Believe on a Full Stomach
A lot of people followed Jesus around because He fed them.
There’s nothing wrong with that, especially if you’re hungry. But He was trying to tell them that they needed to start chewing on something else too:
“Jesus…said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not [then] work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains [with you] for the purpose of achieving eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you all. For the Father—God, sealed this [One].'” [Jn. 6:26-27] [my emphasis]
So then, it seems there are two things necessary to sustain and preserve me—one of which I don’t necessarily get at supper time. Consuming too much of the one will eventually destroy me. On the other hand, there can be no limit to the ingestion of the Other.
The next question from the crowd was predictable:
“Therefore they said to Him, ‘What should we be doing in order that we might be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God: That you would be [continually] believing in the One whom He has sent.’” [Jn. 6:28-29] [my emphasis]
[πιστεύω: (pîs-tyū’-ōh) to believe, put one’s faith in, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow]
The force of grammar is at work here. The Greek verb πιστεύω is recorded as a Present Participle, meaning that the action described was to be understood as an ongoing process rather than a single event in time. Many translations fail to bring that crucial point across.
Another thing to remember is that πιστεύω [faith] would be an act of no consequence without the practice [or work] of obedience as well. [see: Ja. 2:20] If I choose not to act on my faith, my faith has no foundation. I’m practicing lawlessness.
Christ’s answer sometimes confounds me still.
So my work as His disciple is all about believing? I know it’s not always supposed to be that easy.
But is it really that simple?
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Faith is a gift of God not act of ours. Our actions and obedience comes from our gift of Faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Eph.2.8,Eph.2.9,Eph.2.10&version=NASB1995
William, I understand your thought, but I believe Ephesians means that the gift from God is our salvation and not faith. The phrase, “it is the gift of God; not as a result of works,” refers to the result of faith vs. works. If faith was a gift, we would conclude that my responsibility to respond to truth would be minimized. Of course, the Holy Spirit through the reading of the Word certainly motivates a person to believe and thus act on that truth, which would be exercising faith. In other words faith is taking steps based on truth. What do you think as I might not be understanding fully your comment?
“Participle, meaning that the action described was to be understood as an ongoing process rather than a single event in time. Many translations fail to bring that crucial point across.
Another thing to remember is that πιστεύω [faith] would be an act of no consequence without the practice [or work] of obedience as well. [see: Ja. 2:20] If I choose not to act on my faith, my faith has no foundation. I’m practicing lawlessness.” …Love it!
Genuine faith proves itself by being expressed in good works. Thus mental or emotional faith by itself [see Ja. 2:17] or faith alone [v. 24], unaccompanied by the right kinds of actions, is dead [vv. 17. 26], barren [v. 20], no better than the so-called “faith” demons have [v. 19] because they know the reality of the spirit world. But only by actions is faith made complete [v. 22] and capable of giving God ground to declare a person righteous. “You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone.” [v. 24].