H. M. KELLEY by H. M. Kelley

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 17, 1914

H. M. KELLEY

By H. M. Kelley

The Faith of Jesus—No. 1

H. M. KELLEY

THEOLOGIANS claim there are four kinds of faith,—historical, temporary, active, and passive. Each one of these classical divisions is a subject in itself, but taken collectively they form what we may properly term “saving faith.” As the blending together of the seven colors produces a transparent whiteness, the effulgent rays of sunshine devoid of any tint, so the harmony of the four kinds of faith produces the light of the gospel message, which, when focused upon the world’s Redeemer, gives a living hope to the Christian. It is the key to the storehouse of knowledge, and a living principle without which no one can be saved.

There is nothing purer than the righteousness of Christ exemplified in the creation of man. Man came from the hand of God pure and undefiled. But his innocency, the whiteness of his soul, was stained by sin, and as a result his posterity bears the emblem of adulteration. Anything that will remove the stain of sin has a redeeming quality. The only thing bearing this mark is the blood of Christ.

It is by the grace of God apportioned to us, and through faith in the efficacy of the blood of Christ, that we are saved. The acknowledgment of grace received, the expression of faith, is our part of the transaction. Grace is said to be unmerited favor. No one merits favors from God, and yet all receive them. All, then, are under grace. But grace is a saving factor to one class, to another it is not. Why?—Because one class receives favors from God as a gift made possible by the blood of Christ. The other class receives the good things of God as theirs by right without any acknowledgment of love. They do not acknowledge the love of God because they do not believe in the power of Jesus’ blood.

Definition of Faith

“Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God.”—“Ministry of Healing,” page 62.

But perhaps the most significant definition of faith ever given is that recorded in Heb. 11: 1: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Substratum or subsoil is a synonym for substance. In certain portions of Florida there is quicksand underneath the subsoil. Here the subsoil serves a good purpose, for it holds fertilizer when it is put into the soil; otherwise it would sink into the quicksand, and the soil would lose the strengthening qualities given to it. But faith is not only “the substance of things hoped for,” it is also the “evidence of things not seen.” Evidence, according to Webster, is “ground of belief.” Ground is that into which seeds are cast. It follows, then, that the man who has no faith has no soil or subsoil upon which to build a Christian character, but is a barren pit of quicksand. Speaking of a house builded upon the sand, the Saviour said, “It fell: and great was the fall of it.” It matters not what kind of resolutions one may put into his character building, if he has no faith it will never stand the test.

Herrin, Ill.