Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 4 Study # 1
April 18, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: At some point, "faith" must come to the "content" that includes the reason for the death of Jesus.
Introduction: In our last study I made the claim that Mark was presenting the danger of the "erosion of faith" because that is what is front and center in the record of the exorcism of the deaf and mute spirit. It is no accident that the immediately following text reveals how dangerous such "erosion" is.
This immediately following text is at the very core of "The Faith" and no one can be "justified" before God without coming to grips with the "core".
- I. Indications From The Scriptures Regarding The Necessity Of Faith In The Core.
- A. In Jesus' parable of the soils, Luke deliberately raised the issue of "believing for a while" and addressing the issue that would shred "faith" in "The Faith": Luke 8:13.
- B. In Hebrews 3:14 we have a clear "condition" for "becoming partakers of Christ".
- C. In comparing Acts 15:5 to Galatians 2:4, we have to recognize that the beginnings of "faith" are not sufficient to yield "justification before God".
- D. Revelation 3:1-3 indicates that the beginnings of "faith" cannot be jettisoned and still yield the standing before God that "justification" provides.
- II. Our Current Text.
- A. That the disciples were totally ignorant of the truths of "substitutionary atonement", on the heels of an "erosion" process, is no small matter.
- B. That Jesus "wished for" time with the disciples to address this factor of faith before the events overtook them is clear.
- C. The Disciples Were Ignorant And Made Afraid To Ask.
- 1. This is as clear-cut a declaration of the fact (that the disciples did NOT have a legitimate grasp of what the Messianic Identity included) as can be found in the New Testament.
- 2. This establishes the fact that "faith in Jesus as Messiah" is valid even when certain aspects of that identity are confused and wrong.
- a. However, there are certain truths which have to surface in the hearts/minds of those who "believe" in order for "justification" to occur.
- b. There is a "process" in which "faith" grows into what God requires for justification.
- c. If that "process" is interrupted, justification does not occur (Revelation 3:1-3).
- d. Jesus told Peter that He had prayed for him that "his faith fail not" and that would be meaningless unless the potential exists.
- 3. The Eleven were "in process"; they would come to grips with the "why" of Jesus' death only after the fact.
- a. There is such a thing as "progressive illumination" just as there is "progressive revelation".
- b. "Justification" is not the result of the initial stages of "faith"; everyone has to begin somewhere in the process of coming to the faith that pleases God.
