Scripture Reading: Heb. 11:1, 6; 12:1-2; Rom. 3:22, 26; 1 Tim. 1:4
Ⅰ
God's economy is in faith—1 Tim. 1:4:
A
Faith is the unique way for God to carry out His New Testament economy with man— Heb. 11:6.
B
God's New Testament economy is a matter in faith, that is, in the sphere and element of faith, in God through Christ—1 Tim. 1:4.
C
Faith is the unique requirement for people to contact God in His New Testament economy; it is the base for receiving all spiritual blessings—John 20:29; Heb. 11:1, 6:
１
The believers' faith in Christ is related to their appreciation of the person of the Son of God as the most precious One—12:2; Matt. 17:5.
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, and we believe in Him by His faith and by Him as our faith—Rom. 3:22, 26.
３
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—vv. 22, 26; Gal. 2:16, 20:
ａ
As we behold Him, hear Him, and treasure Him, He causes faith to be generated in us, enabling us to believe in Him—2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 12:2.
ｂ
He becomes the faith in us by which we believe in Him; this faith is the faith in Him, and it is also the faith that belongs to Him—Rom. 3:22, 26; Gal. 2:16.
４
Faith is the way for us to experience, enjoy, and participate in all that God is to us through His having been processed and consummated—2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 3:2, 5, 14.
Ⅱ
Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith—Heb. 12:2:
A
The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith—Rom. 3:22 and footnote 1; Gal. 2:16 and footnote 1:
１
Our believing is our appreciation of Christ as a reaction to His attraction—Rom. 10:17.
２
The faith by which we are saved is the precious faith that we have received from the Lord, the God-allotted faith—2 Pet. 1:1; Col. 1:12.
３
We need to look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by turning away from every other object—Heb. 12:1-2; S. S. 1:4; Psa. 27:4.
４
When we look away unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) transfuses us with Himself, His believing element.
５
This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us so that He may believe for us—Eph. 2:8.
B
Faith is a substantiating ability, the ability by which we substantiate, give substance to, the things unseen or hoped for—Heb. 11:1:
１
As the eye is to seeing and the ear is to hearing, so our faith is the sense whereby we substantiate everything in the unseen spiritual world into us—2 Cor. 4:13:
ａ
We must exercise our spirit of faith, our mingled spirit, to believe and to speak the things that we have experienced of the Lord.
ｂ
Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind; doubts are in our mind.
２
We do not regard, look at, the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal—v. 18:
ａ
The Christian life is a life of things unseen—Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:27; 1 Pet. 1:8; Gal. 6:10.
ｂ
The degradation of the church is the degradation from unseen things to seen things; the Lord's recovery is to recover His church from things seen to things unseen—John 20:25-29; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:1; 1 Pet. 1:8.
３
Faith assures us of the things not seen, convincing us of what we do not see; therefore, it is the evidence, the proof, of things unseen—Heb. 11:1.
C
Faith is to believe that God is—v. 6; Exo. 3:14; Isa. 44:6; John 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5-6:
１
Without faith it is impossible to please God, to make God happy—Heb. 11:6a.
２
"He who comes forward to God must believe that He is"—v. 6b:
ａ
To believe that God is, is to believe that He is everything to us and that we are nothing—John 8:58; 6:35; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:5; Eccl.1:2.
ｂ
To believe that God is implies that we are not; He must be the only One, the unique One, in everything, and we must be nothing in everything—Heb. 11:6.
ｃ
To believe that God is, is to deny our self; in the whole universe He is, and all of us are nothing—Luke 9:23; Gal. 2:20.
ｄ
At his conversion the Lord told Saul of Tarsus, "I am Jesus"; the Lord was saying, "I am the great I Am. I am the One who is. You must believe that I am and you are not"—Acts 9:5.
Ⅲ
Jesus is the Perfecter of faith, the Finisher and Completer of faith—Heb. 12:2:
A
As the Completer of faith, the Lord Jesus, continually infuses Himself into us as the believing element and ability.
B
When we look away unto Him, He ministers heaven, life, and strength to us, transfusing and infusing us with all that He is, so that we may be able to run the heavenly race and live the heavenly life on earth—2 Cor. 3:18.
C
We all have the same faith in quality, but the quantity of faith that we have depends upon how much we contact the living God to have Him increased in us—Rom. 12:3:
１
Our faith is developed and perfected through our contacting the Triune God, who is faith in us—1 Thes. 5:17.
２
The way to receive such a faith is to contact its source, the Lord, the processed and consummated God, by calling on Him, praying to Him, and pray-reading His word— Heb. 4:16; Rom. 10:12; 2 Tim. 2:22; Eph. 6:17-18; Heb. 4:2.
３
When we contact Him, He overflows within us, and there is a mutuality of faith among us; we are encouraged through the faith which is in one another—Rom. 1:12; Philem. 6.
D
As we look away unto Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need to run the heavenly race—Heb. 12:1-2.