URC Weekly 10/9/2011: Faith, Hope, Love



Hi Union Family!

This week, I would like to share with you the definitions of ‘faith,’ ‘hope,’ and ‘love’ from one of the books that I’m currently reading, then give you my own version. The book is called Apostle of the Crucified Lord, written by Michael J. Gorman.

“Faith is a comprehensive response, having both cognitive (belief) and relational (trust) dimensions. Faith is more like a posture of surrender and commitment to God. It is, in fact, a covenantal term, what the Scriptures of Israel refer to as love for God.”

“Hope is the future tense of faith. It is the assurance that the process of transformation into Christ’s likeness will find its completion in the presence of God after death.”

“Love has a very specific meaning – conformity to the pattern of Christ’s self-giving, sacrificial love on the cross. Love is therefore less a feeling than action. Love is faith in action, which overlaps the Hebrew Scriptures’ notion of justice.”

Now, here are my interpretations of the above definitions:

“Faith is knowing God in head and in heart.”

“Hope is rejoicing in having faith.”

“Love is living out faith.”

I hope I captured the essence of the three Christian virtues in a simple enough of a way. Needless to say, faith in God is the foundation of a Christian life. My brothers and sisters at Union Church, do you have faith? I’m not asking whether you come to church regularly or not (although that is a natural reaction of having faith). I’m asking you if you know the living God in your mind as well as in your heart. If you cannot confidently and immediately say ‘yes,’ then I’m afraid that you do not have faith.

But this is not a final damnation. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” This means that we are to ask God for faith, not try to earn it or learn it. We are to ask for it, then live it. Many people go to church all their lives without having faith at all. While it is completely ok (and even beneficial at times) to struggle with doubt, I pray that none of us end up in the same category as the thousands who “go to hell from the pews,” according to John MacArthur.

The Good News is that we already have faith. The faith that Ephesians 2:8 is talking about is not our faith, but the faith of Jesus Christ has in us. How does Jesus have faith in us? Well, Jesus died for us while we were sinners! If someone died for you because she saw you deserving of her life even though you didn’t recognize her, would you say that she has faith in you? Of course!

People of God at Union, we are not God’s people because we have such great faiths ourselves. Rather, we can dare to say that we belong to God because of the eternal faith of Jesus Christ in us. Our call is to respond to that faith of Jesus by pursuing God continuously in our lifetime. I’m so thankful to be in this journey of knowing God with you. Let’s strive after our God together.

• We apologize for the technical difficulties during worship last Sunday
• Please meet for Men’s Small Groups this week
• Community Group: 10/21 (Fri) @ EM Room at 7:30pm, dinner provided
• MPR Evaluations: Please be sure to turn yours in to Hyonroh
• Holy Winning Day: 10/28 (Fri) @ Elementary Room; sign up to help this Sun
• Youth Revival: 10/29 (Sat) @ Youth Sanctuary
• Weddings: 11/5 (Sat) Paul & Sooyeon, 11/12 (Sat) Hyonroh & Hannah