Seeing that he had faith to be saved

 

Seeing that he had faith to be saved

 

Acts 14:8-10 『In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet, a cripple from birth who had never walked. He heard Paul speak. But Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be saved, so he said to him in a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And he got up and started walking.』

Ekusen (ἤκουσεν) is the aorist tense. When he (the lame man) heard the gospel, he heard the word of ho logos. Athenias is also the aorist tense. Pistin tou sothenai is the faith that is saved in an instant. That is, it is the faith that God saves. God gave the faith to be saved through the faith of the lame man. The faith that the subject of salvation (God) gives and the faith that the object (the lame man) believes are connected. For example, the woman suffering from a bleeding disorder was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, and Jesus said to her, “Your faith has saved you.”

The sick person means a sinner. The meaning of being born unable to walk is that one is born a sinner. Israel, and all people in the world, are like that. According to the law, a sacrifice was needed to be forgiven of sins by God. When a sinner brings a sacrifice to the priest, the sinner places his hand on the sacrifice and transfers his sins. It is a sacrifice of atonement. Then, the sacrifice is killed, the blood is sprinkled on the altar, and the flesh is burned on the altar of burnt offering.

The woman suffering from the issue of blood is also an example of a sinner. However, when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, power went out from Jesus. The power of Jesus means the power to transfer sin. The woman’s sin was transferred to Jesus, and the woman’s sin was forgiven. That is why Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you.” Her faith meant that she thought she would be saved if she just touched his garment. On the surface, it is a story about illness, but spiritually, it is a story about salvation from sin.

The subject of salvation is God, and the object of salvation must have faith. Today, the saying that one can be saved just by believing is a false gospel. The faith that God gives is the faith of Jesus Christ. We do not know whether the lame man had such faith before, but it is clear that he gained faith through Paul's sermon. He may have heard rumors about the resurrection of Jesus Christ before.

Forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ can be found strictly in the provisions of the law. If the Jews had thought deeply about the atonement sacrifice through the sacrifice, they would have realized that the Messiah, the descendant of the woman, was the sacrifice. However, the people of Israel did not realize this fact. However, when the man who had been lame since birth heard Paul's sermon, he realized that the sacrifice was Jesus Christ, and he gained faith that he could be freed from sin.

Sin against God is something I cannot resolve on my own. Since all humans are sinners, sinners cannot get rid of their sins on their own. No matter how hard they try to get rid of their sins, they are trapped in the net of sin and cannot escape. The net of sin is the net of the law. Galatians 3:22-23 “But the Scripture has confined everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Before faith came, we were kept under the law, kept in custody until the faith that would be revealed.”

“The promise through faith in Jesus Christ” 『ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοθῇ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν.』 If we translate it again, it is the faith that comes from Jesus Christ. The faith that comes from Jesus Christ is the faith of Jesus Christ, and it is the faith that God gives. He epangeliya (ἡ ἐπαγγελία) is a single promise. God’s promises appear many times in the Old Testament, but the only promise is the promise that we become heirs of the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. The Jews believed that if they kept the law well, God’s promise would be fulfilled. Even today, there are many people in the church who believe that if they live a good life of faith, God’s words of blessing in the Old Testament will be fulfilled.

All the promises made by God in the Old Testament are promises about Jesus Christ who will come. The only promise that Paul is talking about now is the promise about Jesus Christ who came to the world, and through Christ we inherit the kingdom of God. The promises of the Old Testament have already been fulfilled by Jesus coming to the world. Ek piotes is translated as “through faith in Jesus Christ,” but it should be translated as “by faith in Jesus Christ.”

Therefore, when Jesus spoke of the new covenant in the Holy Communion, he spoke of wine and bread symbolically. The wine is the atoning blood that Jesus sheds, and the bread is the spiritual body that gives resurrection life. Believing this is the faith that comes from Christ. It is believing that the believer dies by being united with Jesus who died on the cross, and that the believer is resurrected by being united with Jesus who was resurrected. Therefore, the believer receives the resurrection life, is freed from sin, and becomes a citizen of the eternal kingdom of God. This faith fulfills the promise now. It is not fulfilled in the future, but is fulfilled when the believer enters into the faith of the promise.

Acts 14:11-12 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form." They called Barnabas Zeus, but Paul, because he was the speaker among them, was called Hermes.

Lycaonia was a region in central Asia Minor, and its borders changed slightly, but it was generally located in the east with Cappadocia, in the west with Phrygia, in the north with Iconium, and in the south with the Taurus Mountains. In the early days of Rome, the western part of Lycaonia was incorporated into Galatia, and during the time of Antony, it was incorporated into Cilicia. Paul healed a crippled man who had been unable to walk since birth in Lystra, which belonged to Lycaonia.

Since the Lycaonian region was mainly a society of people who believed in Greek mythology, you can see how prevalent superstitions were. The Lycaonian society at the time Paul and Barnabas were preaching was based on Greek mythology and the Olympian Temple. The first god in Greek mythology was Gaia (Terra, earth), who was born from chaos. Gaia created all things on Earth and is said to have given birth to Uranus (sky), Uros (mountains), and Pontus (sea). Zeus resided in the Olympian Temple and assumed the role of ruler over gods and humans. In addition to Zeus, the twelve Olympian gods include Hermes, etc.

Even though Paul and Barnabas performed a miracle of lowering a lame man in the name of Jesus Christ, they talked about a myth and said that they were descended from gods. Even today, in a meeting, someone performs a miracle and says that he healed a disease. How many people say that they are descended from gods? The saints should not be deceived by this. Healing a disease is just one example of a sign that shows the power of God. What is important is repentance toward God (unity with the death of the cross) and salvation (receiving resurrection life).