Behold, his soul which
is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
(Habakkuk 2:4)
The Scriptures reveal
the true faith, and the understanding of the statement, "the just shall
live by faith." True scriptural faith always comes from God into the
spirit of the believer, not from the mental and soulish efforts of the
individual. True faith always is employed to find the will of God and to do it,
not to direct God to do whatever the Christian desires. True faith always lives
in works. There is no such thing as an abstract faith, a faith not expressed in
some kind of works. To live by faith is not to adopt a doctrinal position but
to live in a close relationship with God, always depending on Him for all our
needs.
We have come to the
conclusion after many years of thought and experience that there are major
errors in current Christian thinking. Somehow our concept of the plan of
salvation has gotten off course. The fruit of the error can be observed in the
pathetic state of the Christian testimony in the so-called "free"
nations of our day.
It seems to us that at
least part of the problem arises from our interpretation of the cry of the
Protestant Reformers, "the just shall live by faith." In particular,
the error springs from our understanding of faith.
What is faith ?