From faith to faith

Romans 1:17 in the KJV says this:


"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith."

I have pondered this verse with for some time and was prompted to do so by the book I bought on exegesis. That and my long term bible study on Romans (thus far 10 or 11 months and the first 4 chapters... though I am aware those months could easily be years a la Dr DM Lloyd Jones).

So what conclusion did we come to? I say 'we' as I had some considerable help from Richard B Ramsey, DM Lloyd Jones and Herman Hoeksema... and my Mum. Well initially I made the mistake of looking at the phrase 'from faith to faith' in isolation, without considering the context of the verse. Slightly ironic as verse 16 is one of my favourites!

Once I had read about the Greek for 'to faith' and 'from faith' I established a nice mental image of the process of sanctification. It gave me an illustration which since I explained it to my Dad I have been informed it is commonly used... at least I'm on the right track eh? I called it 'Sanctification Street'.

The Greek word in the original text means 'to come out of', rather like coming out of a house. As in my wonderful drawing pictured here. This is 'ek'.

'Eis' on the other hand means 'to enter into'. See the other picture.

The mental picture this gave me was of a street of houses, each fresher, cleaner and more satisfying to live in than the last. With each house representing a new area of faith.

The process of moving from one house to another is sanctification, as we grow and become richer in the faith we move to bigger, better decorated houses. The final move being to Glory, as co-owners of the greatest, most magnificent mansion in eternity. This fitted nicely with the concept of 'ek' and 'eis' in spiritual terms.

 

The vehicle for moving being the gospel (great mpg and safety rating... no need for airbags, the driver is perfect).

Another analogy I considered was given by RB Ramsey of the gospel bridging 2 islands (or areas) of faith, as you can see here. I like it but 'Sanctification Street' is better I think.

After much consideration... and a comment from my Dad I realised that this was not actually the meaning of the text, but still a worthwhile analogy of growing from faith to faith in our Christian lives. Herman Hoeksema had it nailed in his book 'By Faith Alone' (a must read). It puzzled me at first but after giving it some thought I think this is what he meant:

(Read the verse again first).

'For therein' - meaning the gospel (scriptural and figuratively in the message). '...is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith...' I took this to mean that we extract faith from (ek) the gospel and this in turn allows us to further our faith in (eis) the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Was something of a head scratcher at first. But it seems to fit well if you read the verses around it. Any other ideas on this verse will be gladly received. Either way I've spent some time looking at this now and have been blessed by it, I hope it does you too.