in John show the nature of this point of faith: “If any confess that Jesus is
the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God” ( 1 John 4 : 15 ).
[ 3 ] In addition to this sign that people have the one true faith, there
is another: they believe that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth.
This second sign follows from the previous one that the Lord is the Son
of God. It also follows from the statements that all the fullness of divinity
exists in him (Colossians 2 : 9 ); that he is the God of heaven and earth
(Matthew 28 : 18 ); and that all things that belong to the Father are his
(John 3 : 35 ; 16 : 15 ).
A third indication that people who believe in the Lord have an inner
faith in him, and therefore have the one true faith, is that they believe the
Lord is one with God the Father. The chapter on the Lord and redemp-
tion fully demonstrated that the Lord is one with God the Father and is
the Father himself in human form. It is also obvious from the words of the
Lord himself that he and the Father are one (John 10 : 30 ); that the Father
is in him and he in the Father (John 10 : 38 ; 14 : 10 , 11 ); that he said to his
disciples that from then on they had seen and known the Father, and he
looked at Philip and said that he was now seeing and knowing the Father
(John 14 : 7 and following).
[ 4 ] These are the three definitive indications that people have faith in
the Lord and that the faith they have is the one true faith. Not all who
turn to the Lord have faith in him. True faith is an inner faith and an outer
faith at the same time. People who have these three jewels of faith have
both the inner aspects and the outer aspects of the faith. It is not only a
treasure in their hearts but also a valuable asset to their lips.
People who do not acknowledge that the Lord is the God of heaven
and earth, however, or that he is one with the Father, are inwardly look-
ing toward other gods as well who have similar power. They see those
other gods as having power that is to be used by the Son either as their
representative or as someone who has earned the right through redemp-
tion to rule over the people he redeemed. People like this break true faith
apart by dividing the unity of God. Once that unity is broken, faith no
longer exists. Instead there is only a ghost of faith, which from an earthly
perspective looks like an image of faith, but from a spiritual perspective
looks like a monster from mythology.
Can anyone deny that true faith is faith in one God who is the God
of heaven and earth—therefore a faith in God the Father in human form,
a faith in the Lord?
[ 5 ] These three identifying signs, pieces of evidence, and indications
that a given faith in the Lord is faith itself are like touchstones used for
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