The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Shrouded KJV Doctrine Hidden in Plain Sight
I don’t think we can even imagine the magnitude of the significance of what Christ prayed in John 17. In a nutshell, He appealed to God based on His faith. He prayed as the faithful Son who finished the Father’s work, kept those given to Him and entrusted them to the Father.
Why does that matter? Because whatever Jesus prayed mattered. God listens to Him. And Jesus is not done praying and exercising His faith before God for us. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)
I pray, but do I have enough faith? I hope so. But when Jesus prays, He has perfect faith, and God listens and answers Him. So actually, it’s a better deal that Jesus is the one exercising the faith, and all I do is believe Him.
That being crystal clear, I’m going to show you some verses that will shock you, and I guarantee you have never seen them before in this light.
1. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Rom 3:21-22)
2. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal. 2:16)
3. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
4. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (Gal. 3:22)
5. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Eph 3:12)
What is the effective agent in these verses? The faith of Christ. Our part is to believe, but our rest is not in the quality, quantity, or strength of our believing. Our rest is in Christ’s faith on our behalf. That puts the glory on Jesus Christ where it belong.
Chances are, you’ve never seen this before because frankly, all newer versions of the Bible attribute the faith to us. It’s our faith, not Christ’s. But don’t take my word for it. Look up any/all of the above verses in your favorite version. Only the KJV attributes the faith to Jesus Christ. I’d call this a shrouded doctrine that we’ve never been taught in our me-centered generation because of the inaccuracies of the versions that most of us read!
So, the final point I want to make is that the very words of God are important, not just the general ideas. God meant to communicate specific truth using specific words. Don’t be satisfied with inaccurate general ideas. To demonstrate, I’ll take the shortest verse above and compare with another translation:
(Eph 3:12 KJV) In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
(Eph 3:12 NLT) Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
They don’t both say the same thing, and that’s just one of a million examples. If you’re interested, here is more about Bible versions and the importance of exact inspired and preserved words to learn the exact things God meant to communicate. If you want to get to know God better, get to know His words better.
R&J Shee