Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
June 25, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: "Biblical Faith" has three major characteristics: 1)
Understanding through "manifestation"; 2)
Confidence in the truthfulness of the content understood; and 3)
Endurance in the face of severe trials.
Introduction: In our studies of Author-John's record of the reasons we ought to "believe" that Jesus of Nazareth is everything the record declares of Him, we have seen that the
most critical issue for us is the issue of that "believing".
It is a tragic fact that a significant number of biblical words have, over the last two thousand years, been twisted into their opposites so that the words now, often, signify the exact opposite of what they meant when the Bible was being written. All three of the three most crucial issues for men as Paul declared it in 1 Corinthians 13:13 have suffered this reality. "Faith" is no longer "biblical faith"; "Hope" is no longer "biblical hope"; and "Love" is no longer "biblical love". "Faith" today is easily seen in the use of that word when the person using it means his/her opinion might have some credibility. "Hope" today is easily seen in the use of that word when the person using it means the thing "hoped" for is only a longing with, perhaps, some level of possibility attached. And "Love" today is severely twisted into "I love you because of all the things you do for me".
So, because Author-John made the statement in 2:11 that those disciples that were with Jesus at the wedding in Cana "believed into Him", and this is the first of John's "signs" for the purpose of "belief" as he gives it at the end of his Gospel, we are going to look into the specific concepts that are attached to "faith" when that idea is addressed in the Bible.
- I. The Previous Uses By Author-John.
- A. In 1:7 we are told that Witness-John's message of "making the way of the Lord straight" must be embraced before a person can "believe" Author-John's message.
- B. In 1:12 we are told of those who are believing in the name of "The True Light", "The Word of God", even "Jesus Christ" Who brought "grace and truth" to us.
- 1. The use of the present tense of the verb "believe" in this verse establishes what must characterize those who are given the privilege of becoming the children of God: an on-going faith.
- a. It is this truth that makes plain what Luke was addressing in Luke 8:13 where we read that some "believed for a while", but, when troubles come, they forsake their "belief".
- b. This also explains Paul's tension over the Galatians whom he initially thought had embraced the Gospel of Grace, but then threatened to jettison it in favor of "Law".
- 2. When the aorist tense of this verb is used, it only denotes a characteristic of "believing" that is real at the point in time that the aorist indicates.
- C. In 1:50 we are told that Jesus questioned whether Nathanael's description of Jesus as The Son of The God and The King of The Israel was the required "belief that continues on".
- 1. Jesus did not deny that Nathanael's "believing" was valid, but Author-John leaves that door open when he wrote in 2:11 that Jesus' "disciples believed into Him" as a consequence of this "first sign" that Jesus did.
- 2. But Jesus did maintain the reality that biblical believing is to be on-going.
- II. What 2:11 Tells Us About Biblical Faith.
- A. With 1:12's characterization of "on-going belief" as a part of 2:11's immediate context, we see that "faith", to be on-going, has a "point of beginning".
- 1. The Aorist Tense of "believe" in 2:11 does not deny 1:12's requirement that "believing" has to be continually present; it only says that such a "believing" has to have a starting point.
- 2. Thus, this "starting point" is presented to us in light of its "cause".
- B. The "cause" of "belief" in 2:11 is given.
- 1. Author-John's claim is that Jesus "manifested His glory" by turning the water into wine.
- a. The particular aspect of Jesus' "glory" that was made "manifest" was His ability to instantaneously alter the created state of what was originally created as water.
- 1) The creation of Jesus in general has in it the ability of certain processes that, over time, are able to turn water into wine, though what is really going on is that the elements of the grapes are decaying and that decay, which permeates the water, turns the water-plus-decayed grape elements into a composite known as wine.
- 2) What Jesus did had no "grape elements" in the water: thus, His action was "significant" in that it revealed Jesus' ability to provide the required added ingredient instantaneously as a "Creator".
- a) This is enormously significant in respect to the metaphor of "wine" being a physical creation reality and "joy" being the metaphysical "added material" reality.
- b) "Belief" in Jesus, on the basis of a "water to wine" "sign" means that one is able to depend upon Jesus to provide the "missing element" of "existence" so that it turns into "Life": Joy.
- b. The issue in this text is that this ability of Jesus to insert "Joy" where there is dismay and embarrassment was "made clearly obvious" by a significant use of His wisdom and power.
- 2. Thus, we conclude that "biblical faith" begins when some form of the glory of Jesus is made clear to a person's "heart" (not mind) [Paul insists that one must "believe" with the heart in Romans 10:9-19], and the person's response is the "faith" that the manifestation was designed to produce.
- C. The foundation of "biblical faith" is this "heart understanding" that goes beyond "logic" or human mental reasonings.
- D. However, this "heart understanding" must be met with "acceptance" and not "oppositional rejection"; a fact that 1:11 makes abundantly clear.
- III. Conclusions.
- A. "Biblical Faith" must have a prior body of truth that has been accepted: Witness-John's message.
- B. "Biblical Faith" must have a foundation in understanding of some aspect of the glory of Jesus.
- C. "Biblical Faith" must be an enduring heart-confidence in Jesus' manifested ability to provide what God has promised.
