Personal Faith

by J. Miller | Category: General | Mar 1961

As to whether the lame man at the door of the temple called Beautiful, had faith in the Lord or not, the words of Peter in Acts 3.16 are quite clear. When Peter said, " What I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk" (verse 6), it is evident that the lame man received by faith and acted upon the command of Peter given in the name of Jesus Christ. Peter's words show whence the power of healing came.

"By (Epi, upon, 'on the ground of,' R.V. marg.) faith in His name hath His name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is through Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all " (verse 16).

Quite evidently the man was not only healed in body, he was also healed in soul as well, for it is said of him, that " he entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God" (verses 8, 9).

The experience of the man who lay by the pool of Bethesda (John 5) seems different from this. In his case he believed in the Lord's word though he did not know who the Speaker was. He explained the hopelessness of his state in that he had no one to help him and he had always been frustrated by another stepping down into the pool before him. Upon this the Lord said to him, "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And straightway the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked" (verse 8). The man took the Lord's word as the means of healing and not the pool. For long he had looked to the story about the curative properties of the water at certain seasons, but now he looked to another source of healing and was healed immediately. But it is clear that he did not know who spoke to him. Later the Lord found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee. The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole " (verses 14, 15). Consequent upon this the Jews persecuted the Lord. Though the man believed the Lord's word there seems to be no evidence that he believed in the Lord Himself. We conclude that he knew healing of the body, but not of the soul. This seems to emerge in the meaning of this sign.

In the case of the blind man in John 9, we have another kind of experience. Here was a blind man who was told by the Lord, after He had made clay with spittle and anointed his blind eyes, to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. He also did not know who the Lord was, but he received by faith the Lord's word and acted upon it. His simple, straightforward account of his experience was, "He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed; and do see " (verse 15). Though the receiving of sight by the blind man was instantaneous, his knowledge of who was the Lord was gradual. To the question of the Pharisees, "What sayest thou of Him, in that He opened thine eyes ? And he said, He is a prophet " (verse 17). He had made a true assessment of the Lord from one point of view, for a prophet was a man who spoke God's message, whether to a man, as in the case of Naaman the Syrian by Elisha, or to Israel by Elijah, and on many other occasions. The Lord had a message for the blind man, but He was much more than a prophet. The blind man accepted the Lord's word as a message to him from God. Later the accusation of the Pharisees that the Lord was a sinner was repelled by the blind man. He propounded a truth of both Old and New Testaments when he said, "We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do His will, him He heareth. Since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing" (verses 81-88).

When the Pharisees had cast the once blind man out of the synagogue and the Lord had found him, the Lord asked him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God? " He knew not who He was, so he said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe on Him?" Upon this the Lord said, "Thou hast both seen Him, and He it is that speaketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him." Appreciation of who was the Lord, was gradual, though the revelation of His divine Sonship was at once.

That some were healed bodily through the faith of others, is beyond question, as seen in the case of the nobleman's son (John 4.46-54), the centurion's servant (Luke 7. 2-10), and the Canaanitish woman's daughter who was demon-possessed (Matthew 15.21-28). But where the question of the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation is involved, in conjunction with the healing of the body, personal faith in Christ is in evidence, as in the case of the palsied man, in Luke 5.17-26, for " seeing their faith, He said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee," that is, the faith of the man and his four friends. The Lord forgiving sins is only mentioned once again in the Gospels, when He forgave the woman, a sinner in the city, in Simon the Pharisee's house. He said, "Thy sins are forgiven," and again Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7.86-50). No one is eternally saved by proxy or because of another's faith, but believing prayer by believers on behalf of others is undoubtedly heard by God, but those, however much they may be prayed for, must exercise personal faith in the Lord in order to be saved.

J. Miller | Mar 1961
General