A Lack of Faith Versus Misplaced Faith
I sent a tweet out earlier during the day in which I said, “A lack of faith is as bad if not the same as misplaced faith.” My tweets get posted as FB updates as well. So I finally got around to writing up an explanation. This is what I was thinking when I sent the tweet.
The Apostle Paul expressed “great sorrow” and “unceasing anguish” (Rom. 9:2) for the lost condition of his fellow Jews. He writes, “My heart's desire and prayer to God for them [Israel] is that they may be saved” (Rom. 10:1). The question then is why were they NOT saved despite their “zeal for God” (v. 2). Was it a case of no faith or misplaced faith? It was both.
Paul writes that the reason for their lost condition was that they sought to “establish their own [righteousness]” and “did not submit to God's righteousness” (v. 3, emphasis added). When Paul says they sought to “establish their own [righteousness]” he means they “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Lk. 18:9). Trust is another word for faith. They had faith that God would accept them on the basis of their own perceived goodness. This means they found it not only necessary, but also unacceptable to trust in someone other than themselves. They had “a lack of faith” in “God’s righteousness” offered freely through Jesus. Instead of placing their faith in Jesus they fatally misplaced it themselves and it cost them eternal life because “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse” (Gal. 3:10). “No one is justified before God by the law” (v. 11). This is why Paul writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:8-9).
When Paul said he wanted to be “found in [Christ]” he meant he trusted in Christ for acceptance before God on the basis of what Christ did on his behalf. He did not want to try and establish, as he put it, "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law” (self-trust).
The point is that everyone without exception has faith. The issue is what or in whom are you trusting? The object of our faith is what makes the difference between Heaven and Hell.
The Apostle Paul expressed “great sorrow” and “unceasing anguish” (Rom. 9:2) for the lost condition of his fellow Jews. He writes, “My heart's desire and prayer to God for them [Israel] is that they may be saved” (Rom. 10:1). The question then is why were they NOT saved despite their “zeal for God” (v. 2). Was it a case of no faith or misplaced faith? It was both.
Paul writes that the reason for their lost condition was that they sought to “establish their own [righteousness]” and “did not submit to God's righteousness” (v. 3, emphasis added). When Paul says they sought to “establish their own [righteousness]” he means they “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Lk. 18:9). Trust is another word for faith. They had faith that God would accept them on the basis of their own perceived goodness. This means they found it not only necessary, but also unacceptable to trust in someone other than themselves. They had “a lack of faith” in “God’s righteousness” offered freely through Jesus. Instead of placing their faith in Jesus they fatally misplaced it themselves and it cost them eternal life because “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse” (Gal. 3:10). “No one is justified before God by the law” (v. 11). This is why Paul writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:8-9).
When Paul said he wanted to be “found in [Christ]” he meant he trusted in Christ for acceptance before God on the basis of what Christ did on his behalf. He did not want to try and establish, as he put it, "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law” (self-trust).
The point is that everyone without exception has faith. The issue is what or in whom are you trusting? The object of our faith is what makes the difference between Heaven and Hell.
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