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March 3, 2021

Objective and Subjective Faith (1)

1 Thes 1:8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded out...your faith toward God has gone out... 3:2 And we sent Timothy...to establish and encourage you for the sake of your faith.

[Part 1 of 2]In both of these verses [above] Paul refers to "your faith." Paul was deeply concerned about the Thessalonians' faith. In these verses faith is not only subjective, referring to the saints' believing, but also objective, referring to what they believe in. Objective faith also refers to what we may call our belief. Belief denotes what we believe in. Faith is related both to a view and to sight. First there is a view, a scene, before us, and then we have the sight to see this view. Spontaneously, we have faith. Suppose you are preaching the gospel to a group of unbelievers. What you speak to them is not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. You tell them the story of the gospel, relating how God loves them and how He sent His Son to be a man and to die on the cross for them. As you are speaking, you are not merely telling a story--you are presenting a view, a scene. Those to whom you are speaking begin to see this view. They realize something about being a sinner and see that there is a God, Jesus Christ, and the cross. This view portrayed in the preaching of the gospel is God's revelation. As soon as unbelievers see this revelation, spontaneously faith is produced in them, and they believe. They believe in what they see. This is faith. In order to have more faith, stronger, broader, and greater faith, we need more view. This is why we need to know more of the Holy Word and hear more messages...to give us a broader view. Then we shall have greater sight, which produces a greater faith.

Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Thessalonians, pp. 27-28. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].

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Life-study of 1 & 2 Thessalonians