Keep the Foundation of Faith

God is our true Father. He sent His word in order to give us His everlasting life, blessings and glory. Because the Word came in the flesh, we saw the reality of the Word, and by believing in the Word, we received God’s love and grace.

Faith doesn’t spring from man’s emotions or self-conviction. By believing in the promise of God who surely accomplishes what He has spoken, we are experiencing all that which God is giving us. Attempting to build up one’s meritorious works by the flesh without God’s revelation is not faith but superstition. Faith is what actually saves us from sin and hellfire. And the very foundation of this faith is God’s word.

A great number of people followed Jesus after witnessing the signs and wonders He did. However when He began to preach the Truth saying, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53), many of His disciples left Him saying, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” By this Word, the world was created. In this Word is life that saves man, and the glory of God. This Word which became flesh and came to the world is Jesus Christ. Apostle John spoke of Him saying, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”.

Jesus’ commandment, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood” means we should accept the life, blessings and glory which God is giving through the Word. Many of His disciples left Him because they couldn’t understand His words. When He asked the Twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). That’s right. The foundation of our faith is the Word.

Though many people desire to receive power and thus pray a lot and practice ascetic discipline, why is it that they remain powerless? When the angel brought the news of conception to Mary, she asked, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Then the angel answered, “For no word from God shall be void of power” (Luke 1:37, ASV). The reason people are devoid of power is the absence of God’s word. And for the same reason, they do not have God’s signs or prosperity.

God definitely fulfills His word. Hence His word is living and active (Heb 4:12). It is the Word which created all the worlds, that made the Israelites cross the Red Sea, and kept them alive. And the Word is still at work today without change. The activeness of the Word is the same yesterday, today and forever. Thus we mustn’t merely hear the Word through our ears but let it into our hearts to operate actively.

Why is it that people lose hope and wander away from their church life, or are overcome by their flesh and fall astray? It’s because they don’t have the Word. Only when we have the Word can we overcome as well as persevere. Faith is not about relying on our carnal nature and physical senses as superstitious people do, but to trust and follow God’s revelation.

Let the Word Operate

Everybody sins because of their carnal desires. Yet there is no one who will go to hell because of such sins. It’s because of Adam’s sin that man was doomed to hell. Adam didn’t commit any moral or ethical offense like adultery or murder. All he did was disobey God’s word that commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this sin is called the original sin because the spirit of all humankind died as a result. A most serious consequence followed Adam’s rejection of God’s word, for which the Son of God had to shed His blood and die.

The first king of Israel, Saul was commanded by God to strike the Amalekites and utterly destroy everything. Yet He disobeyed God’s word and spared the best of the sheep and the oxen. Then Samuel went to Saul and said, “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam 15:22-23). Thus Saul lost the throne and was king no longer.

After Israel was divided into Judah (Southern kingdom) and Israel (Northern kingdom), there were many kings in both kingdoms. Unfortunately, the majority of them wandered away from God’s word. Of course there were some kings who strived to obey God’s word, but most of them became corrupt during their reign and disappointed God. In the end, the thrones of Judah and Israel couldn’t last until Jesus Christ came and continued no longer. Because the kings had rejected God’s word, God had also rejected them.

Nevertheless, David was deemed by God as ‘a man after My heart’ (Acts 13:22). Have a think about what David did. He schemed and had his servant killed in order that he might take his wife for himself. Even so, God did not deal with David according to his flesh; He was actually interested in David’s love and obedience to the word of God. While David was king, Israel enjoyed a peaceful reign, and the neighboring nations didn’t dare to challenge them either. God had exalted him who humbled himself before God’s word.

There is no one as perfect as the Pharisees when it comes to physical acts of righteousness. They were so morally perfect that apart from Jesus, none were able to find fault with them. Yet Jesus rebuked them saying, “Woe to you Woe to you, Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matt 23:23). Then to the people He said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20). The problem with the Pharisees is that they don’t have God’s word living and active within them.

God’s word is active. Hence we shouldn’t just listen to the Word through our ears only, but let the Word enter us and be active. People rejoice briefly when they are prosperous in the world, and are quick to despair and doubt God because they don’t rely on the word of God. What the Holy Spirit does when He comes is to remind us of the word which God has spoken through Jesus Christ, help us to understand and fulfill that word. Thus whoever desires to experience the working of the Holy Spirit must first have the word of God.

Have a Deeper Yearning

Our faith mustn’t change. A branch that bore fruits richly last year could still wither if it doesn’t bud again this year, and such branches will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Jn 15:6). At first so many people feel joyful that they received grace at church, but after a short while, they begin to have doubts about their church life, the Holy Spirit, God’s word and their faith. We need to keep our faith remembering that the day is fast approaching when the Lord will come and take our souls, for we ought to be found as grains not chaff when we stand before the Lord.

Our faith started off with an experience. We repented upon hearing God’s word, and then receive baptism. Repentance, as well as baptism, is an experience. Repentance is a spiritual experience, whereas baptism is the first experience we have of God’s word in our flesh. When we repented and were baptized, we received the Holy Spirit God had promised, and began speaking in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave us utterance.

Some people want to speak in tongues simply because they want to experience what others have experienced. However such people like prone to falling away after tasting the spiritual gifts. Then there are people who have received yet do not use the gift of speaking in tongues. For them, they don’t have the strength in their spirit to even pray when they suffering with a sickness. So then how would they resist and drive out the unclean spirits that harass them?

The reason we have to speak in tongues is because it’s Jesus had spoken of it. He said, ‘he who believes me will speak in tongues in my name’ (Mark 16:17). To others, speaking in tongues may appear strange. However, we must obey if that’s something Jesus had spoken of. We repented and received baptism because the Lord’s word came into us. Similarly, by speaking in tongues, we must let the Lord’s word operate within us.

Acts 2:4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Speaking in tongues is the start to all spiritual gifts. It is written in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” We mustn’t fall away after tasting the spiritual gifts, but rather have these various gifts manifested in us continuously.

Do Not Fall Away

Some people say that though they want to be restored with the joy they had first when they came to Christ and received grace, it’s hard. That’s true. Once you lose the joy you had in the beginning upon receiving grace, restoring it is very difficult. A branch that doesn’t bud one year isn’t expected to bud the year after, and Hebrews 6:4-6 says concerning this, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” How many people fall away after having tasted the spiritual gifts? How many fall away after having a taste of the good word of God? How many fall away after tasting the powers of the coming age? If these people were to have the chance to repent, they would have to crucify the Son of God all over again, which is forever impossible.

Just as it says in Hebrews 6:7-8, “For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned”, whoever still desires to live should at least keep that repentant heart and obey God’s word and thus bear fruit.

Along with the message of Hebrews 6:4-6, there’s another passage we must remember. Hebrews 10:26-31 says, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.” Jesus Christ became the atoning sacrifice offered to God that saved us. Now if anyone ignores such works of Jesus Christ, what sacrifice is there that could possibly save him? Only the punishment of hell will be waiting for such a person.

We mustn’t hinder the working of the Holy Spirit within us, nor God’s word from operating inside us. Having received the spiritual gifts is only the beginning, like a new bud. Now, they must grow into branches, leaves should come out, flowers bloom and fruits produced. We should not fall away after having just a taste of the spiritual gifts. We mustn’t fall away after taking the powers of the coming age. No longer should we be swayed by our emotions like superstitious people. We must let the word of God operate within us.

If anyone knows the Gospel yet does not preach it, he is still in denial of God.
To condone what is not the truth is in itself unbelief,
and any church that turns a blind eye to illegality is hopeless.

I myself am a sinner, with limited knowledge, and as I am living in the flesh with its sinful desires I have no righteousness of my own. Yet I am happy for I firmly trust in the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Now, all that I can do is preach the Gospel God has given me. The reason I stand firm and don’t give in is not because I’m hot blooded; it’s because I love my soul and I cannot deny or ignore the tremendous meritorious works of my Lord Jesus Christ. Though the journey of my flesh is harsh and difficult, I don’t want to hesitate on this path I’m taking. Everyone’s flesh will eventually breathe their last. We cannot help but think of where we will have our spirit stand at that final moment.

I deeply miss the days of my youth, those early days of my faith life when I travelled from place to place carrying the tent, ready and willing to do anything to preach the Gospel. Even now the power of the Lord Jesus is at work in me; without it I am nothing but a corpse. I can still vividly remember those days that I spent on my knees praying, when I wasn’t afraid despite all the persecutions and threats. What hope does he have? Probably it was incomprehensible in the eyes of unbelievers. Yet my concern was not in how to make ends meet; the only reason I lost sleep, cried out in tears and endured hardship was all for the sake of the Gospel. Those days are flashing before me like a film.

Do Christians today have a crown? I fear that many have become secularized by their flesh and earthly desires. Though I do not have any righteousness in my flesh, I am full of the righteousness that is by faith. Now my desire is to be filled with the Lord’s power all the more. Constantly I pray that Christ’s healing and His holy signs will always be with me. Nevertheless, it’s disappointing that my body is weak unlike young people, easily exhausted.

I am a man of the Lord, a witness for the Gospel. With all my soul I seek to do the Lord’s work and receive glory in Heaven. Even if there are hardships, I want to work hard for the rest of my life and be faithful unto death. I see that place before me. I see the Lord receiving me with His arms open wide. Nevertheless I am fervently working day after day, for there remains a prayer which must be answered whilst I’m still in the flesh. Use me, O Lord! And come quickly!

  Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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Outline and Summary translated by Sarah Nam
Letter translated by Sarah Nam
Interpretations by Sarah Nam

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee