The "Faith" of Matthew 23:23 St. Paul
8/18/2007
Intro
You are all here today, as you are each week, in obedience to God.
I know that is important to this group.
What are the most important things for you obey? Can you give a short
list of what acts of obedience are important to God?
I want to focus on such a short list today. Please turn over to Mat 23:23.
Jesus Christ gives just such a short list here -- 3 things.
Matt 23:23:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint
and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith: these [3] ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other [smaller things] undone.
This is an interesting verse to me. It may be for you, too.
Sometimes, when you come before your invisible Creator -- the one who holds
your eternal life or your eternal oblivion in his hand -- you just want to
ask, you just want to know, "What do you really want from me?" "What is
really important?"
So when Jesus gives us just such a "short list", you want to focus on it.
There are three big things that Jesus says we ought get out of God's law:
judgment, mercy and faith. Or "justice" and "kindness/compassion" and
"faith".
SPS
Today I just want to focus on the third one -- "faith".
What kind of "faith" is Jesus talking about here? What kind of "faith" is
taught by the law?
Other people, in other churches, see a conflict between faith and God's
law. They even see faith and God's law as opposites.
And yet here is Jesus saying that "faith" is one of the weighty matters
of the law.
What kind of "faith" did Jesus mean in Mat 23:23 ? I'm going to
divide that subject up into 3 points:
1) What kind of faith is taught in the Law?
2) What do similar verses reveal about this "faith"?
3) Is this kind of "faith" taught in the rest of the New Testament?
Body
1) What kind of faith is taught in the Law?
By the "law" I think he means the torah or Pentateuch, the 5 books of Moses.
In those books the word "faith" appears only used 3 times in the
King James translation.
So how can it be one of the 3 weightiest matters?
1) Num 12:8
My servant Moses is not so [spoken to in visions or dreams], who is
faithful [aman] in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth,..
So Moses had faith. This word is usually translated "believing", in the
sense of being firmly grounded. Moses was firmly grounded.
2) Deut 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful [aman] God,
which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his
commandments to a thousand generations;
So God is faithful. Again, this word is usually translated "believing"
or "sure". God doesn't have to believe, so here it would be better "sure".
God is "believable".
3) Deu 32:20-21
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end
shall be: for they are a very froward [contrary, disobedient] generation,
children in whom is no faith [emun].
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have
provoked me to anger with their vanities:...
So disobedient Israel had "no faith".
Moses, God and disobedient Israel. That's all that the Law says about
"faith" -- at least as the King James translates it.
Where is Abraham, the "father of the faithful"?
Perhaps the Law teaches "faith" by another word?
Indeed, one the words for faith [emunah, as in Deut 32] is translated
this way in Exodus:
Ex 17:12
[this is when the Amalekites came and fought with Israel, and Israel won
as long as Moses held up his hands]
But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him,
and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on
the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady
[emunah] until the going down of the sun.
The Old Testament idea of "faith" or "faithfulness", is thus based on
the idea of steadiness, firmness.
It also means permanence, and is used 5 times in Chronicles to describe
the "set offices" of the priests and Levites.
The other word [aman] that we saw translated "faith" twice (Num 12, Deut 7)
is mostly translated "believe" - 14x in the Law.
"Belief" in the Old Testament is very similar to "faith".
The classic scripture about the "father of the faithful" begins with
his "belief":
Gen 15:5-6
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be.
And he believed [aman] in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness.
So the "father of the faithful" first "believed".
There is just a small difference between "faith", and "belief".
In the Biblical sense, if you "believe" God, you are convinced that he
is God and is the one who will reward or punish.
In the Biblical sense, in the Old Testament sense, to believe is not
a casual thing. Sometimes people tell us things and we believe them. Then
we later find out that they were wrong. That is casual belief. You believe
it, but it may not be true. But Biblical "belief" is to be convinced. To
persuaded by evidence.
Here is an example:
Gen 42:20
But bring your youngest brother [Benjamin] unto me [Joseph]; so shall
your words be verified [aman], and ye shall not die. And they did so.
They had to make their words believable, by evidence. That is the sense
of "believe" in the Law.
Another example: in Exodus 4 we see that Israel was to be convinced by
miracles to believe that Moses was sent to them by God:
Ex 4:8
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken
to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe [aman] the voice
of the latter sign.
The small miracles given to Moses were meant to persuade, convince. That
they might "believe".
But in the long run, Israel did not believe:
Deut 9:23
Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and
possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the
commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed [aman] him not, nor
hearkened to his voice.
If you believe, you do. Is that not the implication here? If they had
"believed" God, they would have gone up and fought for the promised land.
But because they did not obey, God says they obviously did not believe.
That is what scriptural belief is. Real belief causes one to do what
God says.
"Belief" is the beginning of "faith".
But "faith" continues in that belief over the long run, with the steadiness
and firmness we saw with Moses' hands in Ex 17:12.
Abraham first "believed" God, and went to the land of Canaan.
He was the father of the faithful because he was steady and firm, continuing
in obedience over time. Even to the point of killing his heir, the son of
promise as a sacrifice. That is the ultimate example of faithfulness in
the Old Testament.
And in the New Testament, similarly, is Jesus' obedience even to the
point of walking into his own crucifixion. That is ultimate faithfulness.
These meanings of "belief" and "faith" are continued in the New Testament.
When Paul says "as it is written, The just shall live by faith [pistis]"
(Rom 1:17) his is quoting from Ha-bak'-kuk:
Hab 2:4
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just
shall live by his faith [emunah].
This New Testament word for "faith" is the same one used in Ex 17:12 for
Moses' "steady" hands.
The context of Habakkuk 2 is one of a contrast between the proud, evil
and disobedient man, versus the man who will read the warnings from God
that the prophet will write down.
The evil will suffer woe and violence. But the "just will live by faith".
Literally "the just will live by being faithful".
So when Paul quotes "The just shall live by faith", he is quoting the
Old Testament idea of steadiness, stability and firm adherence to God's
law. That is the kind of "faith" that the just shall live by.
And this confirms that when Jesus said that "faith" is one of the 3
"weightier matters of the law", that is the same steadfastness that we
just read of in the Law. So to what is one "faithful", in the law? To
the words of God. The way of life that he commands.
2) What do similar verses reveal about this "faith"?
Matt 23:23 is just one place where God gives us a "short list" of what
is really important.
I'm going to give you 6 such verses. Let's compare the "short list" that
each of them gives. You might record them in your notes in 6 rows. And
then divide them into 3 columns.
Six rows and 3 columns.
1 Matt. 23:23 for ye ... have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith: ...
1 2 3
judgment | mercy | faith
I'm particularly interested in what parallel verses tell us about what
"faith" is.
There is a parallel account of these words in one other place in the gospels:
2 Lk 11:42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all
manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love (agape) of God:
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
1 2 3
judgment | | the love of God
Here the intent of "faith" is given by Luke as "love of God".
And remember the classic definition of the "love of God" that Cory read
last week:
1John 5:3 For this is the love (agape) of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
So "faith" looks like it is faithfulness to God's commandments.
Thirdly, I think Jesus was paraphrasing Micah.
Micah 6 speaks of those things that, when you get right down to it, when
you boil it down, are what God wants from us.
3 Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God?
1 2 3
to do justly | to love mercy | to walk humbly with thy God
Here "faith" seems to parallel to "walk humbly with thy God".
Walking with God is not just believing in him. It is faithfully walking
down a path, a road, a trail through the wilderness. And making it
to a promised land only by continuing in that walk.
I think that Micah, in turn, was quoting from Moses:
4 Deut 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee,
but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him,
and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
The law of God as we know from Jesus' 2 "great commandments" (Matt 27:37)
can be summarized as "love of man" and "love of God". Here:
1 2 3
----- fear the LORD thy God ----- to love him, and to serve
----- to walk in all his ways --- the LORD thy God with all
thy heart and with all thy soul
The first could easily be equivalent to Jesus' words "justice" and "mercy"
in Mt 23:23. Which is the way we are to treat man.
And the second, to love God and serve him with all your heart would be
the equivalent of Jesus' word "faith".
And if these verses are indeed parallel, then this "first great commandment"
is being "faithful" to God, as taught in the Law.
And the first great commandment, faithfulness to God, is indeed a weighty
matter of the law.
5 Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth
thee unto me in [5 things] righteousness, and in judgment (mishpat), and in
lovingkindness (chesed), and in mercies (rachamim - tender mercies).
2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness (emunah - stability):
and thou shalt know the LORD.
1 2 3
in righteousness | in lovingkindness | in faithfulness
and in judgment and in mercies
This is exactly the word for the "faith" that Israel did not have in the
wilderness, and the "steadiness" of Moses' hands.
Here that is the kind of long term faithfulness expected in marriage.
We understand what that kind of "faithfulness" is. And it is not just
believing that your spouse loves you.
6 Hosea 12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment,
and wait on thy God continually.
2 1 3
keep mercy and judgment wait on thy God continually
A little different order, but the same 3, if indeed to "wait on your
God continually" is the same thing as "faith".
It is not only serving God, in obedience. But it is doing so "continually".
This is not a casual serving God "often" or "frequently", but is the
word that the law uses for the lamps that were to burn "continually",
meaning constantly and in the long term.
So faith is going beyond being persuaded and convinced to obey God. Faith
obeys in the long term.
3) Is this kind of "faith" taught in the rest of the New Testament?
I think it is. And I'd like to quote something that Mr. Antion said
that seconds that notion.
Mr Antion:
"Now there are two sides of faith and in the New Testament."
[Mr. Antion make no distinction here between "belief" and "faith" - but
his point is at the heart of the Biblical word "belief"]
"Faith in the New Testament carries with it this understanding:
two aspects, (1) I know (2) I do. ...
Living faith that is required for salvation is not just ... some feeling
that you conjure up but it is actually combined with ... the active part
of it because you see, if I believe something and I believe it down to my
toes, if I believe it with all my heart, I act according to that belief."
This is consistent with "believe" in the Old Testament. Belief was to be
persuaded, or convinced. We know when Israel believed, because they "did"
what God said.
But at Kadeshbarnea (Deut 9:23) "ye rebelled against the commandment of
the LORD your God, and ye believed [aman] him not, nor hearkened to his
voice.
In Hebrews, Paul cites the very same example about real "belief":
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man
fall after the same example of unbelief
[apeitheia - noun, negative of peitho, "to persuade"]
Your center margin says "or disobedience".
"fall after the same example of unbelief" or
"fall after the same example of disobedience"
Which is it - unbelief, or disobedience?
Can't the translators make up their mind?
It is both. As Mr. Antion said. If you believe, in the Biblical sense,
then you do. They did not obey because they did not believe.
And so God destroyed them.
So "believe" is used the same way in the New Testament.
This is a profound thing that you understand. God destroyed them for
their unbelief, which is evidenced by their disobedience.
Consider that these people had been saved from enslavement to Pharoah.
They had been redeemed. Saved by grace. Their salvation was done to
fulfill a promise to Abraham. It was undeserved, unearned. It was their
salvation by grace.
But because they did not believe, they were destroyed in the wilderness.
In other words, the generation that was saved by grace was also destroyed
for disobedience. They did not make it to that other salvation - that
reward of the Promised Land.
This is the example held up for us in Heb 4. And it illuminates the
need for both grace and obedience. That's the understanding that I think
is profound. A simple understanding that so much of Christianity simply
misses.
First one has to believe. He has to be persuaded, and convinced by
evidence.
And then after that "belief", "faith" is continuance, or steadfastness in
that practice.
"Faith" and "faithful" are really the same word in Bible. So I think that
Mt. 23:23 is probably easier understood with the word "faithful".
You "have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, kindness and
faithfulness".
"Faith" in many New Testament contexts is something that sometimes seems
to appear suddenly in some people. I certainly don't mean to diminish those
other contexts in which "faith" means "trust" in God. It can simply mean
strong conviction.
But the "faith" or "faithfulness" that Jesus is means here is is contrary
to the notion of "only believe". Contraray to the notion of salvation
by "faith alone", as if faith is exclusive of obedience. That notion is
just not scriptural.
As we see in Mat. 23:23, the "weightier-matter-of-the-law" kind of faith
is not something different than obedience to God.
In fact it is continuing in that obedience. It is steadfastness to that
obedience that is the weighty matter taught in the books of the law.
Conclusion
1) What kind of faith is taught in the Law?
We've seen that the Law says little about the word "faith", but a lot
about being convinced from the evidence that God is the one to be obeyed.
And especially that we are to be steady and continuing in that belief.
The lesson of the law is faithfulness to God's will.
2) What do similar verses reveal about this "faith"?
Other verses equate this "faith" to "the love of God", "to walk humbly
with God", "serve the LORD your God with all your heart", "faithfulness"
and "waiting on God continually."
3) Is this kind of "faith" taught in the rest of the New Testament?
We've seen that in the New Testament, as in the Old, "belief" also implies
"doing" that conviction. That to "not believe" is the same as "not obey".
True "faith" and being "faithful" are the same thing: being steady in
continuance in that way of life.
In Luke 18 Jesus was assuring his disciples that God does indeed hear
our prayers. Then he added in Luke 18:8 :
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of
man cometh, shall he find faith [pistis] on the earth?
At the end of the age will there be people who are steadfast and faithful
to the end? People who have held fast to his word in the long term.
That is the faith that we seek to preserve and spread in the world.
That is the kind "faithfulness" that is one of the 3 weightier matters
of the Law.