become the faith by which they believe.
When people hear of the grace of God in the preaching of the gospel, something rises up within them to appreciate what they have heard. The grace presented to them becomes in them the faith by which they believe. Spontaneously they begin to appreciate God, Christ, and the Spirit. They appreciate what Christ has done in accomplishing redemption. This appreciation is faith. Faith comes when they begin to appreciate what they hear in the gospel.
THE OBJECTIVE ASPECT OF FAITH
Concerning faith there are two aspects, the objective aspect and the subjective aspect. Objectively faith is what we believe. Subjectively faith is our believing. Therefore, faith denotes both the act of believing and that in which we believe. Regarding the act of believing, faith is subjective, but regarding what we believe, faith is objective. As we hear about those things in which we are to believe, faith is produced within us. The more we hear about these good things, the more we appreciate them. Spontaneously this appreciation issues in our believing in those very things about which we have heard. Therefore, faith is both objective and subjective.
In 1:23 we are told that Paul, who once persecuted the believers in Christ, now preached “the faith which formerly he ravaged.” Faith here and in 3:2, 5, 7, 9, 23, 25, and 6:10 implies our believing in Christ, taking His Person and His redemptive work as the object of our faith. This, replacing the law, by which God dealt with people in the Old Testament, becomes the principle of God’s dealing with people in the New Testament. This faith characterizes the believers in Christ and distinguishes them from the keepers of law. This is the main emphasis of this book.
THE SUBJECTIVE ASPECT OF FAITH
The subjective aspect of faith implies at least eight items.
Hearing
First, faith involves hearing. Without the hearing of the word, there can be no faith. Faith comes from hearing. The word we hear includes God, Christ, the Spirit, the cross, redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life. It also includes the fact that God has been processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. According to the New Testament, the gospel tells us of all these matters. When the gospel is preached in a proper way, those who hear it will be stirred up and filled with appreciation. Their hearing of the word of the gospel is the beginning of their believing. The reason Christians are lacking in faith is that their hearing is poor. If they heard a living message on how the Triune God has been processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, no doubt this hearing would produce faith in them.
Appreciation
Second, faith also implies appreciation. After hearing the word of the gospel, a sense of appreciation spontaneously rises up in those who hear. This is true not only of those hearing the gospel for the first time, but for all believers in Christ. Whenever we hear the word in a proper way, this hearing awakens more appreciation for the Lord. (Life-study of Galatians, msg. 14)
Proof that the faith in 2:20 is both the faith of Christ and the faith in Christ is found in Paul’s words at the end of the verse. He concludes the verse by referring to the Son of God as the One “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” In writing these words, Paul was filled with appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, at the end of such a long verse there would have been no need for him to speak of Christ loving him and having given Himself for him. He could have concluded with the expression, “the faith of the Son of God.” But as he was speaking of the way he now lived, his heart was filled with gratitude and appreciation. Faith comes from such an appreciation of the Lord Jesus. The faith in Christ and the faith of Christ issues from the appreciation of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 15 Paul says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” As we consider these verses, we can see that Paul’s faith came from an appreciation for the constraining love of Christ. The more we appreciate Christ’s constraining love, the more faith we shall have. This faith is not produced by our own ability or activity. Rather, it is produced by the working in us of the very Christ whom we appreciate. In our appreciation for the Lord Jesus, we shall say, “Lord Jesus, I love You and I treasure You.” As we speak such words to the Lord, He operates within us and becomes our faith. This faith brings about an organic union in which we and Christ are truly one.
I would like to tell you a true story which confirms the point that the faith which operates in us comes from our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. During the Boxer Rebellion in China, hundreds of Christians were martyred. One day in Peking, the old capital of China, the Boxers were parading down the street. Sitting in the back of a wagon was a young Christian woman who was being led away to be executed. She was surrounded by executioners with swords in their hands. The atmosphere was terrifying, filled with the shoutings of the Boxers. Nevertheless, her face was glowing as she was singing praises to the Lord. The stores were closed because of the rioting. However, a young man was observing this scene through a crack at the front of a store. Deeply impressed with the young woman’s glowing face, happiness, and songs of praise, he decided at that moment that he would find out the truth about the Christian faith. Later, he did learn the truth and became a believer in Christ. Eventually, he gave up his business and became a preacher. One day, when he was visiting my home town, he told me this story of how he had become a Christian.
The point here is that this young woman could be filled with praises in the midst of such a terrifying situation because faith was working within her. She was filled with appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Because she loved Him so much, He spontaneously became the faith within her. This faith produced an organic union in which she was joined to the Lord. This organic union is a basic and crucial aspect of God’s New Testament economy. (Life-study of Galatians, msg. 10)
Calling
This appreciation is followed by calling, the third item implied in the subjective aspect of faith. All those who appreciate the Lord Jesus will spontaneously call on His name. If our gospel preaching is cold, dull, and dead, it will be necessary to persuade people to pray and call on the Lord’s name. But if our preaching is precious, rich, living, inspiring, and stirring, there will be no need to persuade people. Rather, they will spontaneously call, “O Lord Jesus.” Perhaps instead of calling on Him in this way, they will utter some word of appreciation for the Lord. Perhaps they will say, “Oh, how good the Lord Jesus is!”
Receiving
Fourth, faith implies receiving. By appreciating the Lord Jesus and calling on Him, we spontaneously receive Him.
Accepting
With receiving, we have the fifth aspect, that of accepting. It is possible to receive something without accepting it. Faith involves both receiving and accepting. Those who hear the gospel and appreciate the Lord Jesus automatically accept Him as well as receive Him.
Becoming Joined to the Lord Jesus
Sixth, faith includes becoming joined to the Lord Jesus. By receiving and accepting Him, we are joined to Him.
Partaking of Him and Enjoying Him
Then, as the seventh and eighth items, we partake of Him and enjoy Him. Faith partakes of and enjoys what it receives and accepts. In the preaching of the gospel, people hear of God’s grace. Then they appreciate it and call upon the Lord. They go on to receive, accept, join, partake of, and enjoy this grace, which is the Triune God processed to be everything to us. This is faith.
THE HEARING OF FAITH IN THE MEETINGS OF THE CHURCH
Faith was not to be found in the Old Testament; it came with Jesus Christ. When Christ came, grace came, and faith came also. Faith has come to replace law. Therefore, as believers in Christ, we are hearers, not workers. In the church meetings we gather together for the hearing of faith. Those who do not attend the meetings cut themselves off from opportunities for the hearing of faith. If we are cut off from the hearing, we are also cut off from the supply.
Do not stay away from the meetings because you think you will simply hear the same things over and over again. We need to eat breakfast every morning even though we may eat the same thing almost every day. If we refuse to eat because the food is the same, we shall not receive our necessary supply of food. In the same principle, we need to attend the church meetings in order to receive God’s supply. We can testify that it makes a great difference whether or not we come to the meetings for the hearing of faith. Time and time again, we may hear of Christ and the church, of Christ’s death and resurrection, and of how Christ has been processed to become the life-giving Spirit. But each time we hear these things, we receive the supply of the Spirit. Therefore, a proper Christian meeting is a hearing meeting, a meeting for the hearing of faith.
Those who speak in the church meetings should also be hearers, for they also hear the very things they are speaking. Those of us who speak in the church can testify that the more we speak, the more we hear. A proper speaker speaks first to himself and then to others. If you do not speak to yourself first, your speaking is not genuine. If we are genuine speakers, we should be the first to enjoy our speaking.
Meeting by meeting we come together for the hearing of faith. This faith is the appreciation, receiving, and accepting of God’s grace. Through faith we are joined to God’s grace, we partake of God’s grace, and we enjoy God’s grace. As we have pointed out again and again, this grace is the Triune God processed to become our enjoyment and everything to us.
GOD’S INTENTION IN HIS ECONOMY
How wrong the Galatian believers were to turn back to the law! God does not want us to be workers of law; He wants us to be hearers of His grace. As we hear His grace, grace spontaneously becomes our faith. Before faith came, God used the law to keep us, hold us, and retain us. But now that faith has come, we no longer need the law. With the law there is no enjoyment, no grace. But with faith there is an abundance of enjoyment, for faith is related to grace. Today we experience the hearing of faith. By this hearing of faith we continually receive the supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.
According to the revelation in the book of Galatians, God’s New Testament economy is not that we strive in the flesh to keep the law. In this matter the Judaizers had altogether missed the mark. No genuine believers in Christ should be distracted by such folly. In His New Testament economy God intends to make us hearers of faith. This faith is the reflection of the Triune God processed to become our all-inclusive grace. God desires that we become those who continually hear the faith which reflects His grace. Grace is nothing less than the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—to be our life and our everything so that we may enjoy Him in a full way. Through this enjoyment we become one with Him. We become a universal and eternal entity to express His marvelous divinity. This is the revelation contained in the depths of this book. (Life-Study of Galatians, msg. 14)
BEING ALL SONS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS
Through our faith in Christ, that is, by believing in Him, and through our being baptized into Christ, that is, by being put into Him, we have become Abraham’s seed, heirs of God according to promise.
In Galatians 3:7 Paul says, “They who are of faith, these are sons of Abraham.” In verse 26 Paul goes on to say, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Here the expression sons of God refers to sons of full age, who have outgrown the custody of the slave guardian. Under the old testament, God’s chosen people were considered infants. Now under the new testament, they are considered sons of full age, who will inherit the promised blessing—the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ. Faith in Christ brings us into Christ, making us one with Christ, in whom is the sonship. We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may be sons of Abraham and sons of God. Christ is both the Son of God and the son of Abraham. On the one hand, because we are now in Christ, the Son of God, we are sons of God; on the other hand, because we are now in Christ, the son of Abraham, we are the sons of Abraham.
It is a matter of tremendous significance for the divine life to be imparted into us. The impartation of the divine life into us causes an organic union, which makes us both the sons of God and the sons of Abraham. This organic union takes place exclusively in Christ. In Christ we enjoy the wonderful organic union with the Triune God. In this union we are, on the one hand, the sons of God and, on the other hand, the sons of Abraham. Christ is the unique sphere in which this all takes place. Whenever we enter into this sphere, we become sons of God and sons of Abraham. Our true status is that in Christ and by the organic union with the Triune God, we are both sons of God and sons of Abraham.
We are both sons of God and sons of Abraham because we have been baptized into Christ and have put on Christ. In verse 27 Paul goes on to say, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To believe is to believe into Christ (John 3:16), and to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3). By both faith and baptism we have entered into Christ, having thus put on Christ and become identified with Christ. Baptism practiced in a proper, genuine, and living way puts the believers into the name of the Triune God, the divine name (Matt. 28:19); into Christ, a living person (Gal. 3:27); into the death of Christ, an effective death (Rom. 6:3); and into the Body of Christ, a living organism (1 Cor. 12:13), that the believers may enter into an organic union not only with Christ but also with His Body. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 328)
ORGANIC UNION
How can we die to law in order to live to God? Galatians 2:19 indicates that we have already died to law. According to your experience, have you actually died to law, or is this simply a matter of doctrine to you? Furthermore, how can we live to God? If we would answer these questions, we must know the truth, the reality, of the gospel. If we are not actually organically united with Christ but are in ourselves, then we are neither dead to law nor are we living to God. Apart from the organic union with Christ, we cannot live to God. On the contrary, we shall be alive to many things other than God.
The concept of organic union is implied in Romans 7. In this chapter Paul uses the illustration of married life. Marriage is a union of life. In this union the wife is one with the husband, and the husband is one with the wife. In Romans 7:4 Paul speaks of our being married to Christ: “So that, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you might marry another, even Him Who has been raised from among the dead.” According to this verse, we have been married to the resurrected Christ. Between Him as the Bridegroom and us as the Bride, there is a wonderful union. We are one with Him in person, name, life, and existence. This shows that our Christian life is a life of organic oneness with Christ.
In Romans 11 Paul goes on to use another illustration — the grafting of a branch from one tree into another tree. In Romans 11:17-24 Paul uses the illustration of branches from a wild olive tree being grafted into a cultivated olive tree. As a result of grafting, the branches from the wild olive tree and the cultivated olive tree grow together organically. We, branches of the wild olive tree, have been grafted into Christ, the cultivated olive tree.
Some may say that the cultivated olive tree in Romans 11 refers to Israel. Although this is correct, it is also true that in the Bible the real Israel is always identified with Christ, and Christ with the real Israel. In the eyes of God, there are not two trees on earth. There is just one tree, the olive tree which includes Christ and God’s chosen people. Once we were wild olive branches, but now we have been grafted into Christ. This illustration indicates that the Christian life is not an exchanged life, the exchange of a lower life for a higher one, but a grafted life, the grafting of the human life into the life of Christ. After a branch has been grafted into another tree, it no longer lives by itself. On the contrary, it lives by the tree into which it has been grafted.
BY FAITH IN CHRIST
It is by faith in Christ that we enter into such an organic union with Him. We have pointed out that faith is the appreciation of Jesus. This appreciation is implied even in Galatians 2:20. In this verse we see that we have been crucified with Christ. This refers to one aspect of our history. We also see that Christ lives in us and that the life that we now live in the flesh we live in the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is significant that in this verse Paul specifically refers to the Son of God as the One “who loved me.” If we do not have any consciousness of Christ’s love for us, we shall not be able to have faith in Him. Living faith comes from our sense of His love. This indicates that the faith by which we believe in Him is related to our appreciation of His loveliness. As we sense His preciousness, spontaneously an appreciation for Him wells up within us. This appreciation is our faith. When Paul referred to the Son of God as the One who “loved me and gave Himself for me,” he was filled with appreciation for the Lord Jesus. This appreciation is the very faith about which he speaks in this verse. The life he lived in the flesh he lived in this faith, the faith of the Son of God.
Whenever we say from the depths of our heart, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” our faith is strengthened. Our organic union with Christ is strengthened also. Furthermore, we sense that we have been cut away from sin, the world, the flesh, and religion. Some who have seen the light concerning the church have not been willing to give up the denominations. But one day they told the Lord how much they loved Him. Spontaneously they had the sense within that they should give up their association with the denominations. Because their organic union with Christ was strengthened, they experienced more cutting. The more we say, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” the more we sense that we have been cut off from everything other than Christ.
As we tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him, we experience the operation of genuine faith that is implied in our appreciation of Him. By this faith we realize our union with Christ. In this union we realize that His history is our history; with Christ we have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. We are dead to everything other than God, and we are living to God.
How foolish the Galatians were in turning from the Lord to the law! Did they not realize that they had been cut off from the law and joined to the living God? Through the organic union we are released from slavery under law. In this union we enjoy the freedom that is ours in Christ. (Life-study of Galatians, msg. 9)