Chrysostom
Beloved of All
It is a truly blessed desire you have expressed, to be counted among those of whom the Lord said, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
That blessing is not a small thing, for faith is the way God has willed to save us. As the Scriptures teach, faith saves, but even this faith itself is the gift of God, lest we should be found barren and without work at all. It is not a bare assent, but a drawing near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Though we do not see with our eyes the heavenly altar or the priest who has entered the holy of holies for us, we believe more surely than if we saw, for here we trust not the senses which can be deceived, but the Spirit who cannot lie.
This faith both establishes the promise and makes it sure to us. The Law could only work wrath, because all have transgressed it, but faith does not even allow wrath to arise, for it receives grace. It also makes us children of Abraham, not by blood alone but by sharing his trust in God, and it opens the door of justification to every person who believes.
To have such high thoughts concerning Christ, to trust His power to raise and to save even when we have not seen, this especially is of faith and tends to procure the kingdom and all His other blessings. He who believed that God is able to raise Christ from the dead is himself raised with Him.
I pray that God will strengthen you in this full assurance, keep you standing fast in the faith, and work in you through that faith the love and obedience that should follow it, so that the blessing you claim may be made sure in your life by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
That blessing is not a small thing, for faith is the way God has willed to save us. As the Scriptures teach, faith saves, but even this faith itself is the gift of God, lest we should be found barren and without work at all. It is not a bare assent, but a drawing near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Though we do not see with our eyes the heavenly altar or the priest who has entered the holy of holies for us, we believe more surely than if we saw, for here we trust not the senses which can be deceived, but the Spirit who cannot lie.
This faith both establishes the promise and makes it sure to us. The Law could only work wrath, because all have transgressed it, but faith does not even allow wrath to arise, for it receives grace. It also makes us children of Abraham, not by blood alone but by sharing his trust in God, and it opens the door of justification to every person who believes.
To have such high thoughts concerning Christ, to trust His power to raise and to save even when we have not seen, this especially is of faith and tends to procure the kingdom and all His other blessings. He who believed that God is able to raise Christ from the dead is himself raised with Him.
I pray that God will strengthen you in this full assurance, keep you standing fast in the faith, and work in you through that faith the love and obedience that should follow it, so that the blessing you claim may be made sure in your life by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
