Understanding Unlocks Your Faith

John 12:39-40 “Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: (40) "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”

We mentioned earlier that when people hear the gospel of salvation, that they are able to respond in faith immediately to that message and are thus born-again. The reason for that is because everyone already has the gift of faith given to them by God when He creates them. Scripture identifies two ingredients that must be present in order for one to be saved, i.e. they must hear the gospel preached and they must exercise their faith in the gospel message proclaimed (Romans 10:13-14). But clearly evidence teaches us that not everyone who hears the gospel preached is saved, even though they have faith. And so obviously something else is required, other than just faith and hearing the message of the gospel. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that the missing ingredient is in “understanding” the gospel message preached. The context of the above passage is that the apostle John was explaining why it is that many people witnessed the miracles done by the Lord Jesus, and yet they still did not believe that He was the Messiah. In this passage John teaches us that the reason certain people hear the gospel and yet are still not saved, is because their hearts are hardened and they do not understand the message of the gospel. We see therefore, that because people do not understand the message of the gospel they cannot therefore exercise their faith in that message. And so we see that there are in fact three ingredients required for one to be saved, i.e. hearing the message of the gospel, understanding that message, thus being able to exercise faith in that message. I want you to notice that this passage declares that because of hardened hearts, these people could not understand the message of the gospel. That is the same terminology that Jesus used in describing the problem the disciples were having when it came to using their faith in areas other than healing and casting out demons, for He said they did not understand because their hearts were still hardened.

Acts 16:13-15 “And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.  (14)  Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.  (15)  And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us.”

We have seen thus far that one of the ingredients that must be present for someone to be saved is that they must be able to understand the message of the gospel that is proclaimed. We have also seen that hardened hearts is the stumbling block that prevents many from being able to understand that message. So the question is then raised, how do people overcome the problem of having a hardened heart? The answer to that question is simple, they can’t. It is only God who can open their hearts to understand the message of the gospel, and unless He does that their hearts remain hardened and they cannot understand it. The above passage of scripture describes that exact truth to us, for in this passage we see the apostle Paul preaching the gospel to a number of women in the city of Philippi, and yet only Lydia responded to his message and was saved. So why did Lydia respond whereas the other women with her, who heard the exact same message, did not respond? This passage tells us the reason why, for it declares to us that the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. In other words the Lord gave Lydia understanding of the gospel message preached by Paul, because of which she was able to exercise her faith in that message and thus she was born-again. And so we see that all three ingredients were present in Lydia’s case, i.e. she heard the message of the gospel, she understood the message of the gospel, and she could therefore exercise faith in that message. The main point that I wanted to highlight from this passage of scripture though, is that unless the Lord had opened Lydia’s heart she would have responded in the same way as the other women with her, i.e. she would have remained unsaved.

Romans 14:1-23 “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.  (2)  For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  … (5) One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.  … (14) I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”

We have seen that it is only God who can open our hearts to understand the message of the gospel, thus allowing us to exercise our faith in that message and be saved. So does that mean that when God opens our hearts to understand the message of salvation that He also opens our hearts to have full understanding of all of the mysteries of the gospel at the same time? The answer to that question is a resounding “no”, although I must add that once saved, every saint has the potential to understand the mysteries of the gospel. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us the very clear truth that every saint still has to deal with hardened hearts, even after they are saved. In this passage Paul contrasts weak and strong believers, and He does that by using the different stances that both take regarding the same minor doctrinal issues. Obviously Paul is using Jewish believers in his illustration, for in this passage he describes the weak believer as one who only eats “kosher” food while the strong believer eats all foods. In the same manner he describes the weak believer as one who observes the Jewish calendar, i.e. the Sabbath, etc, while the strong believer deems every day to be alike. Although Paul states that the weak believer is weak in faith while implying that the strong believer is strong in faith, I want to draw your attention to the fact that it is in the understanding of God’s word that Paul differentiates between the two, for he says that each one is convinced in their own minds and therefore each exercises their faith accordingly. So how did these Jewish believers reach the point of having differing mindsets on the same issue, bearing in mind that all Jewish believers come into the kingdom of God with the same mindset of eating kosher foods and observing the Jewish calendar? The answer to that question is that God had opened the heart of the “stronger” believer to the truth in God’s word that all foods are clean and all days are alike in the kingdom of God, whereas the “weak” believer had not yet seen those truths in scripture. Paul reinforces that explanation to us by giving his own testimony of how the Lord Jesus had convinced him to change his own thinking on the subject, by showing him from scripture that all foods are indeed clean. There can be no doubt that Paul would be considered as one who was “strong” in faith, but he clearly did not start out that way, for until the Lord had convinced him otherwise, Paul would have only eaten “kosher” food and would have strictly observed the Jewish calendar, thus placing himself in the category that he called “weak” in faith. So why does Paul use the term “weak” in faith for those who remain unconvinced about eating all things for example? It is simply because they cannot exercise their faith in that area because their hearts remain hardened to the truth of the gospel on that subject. And so we see from this passage the very clear principle that we all come into the kingdom of God with hardened hearts which must be progressively opened to the various truths in God’s word, so that we can transition from being weak in our faith to becoming stronger in faith as we learn to exercise our faith in more and more of God’s revealed word. As an aside, it is important for us to understand from the illustration that Paul uses, that both categories of believers are still walking in faith. They are just walking in different levels of faith. The reason that both believers are walking in faith is because both are fully convinced in their own minds, based on their knowledge and understanding of God’s word, that they are pleasing God. And we know that without faith it is impossible to please God. And so God honours the faith of both, for God meets each one of us at our level of faith. In this example the one who has weak faith has placed constraints on himself in that he has limited himself to what he can eat, while the other is able to walk in greater liberty, for he can eat all things. This same principle is applicable in every area of the believers walk, i.e. the more God’s word is revealed the more the saints are set free (John 8:31-32).

Michael E.B. Maher

Faith Toward God

Buy Now

Donate