The Foundations
Most of us are familiar with the three-legged stool, which is an ancient piece of furniture that is still used among the pastoral communities here in our country, Kenya. The stool is very firm because it is well supported by the three legs upon which it stands so that those who use it have confidence when they sit on it that they will not fall. In the same way, faith, love, and hope are the three legs that act as a signature of true saints that portray the true image of a church submitted under Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church. Throughout the New Testament, the three virtues are always referred to, especially in the Pauline epistles when he talks of the saints (the believers) in Christ. Why is it important that we demonstrate these virtues and how do we demonstrate them as believers? These are important questions for the believer because the church is only healthy if the believer is healthy, and a healthy believer demonstrates these virtues. We shall first try and understand both faith and love as the basis of the true Church before we proceed to look at hope.
Faith in Jesus Christ
If there is anything that we ought to demonstrate as Christians that shows our belief in God, it is faith in Jesus Christ. In our current day and age, Jesus is viewed as a good moral teacher and as someone to emulate, and nothing beyond that, and it goes to show that the centrality of Jesus Christ, not only as a teacher but Lord, is being undermined. Jesus is not being presented as the all-sufficient savior. In fact, He is a foreigner in African traditional belief and is considered as a white man's god. African traditional belief fails the test of fidelity to the one and true God who has directed that that we place our faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Faith, as is presented in the Scriptures, does not exist as an idea or a thought on which a person hangs their belief. Still, it is presented as being anchored on a sure object, or in a proper way, someone, and this someone is Jesus Christ. The Scriptures tell us that true saving faith is in Jesus Christ. The key object of faith is not belief in that which cannot be seen or imagined by the mind but that which is known and clearly perceived. That is what the Bible wants to point us towards: the Lord Jesus Christ, who is presented in all his glory and fullness in the Scriptures, and if we read the Scriptures, we can know Him. When the Gospel was being declared among the Gentiles, the apostles made sure to present Jesus Christ, whom the Gospel is about and through whom the good news of our forgiveness of the debt that stood against was paid by His blood on the cross. It was in this presentation that the apostles and the disciples of Christ hoped that people would believe. Belief in Jesus Christ is the chief object of our Christian faith.
The Apostles hoped that people would be convicted of the fact that though they were once alienated and hostile in mind (Colossians 1:21), Christ had reconciled them to God through His death on the cross. It is on this basis Christ is presented in the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:23-24). After the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles reasoned and persuaded people to believe in the message of the Gospel by repentance towards God and putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only was Christ presented as someone who would only be known and people would believe in what He accomplished, but rather, after having known and believed Him, they would put their trust in Him (which is the demonstration of true faith). The preaching of the Gospel is what moved people to believe in the early church. The promise of riches and health is not what ought to bring people to salvation but the message of the Gospel. We cannot be people of true faith if we stand on shaky ground whose foundation is not the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith can be firmly established in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People need to hear the Gospel and understand what God had accomplished through Jesus Christ if we are to be called true Christians and the true Church of God. And so, the true image of a faithful church where there are true saints expresses its knowledge, belief, and trust in Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and Savior.
The Love for All the Saints
Secondly, the greatest virtue of true Christianity is love. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, Paul; concludes by saying, “… But the greatest of these is love.” In most cases, when love is mentioned in society, it is often expressed in the form of a feeling or emotion that we have no or little control over. However, the biblical presentation of love is something far more than mere feelings or emotions in that it is presented as an act that we are commanded to perform. The greatest presentation of love in the Scriptures occurs in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 13). This perfect love reflects and mirrors the very character of God’s love for us, a love that we can trust, one that has unfailing commitment. It is the love with which we are to cultivate, as imperfect as we may be, as we mirror and reflect the selfless love of God. Our love for others should serve as a demonstration of God’s love toward us, a practical kind of love that is not controlled by feelings or emotions.
The words of John serve as a reminder of what was commanded of the first-century church in 1 John 4:20, whereby John states, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Further, when the saints in the Scriptures talked of love, especially in the New Testament, it was always to steer people away from self-righteousness or self-interest. One of the greatest forms of idolatry is the love of self. In the Christian walk of faith and commitment to Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself communicated to the disciples in Luke 14:26 that if anyone should come to Him, they must, among other requirements, hate their own life. Whatever Jesus taught is considered strange in our society today because we live in a culture that is taught to love self above anything. However, the words of Jesus must not be misunderstood. Jesus was aiming at teaching His disciples that they were to love Him unreservedly and that the love of self would seem like hatred. Apart from steering people away from self-idolatry, Christ moved His disciples also to love their enemies as stated in Matthew 5:43-46 and also in issuing the second greatest commandment to love our neighbors Matthew 22:39. However, what is more encouraged and celebrated in the New Testament is the Christian love for other saints. Paul will remind the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12 that those who are in Christ are members of one body, which Paul lays as the foundation as he moves to address the way of love in Ch.13. Later in Galatians 6:10 Paul tells the saints in the churches at Galatia that they are to do good, especially to those of the household of faith. The true image of a faithful church whose foundation is firmly rooted in Christ will demonstrate love to others, especially to those in the household of faith.
Our Response
The foundations are critical for the survival and growth of any Church. As Christians, we must demonstrate our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as part of His body. True faith does not rest in the unknown, and neither is it about leaping into the unknown because the true object of Christian faith is in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must understand what faith is because many times, we have been misled into believing what it is not, and that is why many people stand on very shaky ground. When our faith is founded rightly, our exercise of love is easy because we will easily mirror the love of our God as expressed to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. True love has also been misrepresented because we mainly interpret it as mere emotions and feelings. However, Biblical love calls to action and is not self-centered. Having the foundation of these two virtues is important because they motivate us to look forward to God’s eternal promises with great hope. Therefore, as we seek to demonstrate hope, let us first make sure that we have our faith rightly founded and that we cultivate and demonstrate Godly love both for our health and that of the Church.
