Friends: Faith in Christ attaches us to God, but to understand, one first must believe.  Holy week seemed like a good time to bring it up. - Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #961

April 15, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Substantial Faith

By Bob Walters

“Unless you believe, you shall not understand.” – Daniel 12:10

Variations in Bible translations being what they are, and Bible mysteries being what they are, trusting God’s truth not infrequently leaves good questions unanswered.

That situation – trusting God’s truth while harboring questions – is called faith.

The good question we are entertaining today is, “Whom does God save?”

One answer, unsatisfying as it may be, is, God saves whomever He wants. Another answer, the one we will pursue here with scripture, is, God saves the faithful.

Daniel 12:10, cited above, in the Old Testament describes who will be saved in the end times (also known as the eschaton). This verse, in practically all Bible translations, is phrased differently, with a reference to “the wicked” as those who do not understand, i.e., believe.  The “wise” understand and believe; they have questions but know God is real.

Hence, a more common translation of this verse is, “None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.” It is plain to me that the wicked – , those with no understanding of God, no faith in God, and no relationship with God – will not ultimately “shine like the brightness of the heavens” (Daniel 12:3).

Daniel then asks, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” (v 12:8). It appears heaven’s door is shut to those without belief, understanding, and wisdom

The last few chapters of Daniel prophesy extensively not just on the end times but suggest a savior, i.e. Christ, by whom the faithful will be “purified, made spotless, and refined” (Daniel 12:10a). The wicked will remain wicked and will not understand.

So, as cited at the top, “Unless you believe, you shall not understand.”

The Old Testament is a series of stories, problems, prophesies, and propositions without an ending or solution.  That’s what the New Testament provides, God’s ultimate purpose: our salvation by our faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. The faithful go with God..

Faith in Christ is the wisdom and understanding God requires for our inheritance into His kingdom. And while Christians put an often lopsided emphasis on salvation by behavior and obedience, let’s remember that the word “repent” means literally, in Greek, “to think anew.” A repentant Jew would come to think like a Christian: faithful to Jesus as fulfillment of the Law come with a new covenant – in faith – for all mankind.

Hebrews 11, sub-headed “By Faith” in the 1984 NIV Bible, catalogs numerous ancients – Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. – commended for their faith, possessing with wisdom and understanding the reality and truth of God. God remembers His own.

Hebrews 11 begins with this definition: “… faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Then 20 more sentences begin with the words, “By faith…” as ancients are commended, by name, for their faith.  Not one is commended for behavior, or saw Jesus.  Faith is the coin of God’s realm and the seal of His love. 

Our good behavior in this life is a gift we give to ourselves that enhances our appreciation of God’s fundamental truth: that we are made in His image and that His love invites us to become heirs sharing His eternal life and glory. Love God, love others.

The old saying, “Seeing is believing,” is backwards when it comes to faith in, and deeply living with, God.  Believing is the seeing that allows us to understand, to approach, to desire, and to love God’s fundamental, bedrock, substantial reality.

Behave yourself, sure; life is more peaceful. Wickedness exacts a terrible toll.

But faith – faith in Christ – is the substance that attaches humans to God. 

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: “hypostasis” is the term for God’s reality, which is to say, the underlying reality of all things..