Today’s verse: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” II Timothy 1:5
Driving by a church building one day, I noticed that the sign stated, “Faith ONLY in Christ only” (emphasis on the word “ONLY” appeared on the sign). I agree with this statement to a point but I wondered if the understanding of faith had been misconstrued. Indeed, faith is essential to salvation and it is only through God’s grace that we can have access to His gift of salvation. Paul writes to the Roman church that “righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” Romans 3:22-24. We know by this passage that we are redeemed based on God’s gift of salvation to us. Through belief, obedience and living faithfully to the law of Christ (i.e., the law of love that replaced the old law of sin), we are justified by his grace.
Additionally, it is true that we can never earn salvation because as noted in verse 23 above, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Aside from Jesus, no human being has ever lived on this earth without sin; therefore, we know that we cannot possibly earn God’s gift of salvation as further stated in the following verses: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Yet if we stop there, I fear we may be missing the true meaning of faith. If we read on, Paul writes, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” Ephesians 2:8-10. Certainly, we will never merit salvation because in these bodies, we are unable to live perfectly without sin. Yet to have true faith, we must have a living faith and not one that relies on God to provide us salvation without any response on our part. In fact, as we read in Ephesians, we were created to do these works; therefore, before we were even born, God’s purpose for us was to demonstrate Christ’s love for others through an active faith.
James explained this by writing of Abraham’s living faith in his willingness to offer his son Isaac if the Lord required it. “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did” James 2:22. Abraham was justified by God’s gift of grace but Abraham was given this gift because he not only believed that God existed but trusted him completely. Abraham’s works were linked to his faith and were not separate from it. Had Abraham failed to follow God’s command to take Isaac up the mountain, there would have been no act of faith on his part.
As a further emphasis of this faith, James continues, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” James 2:24. Is this in direct contrast to Paul’s writings in Ephesians 2? Absolutely not. Paul writes that God gives us salvation as a gift and that we have not earned it, but James explains that we must have a living faith in order to receive this gift. One completes the other and is in no way contradictory to the other. Faith is not a passive feeling; it is an active state.
Paul evidently believed this to be the case because he wrote to the church in Galatia, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:20. Paul lived by faith and this faith was evident from the beginning of his Christian walk by his obedience of God’s commandments through Ananias and throughout his ministry, even when such actions led to imprisonment or threats on his life.
Timothy was blessed to have a grandmother and a mother who served as examples of this living faith and taught Timothy of God’s will. Their faith was strong enough to be carried throughout at least three generations, resulting in a young man who preached the Word of God and was commended by Paul for his efforts.
What an amazing, active, living faith this was! It was not based on tradition but was a working faith that must have led to the salvation of many through Timothy’s sermons. Assuredly, Lois had no idea when she followed Christ that her daughter would follow and eventually her grandson. In fact, it has been suggested that Lois and Eunice were either widowed or had unbelieving husbands because Paul mentioned only them as the sources of Timothy’s knowledge of the faith.
Do we present a living, active faith or have we allowed our original fervor to wane as we travel our daily journeys? Will our children and grandchildren follow Christ because of our examples? Will the members of our church family continue to pass along a strong faith to future generations because we have modeled such faith to the children in our Bible classes?
May we always be encouraged by the words of Paul in Romans 1:17:
“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ”
May we live by faith, dear sisters, and serve as guides for the children of the world to know Christ’s love and God’s precious gift of salvation. God bless you today!
