From Faith to Faith
From Faith to Faith
In Paul’s expression "From faith to faith" (Rom 1:16-17), he is thinking (among other things) of faith’s development among all peoples down the ages —how the veiled faith of one nation in a past age, develops into the revealed faith for all nations today. We need this historical perspective to understand and develop our own personal faith better.
Ancient faith was veiled in mystery. Nowadays faith is fully revealed and manifest in Christ. Paul preached the ancient faith, but his gospel developed it.
Paul uses the terms "mystery" and "secret" to describe the character of the faith of the ancients, and the terms "revelation" and "manifested" to characterise the modern faith (Rom 16:25-26).
The mystery and clarity of faith are relative. Paul quotes, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness" (Rom 4:3, Gen 15:6). Paul didn't think that Abraham’s faith was vague. No, Abraham and the other patriarchs believed in something very solid, namely "the promises" (Rom 15:8). Obviously a promise might contain elements of mystery. But God couldn't say, “I promise you a secret.” That wouldn't make sense. The promised future was real to the ancients. In a parallel manner, we believe the second coming of Christ is real, although we can't imagine its full glory.
The patriarchs’ faith in Christ saved them as much as our faith in Christ saves us. For both them and us, "God presented [his Son] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood... to be the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:21-26).
The land promise (Gen 17:8) and the seed promise (Gen 22:18) were definite promises pointing the ancients to a faith in heaven and eternal life (Heb 11:13-16). The ancients were content in their conviction, knowing that when the promises were fulfilled, all would become clear —which is exactly what happened.
Paul’s gospel proclaims the fulfillment and manifestation of the seed promise in which the fathers believed. The seed came and was "manifest in the flesh" (Jhn 1:14, 1Tm 3:16). True, our faith is still "evidence of things unseen" (Heb 11:1-2, Rom 8:24-25, 2Co 5:7, 1Pe 1:3-13). But since the gospel of Christ was proclaimed, we have come very much further along the road of faith and hope —out of the shadows and into the light.