FAITH
of
Jesus
—
a
human
trust,
in
its
purity
and
intensity
such
as
no
other
man
had
ever
elicited,
which
grew
up
into
and
identified
itself
with
its
possessor's
belief
in
God,
transforming
the
latter
in
doing
so,
and
which
drew
the
whole
being
of
the
believer
into
the
will
and
life
of
his
Master.
When
Thomas
hails
Jesus
as
'
My
Lord
and
my
God
I
'
he
'
has
believed
'
;
this
process
is
complete
in
the
mind
of
the
slowest
disciple;
the
two
faiths
are
now
welded
inseparably
;
the
Son
is
known
through
the
Father,
and
the
Father
through
the
Son,
and
Thomas
gives
full
affiance
to
both
in
one.
As
Jesus
was
exalted,
God
in
the
same
degree
became
nearer
to
these
men,
and
their
faith
in
God
became
richer
in
contents
and
firmer
in
grasp.
So
sure
and
direct
was
the
communion
with
the
Father
opened
by
Jesus
to
His
brethren,
that
the
word
'faith,'
as
commonly
used,
failed
to
express
it:
'Henceforth
ye
know
(the
Father),
and
have
seen
him,'
said
Jesus
(Jn
14');
and
St.
John,
using
the
vb.
'believe'
more
than
any
one,
employs
the
noun
'faith'
but
once
in
Gospel
and
Epp.
(1
Jn
5*)
—
'
knowing
God,
the
Father,'
etc.,
is,
for
him,
the
Christian
distinction.
Their
Lord's
departure,
and
the
shock
and
trial
of
His
death,
were
needful
to
perfect
His
disciples'
faith
(Jn
16'),
removing
its
earthly
supports
and
breaking
its
links
with
all
materialistic
Messianlsm.
As
Jesus
'goes
to
the
Father,'
they
realize
that
He
and
the
Father
'are
one';
their
faith
rests
no
longer,
in
any
degree,
on
'a
Christ
after
the
flesh
'
;
they
are
ready
to
receive,
and
to
work
in,
the
power
of
the
Spirit
whom
He
sends
to
them
'from
the
Father.'
Jesus
is
henceforth
identified
with
the
spiritual
and
eternal
order;
to
the
faith
which
thus
acknowledges
Him
He
gives
the
benediction,
'Blessed
are
they
that
have
not
seen,
and
yet
have
believed'
(Jn
202»;
cf.
1
P
1»).
To
define
this
specific
faith
a
new
grammatical
construction
appears
in
NT
Greek:
one
does
not
simply
beliefoe
Jesus,
or
believe
on
Him,
one
believes
into
or
unto
Him,
or
His
name
(which
con-tains
the
import
of
His
person
and
offices)
—
so
in
Mt
18«,
and
continually
in
Jn.
(2"-
^
S's-
^
439
q2s.
as
7i8t.
9!5
ii25t.
i235f.
14'.
«
17"
ctc;
also
in
Paul)—
which
signifies
so
believing
in
Him
as
to
'
come
to
Him
'
realizing
what
He
is.
By
a
variety
of
prepositional
constructions,
the
Greek
tongue,
imperfectly
followed
in
such
refinements
by
our
own,
strives
to
represent
the
variety
of
attitude
and
bearing
in
which
faith
stands
towards
its
Object.
That
the
mission
of
Jesus
Christ
was
an
appeal
for
faith,
with
His
own
Person
as
its
chief
ground
and
matter,
is
strikingly
stated
in
Jn
20"
:
'
These
things
are
written
that
ye
might
beUeve
that
Jesus
is
the
Christ,
the
Son
of
God;
and
that
be-lieving
ye
might
have
life
in
his
name.'
Christian
faith
is
the
decisive
action
of
the
whole
inner
man
—
under-standing,
feeling,
will;
it
is
the
trustful
and
self-sur-rendering
acknowledgment
of
God
in
Christ.
(3)
Further,
Jesus
called
on
the
world
to
'
believe
the
good
news'
of
His
coming
for
redemption.
This
task,
marked
out
by
OT
prophecy,
and
laid
on
Him
at
His
birth
(Lk
I's-'i
2'»)
and
baptism
(Jn
l^'),
from
an
early
period
of
His
ministry
Jesus
connected
with
His
death
(see
Jn
2"-''
3»'-:
and
later,
Mt
16'8-28
2028,
Lk
9"
125°,
Jn
1223-25).
The
words
of
Mt
262',
which
must
be
vindicated
as
original,
make
it
clear
that
Jesus
regarded
His
death
as
the
culmination
of
His
mission;
at
the
Last
Supper
He
is
ready
to
offer
His
'
blood
'
to
seal
'the
new
covenant'
under
which
'forgiveness
of
sins'
will
be
universally
guaranteed
(cf.
Jer
SI"').
Having
concentrated
on
Himself
the
faith
of
men,
giving
to
faith
thereby
a
new
heart
and
energy,
He
finally
fastens
that
faith
upon
His
death;
He
marks
this
event
for
the
future
as
the
object
of
the
specifically
saving
faith.
By
this
path,
the
risen
Lord
explained,
He
had
'
entered
into
his
glory
'
and
'
received
from
the
Father
the
promise
of
the
Spirit,'
in
the
strength
of
which
His
servants
are
commissioned
to
'preach
to
all
the
nations
repentance
and
remission
of
sins'
(Lk
24«-4s;
cf.
Ac
222-s«).
Taught
by
Him,
the
Apostles
FALL
understood
and
proclaimed
their
Master's
death
as
the
hinge
of
the
relations
between
God
and
man
that
centre
in
Christ;
believing
in
Him
meant,
above
all,
believing
in
that,
and
finding
in
the
cross
the
means
of
deliverance
from
sin
and
the
revelation
of
God's
saving
purpose
toward
the
race
(Ac
3'"-
202»,
1
Co
li8-2»,
2
Co
6U-21,
1
p
318,
Rev
l<-6,
etc.).
Faith
in
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
was
logically
antecedent
to
faith
in
His
sacrificial
death;
for
His
rising
from
the
dead
set
His
dying
in
its
true
light
(Ac
4i«->2),
revealing
the
shameful
crucifixion
of
Israel's
Messiah
as
a
glorious
expiation
for
the
guilt
of
mankind
(He
2\
Ro
42s,
1
P
121).
To
'confess
with
one's
mouth
Jesus
as
Lord,
and
believe
in
one's
heart
that
God
raised
him
from
the
dead,'
was
therefore
to
fulfil
the
essential
conditions
of
the
Christian
salvation
(Ro
10'),
since
the
Lord's
resurrection,
including
His
ascension
which
completes
it,
gives
assurance
of
the
peace
with
God
won
by
His
accepted
sacrifice
(He
T^
911-11
1018.
22);
it
vindicates
His
Divine
Sonship
and
verifies
His
claims
on
human
homage
(Ro
1<,
Ac
2»>,
1
P
121);
it
guarantees
'the
redemption
of
the
body,'
and
the
attainment,
both
for
the
individual
and
for
the
Church,
of
the
glory
of
the
Messianic
Kingdom,
the
consummated
salvation
that
is
in
Christ
Jesus
(1
Co
15i«-28,
Ro
8"-2',
Eph
li'-23,
Ac
17",
Rev
l'-
'"•,
etc.).
In
two
words,
the
Christian
faith
is
to
'
believe
that
Jesus
died
and
rose
again'
(1
Th
4")
—
that
in
dying
He
atoned
for
human
sin,
and
in
rising
He
aboUshed
death.
St.
Paul
was
the
chief
exponent
and
defender
of
this
'
word
of
the
cross,'
which
is
at
the
same
time
'the
word
of
faith'
(Ro
10');
its
various
aspects
and
issues
appear
under
the
terms
Justification,
Atonement,
Pbopitia-TiON,
Gkace,
Law
(in
NT),
etc.
But
St.
Peter
in
his
1st
Ep.,
St.
John
in
his
1st
Ep.
and
Rev.,
and
the
writer
of
Hebrews,
each
in
his
own
fashion,
combine
with
St.
Paul
to
focus
the
redeeming
work
of
Jesus
in
the
cross.
According
to
the
whole
tenor
of
the
NT,
the
forgiving
grace
of
God
there
meets
mankind
in
its
sin;
and
faith
is
the
hand
reached
out
to
accept
God's
gifts
of
mercy
proffered
from
the
cross
of
Christ.
The
faculty
of
faith,
which
we
understood
in
its
fundamental
meaning
as
the
spiritual
sense,
the
consciousness
of
God,
is
in
no
wise
narrowed
or
diverted
when
it
fixes
itself
on
'
Jesus
Christ,
and
him
crucified
'
;
for,
as
St.
Paul
insists,
'
God
com-mendeth
his
own
love
to
us
in
that
Christ
died
for
us,"
'God
was
in
Christ,
reconciUng
the
world
unto
himself."
'
The
glory
of
God
'
shines
into
men's
hearts.
His
true
character
becomes
for
the
first
time
apparent,
and
calls
forth
a
full
and
satisfied
faith,
when
beheld
'in
the
face
of
Christ'
(Ro
5',
2
Co
4»
S"-").
G.
G.
FiNDLAT.
FAITHLESS.—
Wherever
this
word
occurs
in
AV,
it
means,
not
untrustworthy,
but
unbelieving,
just
as
in
the
Merchant
of
Venice
Shylock
is
called
'
a
faithless
Jew,'
simply
because
he
was
an
unbeliever
in
Christ.
FALCON.—
RV
tr.
of
'ayyah,
Lv
11",
Dt
14"
(AV
'kite').
Job
28'
(AV
'vulture').
See
Kite,
VULTDEE.
FALL.
—
The
story
of
the
Fall
in
Gn
3
is
the
immediate
sequel
to
the
account
of
man's
creation
with
which
the
Jahwistic
document
opens
(see
Creation).
It
tells
how
the
first
man
and
woman,
living
in
childlike
innocence
and
happiness
in
the
Garden
of
Eden,
were
tempted
by
the
subtle
serpent
to
doubt
the
goodness
of
their
Creator,
and
aim
at
the
possession
of
forbidden
knowledge
by
tasting
the
fruit
of
the
one
tree
of
which
they
had
been
expressly
charged
not
to
eat.
Their
transgression
was
speedily
followed
by
detection
and
punishment;
on
the
serpent
was
laid
the
curse
of
perpetual
enmity
between
it
and
mankind;
the
woman
wa,s
doomed
to
the
pains
of
child-bearing:
and
the
man
to
unremitting
toil
in
the
cultivation
of
the
ground,
which
was
cursed
on
account
of
his
sin.
Finally,
lest
the
man
should
use
his
newly-acquired
insight
to
secure
the
boon
of
im-mortality
by
partaking
of
the
tree
of
Ute,
he
was
expelled
