Dear Friends,
What kind of a faith do you have? In my meditations, I discovered that people around Jesus had three different kinds of faith. Please read Matthew 27.
The chief priests, pharisees, Sadducees and scribes condemned Jesus without any sin. In the face of the miracles, increasing popularity among people and the threat of losing their own authority, they decided to kill Jesus. In the Sanhedrin they condemned Jesus and handed Him over to Pilate to be crucified. But Pilate did not find anything wrong in Jesus Christ! He tried to release Jesus. He was also warned by his wife that the under trial Jesus was an innocent Man and advised Pilate to have nothing to do with Him (v19).
We see that the religious leaders had a condemning faith. They knew that He was “a teacher come from God (John 3:2).” Nicodemus eventually put his faith in Christ but others condemned Him even though they could see that Jesus is the Son God. The religious leaders had a condemning faith. Those who walked away convicted of their own sin from the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1ff) were ready to stone Jesus to death.
Pilate, Peter and a few others had a convenient faith. Pilate had to protect his career. As a judge he found Jesus was innocent. His wife told him that Jesus was a just Man. But the religious leaders were pushing him to a corner. Pilate conveniently washed his hands off by saying that he is not to be blamed. But Jesus was handed over to be crucified by his soldiers under his watch. He demonstrated a convenient faith. As also Peter who conveniently denied Christ to save his skin.
We see a third kind of faith — consecrated faith. The thief on the cross believed and received instant salvation. The centurion said, “Truly this was the Son of God (Matt. 27:54).”
After being saved, if we sin, we are demonstrating a condemning faith; if we deny Him instead of acknowledging Him and glorifying Him, we show convenient faith; and when we accept Him, acknowledge Him before others, and demonstrate Him in our life, we show that our faith is consecrated. You may want to reflect on your own faith.
Yours in Christ,
Dr. Samson Gandhi
