Mark 9:20–27 (ESV)
And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
So, I take it that you think a believer’s faith grows over time, even though salvation is by faith alone, and faith is being sure. Can your “sureness” grow?
Yes. Think of it as faith maturing to adulthood. Consider Mark 9:20–27. The father of a demon possessed boy appeals to Jesus to heal his son. He expresses weak faith when he says, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responds credulously, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Then the boy’s father cries out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus responds by casting out the demon, which heals the boy.
So what does that mean?
Well, needless to say, after Jesus cast out the demon, the father’s unbelief was “helped.” Seeing the supernatural solidifies your belief in the supernatural. Jesus granted the father’s request perfectly. If faith is being sure, this guy now has vastly increased faith.
But, do not miss that his faith was well short of mature before the healing. What was his faith based on?
He must have heard of Jesus and of His reputation; that’s why he came to Him. He believed something about Jesus, maybe even that He’s the Messiah.
Right, and Jesus casting out the demon sealed the deal. It’s all true!
What is true?
Good question. For this guy, what he realized is that the rumors he had heard about Jesus are true. He doesn’t have an accurate, or complete, understanding of Christian theology though. Concepts like incarnation are presumably completely foreign to him.
And Jesus doesn’t go on to say anything about whether this guy’s faith gets him into heaven. It’s all just an example of his movement up the faith ladder.
Most importantly, this passage is a beautiful portrait of one of the ways faith can be strengthened—personal experience of the presence of God.
Wow. That’s pretty bizarre. You’re claiming you can personally experience the presence of God. Explain that one.
If you want to experience the presence of God—and who doesn’t?—the key is prayer. Prayer, especially prayer that seeks direction, is a “lens” through which you can see God. Without prayer, things just happen. With prayer, things happen in context.
I’ve used Gideon’s prayer about the fleece before. Let’s look at it from a different point of view. What if Gideon hadn’t prayed for God’s guidance?
Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. — Judges 6:36–40 (ESV)
Without his prayers, Gideon would have thought the unusual dew patterns were bizarre, but they would be meaningless.
But, in context, they were profound, faith building insights. Gideon’s “lens prayer” allowed him to see God’s hand in what was right in front of him. That made all the difference.
But you already said that that was an extraordinary event.
Oh yeah. Experiencing the presence of God is definitely an extraordinary event. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it sticks.
I still don’t get how this fits into the sola fide thing.
Salvation comes from membership in the kingdom. Membership comes from professing fealty to its king—Jesus Christ. That, in turn, comes from faith.
But faith grows. You can memorize, and sincerely believe, that parachutes work, but your faith in them is different after you’ve actually survived jumping out of an airplane.
That makes sense for parachutes. I’m not sure about it for theology. Let’s talk more tomorrow.
