Faith # 6

[Brightfame52]

Faith to believe on Christ must come from the Fathers Revelation of Him !

Matt 11:25-27

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

This is saying that no man by nature knows who really the Son is, it must be from a revelation of the Father. Peter once said this Matt 16:13-16

13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus said to Peter vs 17

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus is saying, that this knowledge of knowing who He is as the Christ, the Son of God, was something Peter could not have known naturally or by flesh and blood ! 24

 

[Brightfame52]

Faith to believe on Christ must come from the Fathers Revelation of Him 2


Please pay special attention to Jesus words, they are very very important Matt 11:27

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father;neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

That word knoweth is very important, its the word epiginōskō which means:

1. to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly
2. 1. to know accurately, know well
   to know
   1. to recognise
   2. 1. by sight, hearing, of certain signs, to perceive who a person is
      to know i.e. to perceive
   3. 
      to know i.e. to find out, ascertain
   4. 
      to know i.e. to understand

This is important because a person cannot call upon the Name of Jesus if they dont know Him, know His Name . How can we call upon the Name of the Lord if we dont know who it is. Paul writes Rom 10:13-14

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call[upon His Name] on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Now, to Call upon the Name of the Lord, one has to have believed, and heard of Him. In order to believe in Christ, there must have been a revealing of Him to us by the Father, otherwise we have no knowledge of who Christ is by nature. Thats why it is written Jn 6:44-45

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

And this being learned of the Father, the Father revealing Him to us is part of that process Matt 11:27

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

So a carnal natural man, born only of the flesh, could never believe in Christ, because flesh and blood cannot reveal Him to us, it must be done by the Father, via the Holy Spirit. 24

 

[cjab]

So a carnal natural man, born only of the flesh, could never believe in Christ, because flesh and blood cannot reveal Him to us, it must be done by the Father, via the Holy Spirit. 24

What you say depends on what you mean by "carnal natural man." If you mean "all unbelievers," your statement makes little sense, unless it be qualified by an emphasis on the demonic and apostate. There are no spiritual prerequisites to being born from above. How could there be? Such would be putting the cart before the horse. There is nothing in anything you said above to suggest that the Father cannot reveal Christ to a unbeliever by his Word. New birth comes by the Word of "the Spirit", cf. John 6:63, which Word Jesus identifies as "spirit and life" and not by the indwelling Holy Spirit (even if the Word itself is of the Holy Spirit) - precluded, just because Jesus being the Christ was revealed to Peter and other apostles before the Holy Spirit was ever given to them (albeit given to Christ).

The few allusions to "natural men" in scripture tend to be allusions to the demonic (e.g. James 3:15) and to those who refuse to accept the Word of God rather than to mere unbelievers per se. It is the Calvinist error to lump the demonic and apostate with mere unbelief. The two are rather distinguished in biblical teaching.