Featured Faith is a Redemptive Blessing and Spiritual !

Christ's Sheep must Believe and Why !

Jesus said this Jn 10:16

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Jesus here means by this, that He had other Sheep besides those He had in the jews, that He had Gentile Sheep too !

The key word here is Have Jesus says He has them ! The word have is the word echō and means:

1. 
   to have, i.e. to hold
   1. to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep, to have or comprise or involve, to regard or consider or hold as
2. to have i.e. own, possess

Notice that it means not only to possess, but to own !

And such that He owns and possess shall hear His Voice and believe, because faith cometh by hearing the voice of Christ Rom 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Some Translations read:

So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).

So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

They shall hear Christ's voice through the Preaching of His servants as they Preach about Christ !

Now , concerning our text, even though Christ own and possed Sheep, they had yet to believe, however by the simple fact that they were His Sheep that He owned/possed they must believe; and heres why:

Those who belong to Christ, as a token or seal of His ownership of them, His Spirit is given to them, to mark them as His, and to reveal them as His, and so we read in Rom 8:9

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Now of course even the Sheep before New Birth dont have the Spirit of Christ experimentally, however thats why they must be born again, to show that they are Christ's Sheep, that they belong to Him !

Now this means that if a person never receives the Spirit of Christ, then they were never of His Sheep that He owned and Possed. Now understand, Christs Sheep were His Sheep before they believed and received the Spirit, but there was no evidence of them being owned by Christ and being His Sheep until they believe !

Its just not possible for anyone of Christ's Sheep to live and die without the mark of ownership [The Spirit], which is His Spirit Rom 8:9, and upon believing He seals them as Christ's Sheep Eph 1:13

13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard[Jn 10:16] the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,


Now the word sealed is the greek word sphragizō and means:

sphragízō (from 4973 /sphragís, "a seal") – properly, to seal (affix) with a signet ring or other instrument to stamp (a roller or seal), i.e. to attest ownership, authorizing (validating) what is sealed.

sphragízō ("to seal") signifies ownership and the full security carried by the backing (full authority) of the owner. "Sealing" in the ancient world served as a "legal signature" which guaranteed the promise (contents) of what was sealed.

The Holy Spirit is Christ's signature attesting to the Sheep being His.

Now where they His Sheep before the attesting of the Spirit ? Yes, we know this because He said, other Sheep I have that are not of this fold and they shall hear my voice Jn 10:16.

And of course they seal is applied after believing, which is the Fruit of the Spirit Gal 5:22

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

The Spirit gives us Faith to believe because we belonged to Christ, and because of that we must spiritually hear His voice and Believe as Promised Jn 10:16 !

 

A dead man cannot believe on Christ !

A dead man cannot believe on Christ ! Jn 6:44

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.

A spiritually dead sinner cannot and will not believe on Christ unto Salvation, because Faith in Christ is a spiritually vital act, from communicated or quickened Life; before man can believe, he must be given by the Spirit of God, a heart to perceive, eyes to see, ears to hear, that which ot natural israel lacked because God withheld it Deut 29:4

4 Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Without giving spiritual eyes to see we cannot believe like Jesus says here Jn 6:40

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Believing is the result of seeing first ! I agree with John Gill here :

Without ears to hear, how can Faith cometh by hearing as stated by Paul here Rom 10:17

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Without these things Spiritually, man is disqualified to believe on Christ !

 

Because a dead man can't believe, Jesus said it like this in John 11:26,

One must be living to be believing, the believing coexist with the living, so no living, no believing!

 

Who does Paul Thank for their Faith ?

Who does Paul Thank for the Faith of these believers in Rome ? Rom 1:8

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Who does Paul Thank for Grace that was given the Corinthian Believers ? 1 Cor 1:4-7

4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Whose does Paul Thank for the Faith of the Ephesian believers ? Eph 1:3,15-17

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Paul heard of their Faith because the God and Father of their Lord Jesus Christ had blessed them with all spiritual blessings !

Faith is merely one of many spiritual blessings, its a fruit of Christ's Spirit Gal 5:22

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Faith and Faithfulness are the same ! Paul could have very well said :

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faithfulness in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,267

 

Is there a post in this thread you want to discuss ? If it is, point it out to me and maybe we will discuss it ! Thanks !

 

Man by nature has a Faith no doubt, but it is of the flesh John 3:6 , and so it is a dead faith James 2:26 it is from a spiritually dead person without the life of God!

 

Believers first believed when Christ believed for them !

This is a Mystery of the Faith, that Faith in Christ is a result of Christ having already believed in God for us by and in His Obedience to Gods Law on our behalf, if He indeed lived and died for us, and here's why this is True ! When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, having been made under the Law Gal 4:4

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

He then satisfied for them all of Gods Law Commands, He obeyed for them, all the Commandments God required for man to enter into Life, as it was told the Rich young ruler when he asked this:

Matt 19:16

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And Jesus replied :

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Jesus is not lying here, If a person will enter into Life, or into eternal life, they must perfectly keep the Commandments !

Jesus states a couple of the Commandments to be kept here Matt 19:18-19

18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Now there is One Commandment Jesus did not mention here, but its greater than all the Ones He does mention, and its this one Matt 22:36-39

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Notice, He mentioned the second most important commandment, but not the first one, but in order to enter into Eternal Life, man must also keep the First and Great Commandment which is:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

Now when Jesus was made under the Law, He kept this Commandment for them, they for whom He was made under the Law for, by Him, have Kept, obeyed this First Commandment, along with the second and all the rest, just as God has required ! Now heres the question, when Jesus kept the First Commandment for them He lived and died for, did He have Faith in God ? Would Loving God with all our Heart, Soul, and Mind require Faith in Him ? Could Jesus have obeyed this Commandment without Faith and Belief in God, Yes or No ?

Could Jesus have perfectly Loved God without Faith in Him ? If one can understand that to Love God as required as the First and Great Commandment , that it took Faith in God, for Faith worketh by Love, then they can understand how Christ has already believed in the God of their Salvation for them, the requirement for Faith and Love to God has been met, fulfilled by Christ for them, so through His Obedience alone they are constituted them that Love God Rom 8:28

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

All for whom Christ Lived and died under the Law for Love God ! They Love God first and for most because Christ for them has obeyed the First and Greatest Commandment which is :

Matt 22:37-38

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

If Christ kept the Law for us, He has fulfilled that Law /Commandment requirement for us Perfectly and has on our behalf obtained Enter Life for us !

Rev 22:14

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.269

 

Believers first believed when Christ believed for them ! 2

This spiritual concept[ idea or understanding ] of Believers having First believed in and by Christ before they believe in time, it is confirmed by the Truth of Representation which the scripture teaches, and its no more strange to say that believers first believed in and by Christ as it is to say that they first sinned or disobeyed in and by Adam, and just as all whom Adam first represented sinned in him before they actually sinned in time, So likewise all whom Christ represented when He believed in God in Keeping the Law, they obey God in Faith in time !

Thats why Jesus said Heb 2:13

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

His Trust in God would be theirs also ! That word Trust, the greek word peithó and means:

I persuade, urge. and :

peíthō(the root of 4102 /pístis, "faith") – to persuade; (passive) be persuaded of what is trustworthy.

The Lord persuades the yielded believer to be confident in His preferred-will (Gal 5:10; 2 Tim 1:12). 3982 (peíthō) involves "obedience, but it is properly the result of (God's) persuasion

The word is equivalent to Faith, So Christ's Faith/Trust in Him, was theirs also, this cannot be denied,

So believers first believed/Trusted when Christ Trusted/ Believed for them !

So in fact, everyone Christ Lived and died for are believers, even when they are unbelievers while in a unconverted state, so they can never die in Unbelief and their sins as these Jn 8:24 !