Are there degrees or measures of religious faith?  Is faith a gift from God, or do we generate faith from our own soul and heart?  Why do some people seem to have more faith than others?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Learning To Be Loyal

Dear Learning To Be Loyal,

The ability to be saved through faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8), but faith is something we are responsible for.  Faith comes from hearing what God says and then acting upon it (Rom 10:17).  Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith (Matt 14:31)… which means the amount of faith we have is our responsibility.

Some people have no faith (Rom 3:3), others have little faith (Matt 6:30), and some have great faith (Matt 8:10).  Some people have more faith than others because they have worked harder to cultivate faith in God.  It is our duty to increase in faith and service to God.  One of the simplest ways to measure our faith in God is by looking at our behavior (Jas 2:18).  How we live is a reflection of our loyalty to the Lord.  It is impossible to please God without an active and practiced faith in Him (Heb 11:6).  We must study, learn, and apply God’s Word daily.

I've been listening to the series of lessons Lowell has been preaching on Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage.  As if things weren't already confusing enough, when I was checking Lowell's interpretation of Matthew 19:9, I noticed my New American Standard Bible simply says, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."  It includes a footnote saying, "Some early manuscripts add 'and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.'"  I'm somewhat familiar with textual criticism, but usually I don't worry too much about it because the debated passages don't have major doctrinal implications.  This case seems a bit more significant to me.  How can I know which version is what was actually in the original Greek manuscript?

Sincerely,
It’s Greek To Me

Dear It’s Greek To Me,

There are two major texts that are used in Bible translations, the Nestle-Aland & United Bible Society Text (often referred to as the ‘NU’ text) and the Majority text (referred to as the ‘M’ text).  In Matt 19:9, the NU text doesn’t include the phrase “and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery”, but the M text does.  However, this doesn’t create any sort of doctrinal problem because in Matt 5:32, the NU text does include that phrase.  Therefore, even if the phrase isn’t included in Matt 19:9, it is in Matt 5:32.  No matter which version is the more accurate (and yes, that is a greatly debated topic), both include that phrase somewhere within the text.

It seems many christians think being faithful means one attends all gatherings of the church – Sunday morning Bible study, worship in the morning and evening, and Wednesday evening Bible study.  Please help me with a biblical definition of faithfulness for my use in discussions.  Thank you for your clear answers that are backed by Scripture.

Sincerely,
Faithful Attender

Dear Faithful Attender,

Faith is a simple word with a lot of big implications.  The word for ‘faith’ in Greek is ‘pistis’.  ‘Pistis’ is translated ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ in English, so when you see the word ‘believe’ or the word ‘faith’ in your Bible… they are the same Greek word.  The word means ‘conviction that something is true’.  The Bible specifically uses the word ‘faith’ to describe our attitude toward God (Acts 20:21).   Faith is a requirement for salvation (Eph 2:8).

Biblical faith exists when we trust in the unseen God (Heb 11:1).  Faith is also described as a lifestyle of seeking God (Heb 11:6).  Faith without action is dead (Jas 2:26).  Even the demons believe in God… but they don’t seek Him (Jas 2:19).  Faith has its origin in the Scriptures – we believe because we hear God’s Word (Rom 10:17).  Biblical faith is best described as ‘hearing what God says and then doing your best to loyally act upon those words’.

Using that definition, regular church attendance is a part of faith because God tells us to not forsake assembling with the saints (Heb 10:24-25).  However, attendance is certainly not the all-defining characteristic of a faithful lifestyle.  One could easily attend every meeting of the church and still be a godless heathen the rest of the week (the man who had his father’s wife is a great example of this – 1 Cor 5:1-2).  Faith is a life guided by the words of the Bible.  A faithful person allows the Bible to be their compass and lets God reign within them (Lk 17:21).

Why did God require blood sacrifice?

Sincerely,
Seeing Red

Dear Seeing Red,

Blood sacrifices taught the Jewish people something about the cost of sin.  The Old Testament was designed to prepare people for Christ’s coming (Gal 3:23-24).  The blood of the bulls and goats that were killed as sin offerings never paid the price of sin (Heb 10:4).  However, by making those sacrifices, Israel learned that all sin must be paid for with blood.  Eventually, Christ came and paid for our sins with His blood (1 Pet 1:18-19) – the blood of God.  All those animal sacrifices prepared Israel to see and understand what Jesus’ crucifixion meant.  He was the true sacrificial lamb (Jhn 1:29).  The Old Testament sacrifices were a shadow of the things to come (Heb 10:1).

I know as believers under the New Covenant that we are no longer bound by the law.  But, besides making disciples of all the nations, I think our Jesus-given mission is to live a holy life… obeying, as well as we can, the law out of love and appreciation for our salvation and to generally set the example of a life given to Christ.  With that said, Jesus told us that the greatest command was to love God with all we have and to love others as ourselves.  That command given by Jesus would closely fulfill the Ten Commandments.  But what about Levitical laws?  What commands outside of the Ten do we need to observe?  Where is the line if there is one?  And, for that matter, is any command in the Old Testament outside of the Ten important?  Please don't get me wrong, I know we are saved by grace, and no matter how many laws we obey, we could never work our way to salvation.  I am not trying to save myself; I just want to know what commands we are advised to obey in the Old Testament.  I just want to give my entire life to God, but I don't know where to start.  What commands does God still like to see from us under the New Covenant?

Sincerely,
A New Believer

Dear A New Believer,

We don’t need to obey any of the Old Testament laws unless they are repeated in the New Testament.  Even the Ten Commandments no longer apply… except for the fact that nine out of the ten are repeated in the New Testament (the only one left out is to “keep the Sabbath holy” – see “The Nine Commandments” post for further details).

The Old Testament was a law given to the nation of Israel (Lev 26:46).  Though many of those laws were appropriate to reiterate in the New Testament (i.e. laws against murder, idolatry, etc.), the Old Testament has been put away by the blood of Christ (Col 2:14).  Today, we look to the Old Testament for examples of godly (and ungodly) people.  Paul says that the books of the Old Testament are written down as examples for us (1 Cor 10:6-11).  We don’t follow the same rules as David, Isaiah, Daniel, etc., but we can learn from their lives and follow their examples.