The hinge of OT religion from the very beginning turns on the facts of man's sin (Gn 3) and conse- quent unworthiness (Gn .S--'"), and of God's grace (tin 3") and consequent saving activity (Gn .'{' 4" (ja. i3(.) This saving activity pre-sents itself from the very beginning also under the form of promise or covenant, the radical idea of whicli Is n.-itunilly faithfulness on the jiart of the j>romi8ing Goii with the answering attitude of faith on the ]iart of the receptive people. I'ace to face with a holy God, the sinner has no hope except in the free mercy of God, and can bo authorized to trust in that mercy only by express assurance. Accord- ingly, the only cause of salvation is from the first the pitying love of God (Gn 3"'8'"), which freely grants benefits to man : while on man's ]>art there IS never (luestion of merit or of a strength by wliich he may prevail (1 S 2"), but rather a constant sense of unworthiness (Gn 32"'), by virtue of which
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FAITH
FAITH
humility appears from the first as the keynote of OT piety. In the earlier portions of the OT, to be sure, there is little abstract statement of the ideas which ruled the liearts and lives of the servants of God. The essence of patriarchal religion is rather exhibited to us in action. But from the very beginning the distinctive feature of the life of the pious is that it is a life of faith, that its regulative principle is drawn, not from the earth but from above. Thus the first recorded human acts after the Fall — the naming of Eve, and the birth and naming of Cain — are expressive of trust in God's promise that, though men should "^-ie for their sins, yet man should not perish froo. the earth, but should triumph over the tempter ; in a word, in the great promise of the Seed (Gn 3"). Simi- larly, the whole story of the Flood is so ordered as to throw into relief, on the one hand, the free grace of God in His dealings with Noah (Gn 6*- " gi. 21 g8j^ ^jj(j^ on t^ijg other, the determination of Noah's whole life by trust in God and His promises (Gn 6** 7' 9"). The open declaration of the faith-principle of Abraham's life (Gn 15") only puts into words, in the case of him who stands at the root of Israel's whole national and religious existence, what not only might also be said of all the patriarchs, but what actually is most distinctly said both of Abraham and of them through the medium of their recorded history. The entire patriarchal narrative is set forth ^vith the design and effect of exhibiting the life of the servants of God as a life of faith, and it is just by the fact of their implicit self-commit- ment to God that throughout the narrative the servants of God are dilferentiated from others. Tliis does not mean, of course, that with them faith took the place of obedience : an entire self- commitment to God which did not show itself in obedience to Him would be self-contradictory, and the testing of faith by obedience is therefore a marked feature of the patriarclial narra' Ive. But it does mean that faith was with them the pre- condition of all obedience. The patriarchal re- ligion is essentially a religion, not of law but of promise, and therefore not primarily of obedience but of trust ; the holy walk is characteristic of God's servants (Gn 5--- " 6" 17' 24" 48"), but it is characteristically described as a walk ' with God ' ; its peculiarity consisted precisely in the ordering of life by entire trust in God, and it expressed itself in conduct growing out of this trust (Gn 3-° 41 6«'7»8'8 12» H'^ 21'=- '« 22). The righteousness of the patriarchal age was thus but the manifesta- tion in life of an entire self-commitment to God, in unwavering trust in His promises.
The piety of the OT thus began with faith. And though, when the stage of the law was reached, the emphasis might seem to be thrown rather on the obedience of faith, what has been called ' faith in action,' yet the giving of the law does not mark a fundamental change in the religion of Israel, but only a new stage in its orderly development. The law-giving was not a setting aside cf the religion of promise, but an incident in its history ; and the law given was not a code of jurisprudence for the world's government, but a body of household ordinances for the regulation of Goil's family. It is therefore itself grounded upon the promise, and it grounds the whole religious life of Israel in the
frace of the covenant God (Ex 20-). It is only ecause Israel are the children of God, and God has Banctified them unto Himself and chosen them to be a peculiar people unto Him (Dt 14'), that He proceeds to frame them by His law for His especial treasure (Ex I!)'; cf. Tit 2"). Faith, tlierefore, does not appear as one of the precepts of the law, nor as a virtue superior to its prece|)ts, nor yiit aa a substitute for keeping them ; it rather
lies behind the law as its presupposition. Accord- ingly, in the history of the giving of the law, faith is expressly emphasized as the presupposition of the whole relation existing between Israel and J". The signs by wliich Sloses was accredited, and all J'"8 deeds of power, had as their design (Ex 3'^ 4'- •• >• » 19'- ») and their effect (Ex 4" 12**- « 1431 24»'', Ps 106'^) the working of faith in the people ; and their subsequent unbelief is treated as the deepest crime they could commit (Nu 14'', Dt P= 9*', Ps 78=-- s^ lOe--"), as is even momentary failure of faith on the part of their leaders (Nu20''-'). It is only as a consequent of the relation of the people to Him, instituted by grace on His part and by faith on theirs, that J" proceeds to carry out His gracious purposes for them, delivering them from bondage, giving them a law for the regulation of their lives, and framing them in the promised land into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In other words, it is a precondition of the law that Israel's life is not of the earth, but is hid with God, and is therefore to be ordered by His precepts. Its design was, therefore, not to provide a means by which man might come into relation with J", but to publish the mode of life incumbent on those who stand in the relation of children to J" ; and it is therefore that the book of the law was com- manded to be put by tlie side of tlie ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it mi"lit be a witness against the transgressions of Israel (Dt 31^).