St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

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Faith

Faith is a word with many meanings. It is an act of understanding and acceptance as true all that God has revealed and teaches through his Church. In Matthew 24:45, it means faithfulness. In Luke 7:2-10, it means an absolute trust, as shown by some of the people who approached Jesus for healing. In Hebrew 11:1, it means a confidant hope. As it is shown in James 2:14-26, it can mean just a barren belief that does not result in good deeds. So, what does Paul mean, when in Romans 1:17, he speaks of "saving faith"?

Saving faith is not only something that knows and understands the facts about the gospel, but also trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is definitely not something that we must do in order to earn salvation - Paul says very clearly in Galatians 2:16 that our deeds can never save us. Faith is a gift from God because he is saving us. Paul's role as an apostle never derived from human sources but came directly from God. It is the divine authority that is behind the gospel Paul preached. God is behind the transforming power of the grace.

The teaching of salvation by faith challenged the established Jewish legal system. Hebrews 10:4 says, "it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin." Animal sacrifices could not erase sin. It was that perfect sacrifice of Christ - superior to the sacrifices of the Old Testament - that would take away sin. The sacrifices of the Old Testament only pointed to the sacrifice of Christ, a sacrifice completely acceptable by God. God's new and living way for us to please him, is not by keeping laws in order to abstain from sin. It is by coming to him in faith to be forgiven, and then following him in loving obedience.

 God intended for his people to look beyond animal sacrifices offered to him. People's morals standards are the expression of human faith. God's truth is the expected way of lifestyle. It is God's grace, not faith, that saves us. However, God in his mercy, when he saves us, he gives us faith - a relationship with his Son that helps us to become like Him: "Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure" (1John 3:2-3).

Fr. Joachim