“What saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).

What ought to be for our unmitigated comfort can often become a quagmire of confusion because religion makes man’s faith a contribution to his own salvation. But how does the Bible define faith?

First, we must ever keep in the forefront of our thinking that faith is the gift of God. All things are of God. Do you doubt it (Rom. 11:33-36)? No man understands or receives the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, faith must come from God. God’s word clearly states that it is so: we believe through grace (Acts 18:27; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:21-22; 2 Pet. 1:1; Heb. 12:2; Gal. 5:5; Rom. 12:3; Php. 1:29; Acts 13:48).

Second, scripture says “By faith we understand…” (Heb. 11:3). Faith is God’s gift that enables us to perceive, to understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14; John 3:3-15).

Third, scripture says that faith is God-given persuasion of the truth of His testimony of His Son, that is, of the Gospel of Christ (1 John 5:9-13; Heb. 11:13). Abraham was “fully persuaded” (Rom. 4:21). Paul was “persuaded” that the Lord Jesus Christ was able to keep all that he had committed to Him (2 Tim. 1:12). Faith is God-given sight. It is God-given persuasion. It is the glad embracing and confession that Christ is all of my salvation (Heb. 11:13; Jer. 23:6; Heb. 10:14-23).

Fourth, faith is God's gift of grace that enables us to “receive” the things freely given to us of God (1 Cor. 1:12). Faith is grace to believe Christ, to receive Him as God has convinced us, that He is all of my salvation. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Only the one born of God has faith. Where does this sight and persuasion and glad reception come from (Heb. 11:13)? From the sovereign Christ, "the Author and Finisher of our faith" (John 1:13; Acts 3:16; Heb. 12:2). Saving faith is God’s sovereign allotment to His elect, redeemed people. He gives it out of His free grace (2 Pet. 1:1; Eph. 2:8-9).

But the main thing to realize about saving faith, which is the only faith I am interested in, is that Christ is the sole object of saving faith. Christ is upheld to us by the Spirit of God in the Gospel. Through this, He gives us precious faith (Isa. 53:1; Rom. 10:16-17; Gal. 5:5; John 12:32; John 3:14-15; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23-25). Christ, not our act or attitude of believing, is the object of our confidence. Faith did not die for our sins. Faith did not fulfill God’s law. Faith does not intercede for us. But faith ascribes all of these things and all virtue to Christ alone. In the conviction that Christ, by His blood and righteousness, is my access to God, faith comes to God by Him (Jer. 23:6; Luke 18:13; Heb. 10:19). Therefore, not Abram’s attitude or act of believing was imputed to him for righteousness, but the object of his faith: Christ’s blood and righteousness was imputed to Abram for righteousness. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to everyone that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). “As by one man’s disobedience, many became sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). “He hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Christ is the only foundation and comfort of every believing sinner (Isa. 32:17; Rom. 15:13; Heb. 10:14-23). We cannot fall if Christ is our foundation (1 Cor. 3:11). We cannot be condemned if Christ is our sin-atoning propitiation (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 4:10). We shall be justified if Christ is our law-fulfilling righteousness (Rom. 10:4). We are perfected forever by Christ’s one offering of Himself to God (Heb. 10:14). The Gospel of God’s saving grace is faith’s testimony and confession (Rev. 12:11). Faith says what God says about Christ: “Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:30; Ps. 35:3)!

Therefore, Abram’s attitude and act of faith was not imputed to him for righteousness, but the One to whom Abram looked, the One God  made him trust, Christ, the Lamb of God, took away Abram's sins and clothed him in His own righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Isa. 61:10; Rev. 19:7-8; Zech. 3:3-4).

Now, all of this glorious news was not written for Abram's sake alone, but for us also, to whom Christ’s righteousness shall be imputed, if we, like Abraham, believe Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom. 4:16-17, 23-24). Oh, what grace to have an all-sufficient Redeemer! What grace to be given this precious faith to know that He is mine and I am His! Would you know your justification before God? Then you must believe as Abram did. He believed the Gospel (Gal. 3:8). He believed Christ (John 8:56; Heb. 11:14-18). He believed God's testimony of His Son (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:2, 8-9, 16-29). He believed this when in himself there was no reason to expect life (Rom. 4:18). He had God's word alone, mixed with precious faith, by the grace of God (Acts 18:27; 16:14; Heb. 4:2). His faith was his present possession of the future, promised blessing. Whether God's promise is future or past, His testimony is the only ground of saving faith, and Christ and His accomplishments in our salvation is the only object of saving faith (Rom. 3:24-26; Acts 13:38-39). Believing God's testimony concerning Christ, we believe God. Believing God, we believe His testimony. There is no difference in believing the truth of Christ declared to us in scripture, and believing Christ whom scripture declares.

Rick Warta

Melchisedec’s name, by interpretation is “King of Righteousness.” He was also King of Salem. Salem means “peace.” He was therefore the “King of Peace.” He is famous because the LORD swore by an oath that our Lord Jesus Christ would be a high priest forever “after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:17). Many things should be said about Christ’s priesthood. But I want to point out only two or three here.

Jesus told the rich, young ruler, “There is none good but one, that is God” (Matt. 19:17). Scripture says that among men, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10-12; 1 Kings 8:46; Eccl. 7:20). Yet here is a wonderful thing. Melchisedec’s name is “King of Righteousness” and “King of Peace.” Now, the Psalmist said, “I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of thine only” (Ps. 71:16). Scripture also says the name by which our Lord Jesus would be known is “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:5-6). The Lord Jesus Christ “loves righteousness and hates iniquity” (Heb. 1:9). Where sin once reigned unto death, now “grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:21). The effect of righteousness is peace with God in heaven (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-21), quietness and peace in our conscience, and assurance forever (Isa. 32:17; Rom. 15:13). Christ is King of Righteousness because He established everlasting righteousness for His people, for God’s elect (1 Cor. 1:30; Dan. 9:24; Heb. 10:14). He is King of righteousness because He sovereignly gives the gift of righteousness, which He worked out by His grace (Rom. 5:17). He is our peace, because He honored God’s law in His obedience and upheld God’s justice in full satisfaction by His death (Eph. 2:14; 5:2). He made our peace with God through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). Christ is therefore “the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). He pleased God, whose law was dishonored by our rebellion, and whose justice cried out for vengeance against us for our sins. But God, in wisdom and infinite, condescending grace, removed the offense our sins caused His justice (Rom. 5:10). The offended God removed the offense that our sins made against Him, by the death of His Son. He vented His justice in satisfaction against our sins in the death of His Son to make peace with us who made ourselves His enemies (2 Cor. 5:18-21). Christ subdued our iniquities. Our sins that separated us from Him, He, in unspeakable grace, saw as His and our enemies (Rom. 5:21; Micah 7:18-19). Because Christ did all this, He now reigns as King of Peace by His righteousness. He made peace for us with God by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). He subdued all opposition to our salvation in His own death. He now proclaims peace to our conscience (Heb. 9:12-15).

Putting it all together, we must conclude that there is but one who is "the priest of the most high God" (Gen. 14:18). There is only one King of Righteousness. There is only one King of Peace. There is only one who was made like the Son of God (Heb. 7:3). There is only one who abides a priest forever. Melchisedec bears the names and offices of our Savior. He is (not was) “made like unto the Son of God.” Recall how Nebuchadnezzar commanded three men to be thrown into the fiery furnace? Remember how when he looked, he saw four men walking in the fiery furnace? Remember what scripture says Nebuchadnezzar said? "The form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Dan. 3:25)! The fourth man in the fiery furnace was "like the Son of God." He was like the Son of God because He was the Son of God, appearing as a man before His incarnation. Who can be like the Son of God but the Son of God Himself? Melchisedec was not merely one priest of the most high God. He was "the" priest of the most high God. Hence, he was the only priest. Can we not therefore reasonably conclude that Melchisedec was our Savior, appearing to Abraham in His pre-incarnate office as “the priest of the most high God?” His appearance then preceded His coming into this world by physical birth to a woman (Gal. 4; Php. 2:5-8)? Remember how "the LORD" appeared to Abraham (Gen. 18:1-22)? Remember also how Joshua saw "the Captain of the LORD's host," who was none other than the pre-incarnate Son of God appearing as man, whom Joshua therefore fell down and worshipped? And remember how the LORD also appeared to Gideon (Judges 6:14-16)? He appeared as the angel of the LORD, that is, as the Messenger of the LORD (Mal. 3:1). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the sent One of God the Father, "the Apostle" and high priest of our profession (Heb. 3:1; John 6:29, and throughout the Gospel of John).

Therefore, I believe we must conclude that Melchisedec was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who appeared to Abraham in His pre-incarnate form and His office as our eternal high priest, to show beforehand that He is before all, that He is greater than all, that His covenant of grace precedes and supersedes the covenant of works;  He shall endure as our High Priest forever according to God's eternal will and His oath.

Is it not wonderful to see how great this man was (Heb. 7:4), being greater than Abraham, greater than Aaron and his sons after him, and who, by the absence of any recorded genealogy, proves that he was “without father, without mother, without descent (descendants), having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3)? Therefore, he is eternal as the Son of God is eternal (Heb. 7:16-17). Christ is made high priest “after the order of Melchisedec.” Unlike all other priests, He lives forever; His life is eternal, He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. And His priesthood is eternal. How could the Lamb of God be slain before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8) if there was no high priest to offer Himself? How could Christ offer Himself as the Lamb of God before the foundation of the world if He did not also love the Church from eternity, and in that eternal covenant of grace, give Himself for it (Eph. 5:25; Matt. 26:28; Heb. 13:20)?! Our High Priest, unlike all other priests, is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens (Heb. 7:26).  He is not subject to death, because He knew no sin, did no sin and in Him is no sin (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 3:5). Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. He has by Himself obtained our eternal salvation (Heb. 1:3; 9:12; 10:14-18)! If Melchisedec was a mere man, then wouldn't it make our Lord Jesus that much greater, since Christ exceeds his greatness by fulfilling his type? He was without beginning of days nor end of life, the priest of the most high God, greater than all Old Testament men. If Christ were greater than him, He would appear all the more greater to us. Christ priesthood and offering made perfect all for whom He offered Himself. Now, scripture does not state in explicit language that Melchisedec was the pre-incarnate Son of God, not to my limited knowledge. But whatever the relation between Melchisedec and Christ, whether one and the same, or whether Melchisedec was a type and Christ is the antitype, nevertheless, Melchisedec serves to endear Christ to us as our high priest in His person and office and work. God’s oath gives us certainty and assurance that Christ actually obtained our eternal salvation. The continuance of sacrifices in the OT was a constant reminder that those sacrifices never removed sin (Heb. 10:1-3). But in wonderful contrast, the one never-to-be-repeated offering of Christ Himself, obtained eternal redemption and all spiritual, heavenly blessings for all those He died to save! Now, it is His seating in glory with all honor and blessing and authority and power on the throne of His Father that is our present and constant reminder that our sins and iniquities are not, nor ever shall be, remembered by God (Heb. 10:14-18; Jer. 50:20; Ps. 103)! If God made Christ our high priest, then we shall be saved to the uttermost. If Christ is our high priest, then we will be made to come to God by Him (Heb. 7:25). Melchisedec staggers our appreciation for the Author of scripture and the Author of our eternal salvation, who is the Word of God. Truly, Christ Himself is both the Messenger of God’s everlasting covenant of grace, and the Message of that covenant, having fulfilled it in His own blood (Mal. 3:1; Heb. 1:1-2; 13:20).

“Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever” (Gen. 43:8-9).

Whenever I am weary and faint because of my sin, I love to hear the “Old, old story of Jesus and His love, of Jesus and His glory, of unseen things above.” God paints the Gospel in many colors throughout scripture: the thief on the cross, the woman who begged a crumb of mercy from Christ, the prodigal son, and so many others. But there are few more delightfully comforting pictures than the story of Christ our Surety.

When father Jacob considered what seemed to be an inevitable loss of life, either his entire family would starve of famine in Canaan, or the beloved son of his sorrow, Benjamin, would be taken to stand before “the man” in Egypt (Gen. 43:14), it was then that Judah engaged his heart to approach his father to be surety for Benjamin. From this view, scripture reveals the eternal engagements of our Lord Jesus Christ with His Father for His people as their Surety: “...who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD” (Jer. 30:12)? For Christ was made Surety of a better testament (Heb. 7:22).

It was a bold move for Judah. He shouldered the weight of Jacob’s entire family. He bore the burden of standing before Benjamin’s judge. Jacob agreed to Judah’s terms. He sent Benjamin with him to Joseph for bread.

But when the sons of Jacob arrived, the ruler of Egypt, who, unbeknownst to them was their brother Joseph, arranged to hold Benjamin on charges against the throne of his rule. After all hope seemed lost, Judah stepped forward once again, according to his promise to his father. His pleading to Joseph for Benjamin outlines Christ’s pleading to God in justice for His Father’s sons by adoption. Thus, the Father “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (Eph. 1:5). First, Judah rehearsed the love of his father for Benjamin, his son. He told Joseph the judge how Benjamin was the son of his father’s old age, that his father had lost one son already, and that his father would die from unbearable sorrow if he lost Benjamin (Gen. 44:18-31). Second, Judah pleaded his own suretyship engagements with his father. He told his judge how he had promised his father to bring Benjamin back again, and if not, that he would personally bear the blame to his father forever (Gen. 44:32). Third, Judah pleaded himself as substitute for Benjamin, his brother. He told Joseph, “Take me instead of the lad.” “Let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren” (Gen. 44:34).

Joseph himself had experienced the loss of his father. He understood something of his father’s sorrow, because he knew his father's love. He had been the object of unjust cruelty at the hands of his brothers. No one stood for him. And now, for Joseph to hear again of the love of his father for the son of his love; to hear how his love tortured his heart in placing Benjamin into the hands of Judah, his surety; and to hear the love Judah now had for his father and for his younger brother Benjamin; to hear how Judah engaged with his father as surety for Benjamin; and seeing Judah now offering himself as Benjamin’s substitute, to answer every charge in Benjamin's place, and to do all of this in love, brought Joseph to tears of joy. In all of this, Joseph saw his own Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw Christ's love that fulfilled God’s holy law to establish the righteousness of His people (Mark 12:28-34; Rom. 13:9-10; 10:4). He saw Christ's answer of Himself to God's justice. For all of this, Joseph could restrain himself no longer.

This account vividly portrays the eternal engagements of Christ to His Father for His people. Justice demanded an answer to the just charges against the throne of heaven. An account must be made to the Judge of all. The situation was impossible for all but One. How could God be just and the justifier of the ungodly?! The Son of God engaged His heart to approach to His Father, to make Himself Surety for His little brothers, the adopted sons of God, the lads of His Father’s love. And there, on the cross, He took those sins that were mine, those that were His people’s. He bore them as His own before God (1 Pet. 2:24). He knew the guilt of them. He bore the shame and reproach of them (Ps. 31:11; 69:19-20). He pleaded His Father’s eternal love. He pleaded His own Suretyship engagements. He pleaded Himself as our Substitute. Justice received His sacrifice of love. Justice sheathed its sword in His side. Justice accepted Christ instead of God’s lads. An answer was demanded. A Surety was found. Christ’s blood was shed. An Answer was given. Our release was obtained for eternal days (Heb. 9:12). Having found a Surety, the Governor of heaven’s court rejoiced to hold the sons of heaven’s love in free justification. It was impossible for all but One. But “When He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

Upon hearing this account from scripture, do you find it in your heart to approach the throne of God by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19)?! Do you cry, “God, be merciful (propitious) to me THE sinner” (Luke 18:13)?! Then God has revealed to you His Son and His eternal promise to enthrone His Son because He became Surety of the New Testament in His blood for His people. He ever lives. He is therefore able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him (Heb. 7:25). I would live my life a thousand times over if I could convince you of the glory of God in this. But I cannot. God Himself must speak it to your conscience. He must make Christ precious to you. May He do so now and forever to both you and to me, to the honor and glory of His eternal grace (Rom. 9:23)!

How are God’s people holy? They do not make themselves holy. They were made holy in the electing grace of God the Father (Eph. 1:3; Rom. 11:5; Jude 1:1). They were made holy by Christ, God’s High Priest, when He offered up Himself as the Lamb of God to propitiate God, to remove their sins from them, and to clothe them in His own righteousness (Zech. 3:4; Isa. 61:10; Rev. 19:7-8; John 17:19; Heb. 10:10; 13:12; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:14). And they are given a holy nature by the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God, when He sprinkled the blood of Christ on their conscience, gave them faith to see that Christ is all of their salvation (Eph. 4:24; Acts 26:18; Heb. 9:12-15; 1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13). Only God who is holy, holy, holy, can, in holiness, make ungodly sinners holy before Him. We who are holy are to walk by faith before God and men as those who have been made holy by the electing love of God the Father, the redeeming blood of Christ the Son of God, and the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God. This holy faith works by love (Jude 1:20; Gal. 5:6) and lives by the Holy Spirit upon Christ to the honor and glory of God in all that we do (1 Pet. 1:14-16; Titus 2:10).