1 Thes 3:2 And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and encourage you for the sake of your faith. 1 Tim 1:19 Holding faith and a good conscience, concerning which some, thrusting these away, have become shipwrecked regarding the faith.
[Part 1 of 3] We need to consider carefully the meaning of faith in 1 Thessalonians 3. In verse 2 faith is not only subjective, referring to the saints' believing, as in verses 5, 6, and 10, but also objective, referring to what they believe in, as in 1 Timothy 3:9; 4:1; and 2 Timothy 4:7. These two aspects of faith involve each other. Our believing (subjective faith) is out of the things we believe and in the things we believe (objective faith). Doctrinally speaking, the objective aspect comes first and produces the subjective aspect. The objective faith denotes those things in which we believe for our salvation. It includes the content of the new covenant. Thus, the content of the new covenant is equal to the objective faith. This aspect of faith is emphasized strongly in a book like 1 Timothy. For example, 1 Timothy 1:19 speaks of the faith. The faith in that verse is objective and refers to the things we believe in. However, the same verse also mentions subjective faith when it speaks of "holding faith and a good conscience." This subjective faith refers to our act of believing. Christians often speak of the faith in an objective sense. Someone may ask what your faith is, meaning what you believe. This aspect of faith, the objective aspect, is not a matter of our action of believing, but a matter of what we believe. This objective faith includes the contents of God's New Testament economy. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Thessalonians, pp.118-119. 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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