01.05. Chapter 5: Ship without Sails

CHAPTER FIVE Ship without Sails "By faith Noah…prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (Hebrews 11:7). The action-nature of faith is recurrently stressed throughout this chapter in words like "by faith Abel offered", "by faith Noah built an ark", "by faith Abraham went out", and so on. In each case, faith is known by its works which is the only way it can be known, as James challenges the hypocrites: "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18, NIV). Faith is both internally consistent and empirically verifiable; that is the reason why a trial of faith is possible (cf. 1 Peter 1:7). Faith is internally consistent in the sense that within itself it is free from any shadow of doubt, ambiguity, or contradiction with regard to truth: obviously, faith can only relate to its object if it has no double-mindedness about it. Secondly, faith is also empirically verifiable, i.e., you can always verify the presence or absence of faith in a pragmatic way. For instance, Peter’s beginning to sink in the water revealed his shattering of faith by buckling under fear (Matthew 14:30-31). The internal variance surfaced in external difference. Therefore, the Scripture says that one is as he thinks in his heart (Proverbs 23:7), which also means that one’s quality of conduct is defined by one’s attitude of thinking. Eventually, one’s experiences are determined by one’s attitude towards truth, especially the truth of God. This attitudinal difference was what distinguished the warriors of faith from the victims of flesh (or circumstances). As far as physical structure, mental capacity, and emotional stability was concerned one could not make a huge difference between both of them. However, history is witness to the fact that their differences lie in what each has done to history. In Noah’s case, history was reinvented when God invented Noah’s ship without sails; and he put the design together with wood, pitch, and nails. The Biblical portrayal of Noah’s time is a pathetic one. Here is first mentioned that God repented for having made man and was very grieved at heart because of what man had made of himself (Genesis 6:6). The literary picture "God repented" expresses the depth of grief man had caused God by his evil works. Man was doomed to death by the sentence of Justice; and yet, the dark influence of evil was so tense and dense in the human heart that the light of God’s grace seemed a dismal ray obliterated by the wrench of wickedness (cf. Genesis 6:5-7 ; Romans 1:18; Romans 1:32). For it does say that Noah preached righteousness to these people (2 Peter 2:5) and that the Spirit of God strived with them (Genesis 6:3), in case they might turn their ways to God but they were indurate with a stone-like coldness to the mercies of God. It is reasonable to assume that God gave up striving with the people before deciding to destroy them and apparent from His plan revealed to Noah. In which case, it is also reasonable to assume that Noah was a preacher of righteousness not merely after getting the mandate to build the ark but even before it. But the world had now become a bag filthy refuse. Even those who came from a godly background had corrupted themselves by disregarding both God and conscience (Genesis 6:2-4). The Bible says that every imagination of the thought of man’s heart was evil continually (Genesis 6:5). In other words, there were no intervals of evil. Good had lost both its voice and hold over men’s hearts. Man’s heart had become an unceasing lab of evil designs and inventions. It is not easy to imagine Noah’s day in our age with scores of Christian T.V. channels, radio programs, magazines, books, churches, ministers, godly believers, Christian artists, statesmen, and other Christian presences besides: in Noah’s day, it was Noah alone and his family; the whole world had fallen beside and turned wicked beyond repair – no government, no rules, no human rights protection, no conscience; good was absent and evil was ubiquitous. One can only imagine how hostile everything was against faith. But in face of all this, Noah obtained the witness of having found favor in God’s eyes, of condemning the world, and becoming a heir of God’s righteousness by faith. His faith, like the ark he was going to make, didn’t need sails to propel it forward; in fact, the winds of this world could never be kind on the sails of faith – they would only seek to sink it down. But Noah’s faith was set to sail on the winds of God’s grace, whom he obeyed without a question.

RUDDER OF REVERENCE The Scripture says that "by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (Hebrews 11:7). The phrase "moved with fear" is actually one word in the Greek, eulabetheis (ευλαβηθεις) which is in the middle voice and carries the meaning of conducting oneself carefully, cautiously, and circumspectly with reverence towards God. This is not the kind of fear that arises out of the animal survival instinct. The animal instinct for survival that every living organism has produces the emotion of fear in man. When faced with danger, such fear triggers large amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream and prepares the organism for immediate action. Obviously, Noah’s fear was not this kind of instinctual fear because there were no visible signs of danger around him for the many years while the ark was being built; in fact, he was moved with fear after being warned of God of "things not seen as yet". Thus, it was not this animal kind of fear. On the other hand, it was also not anxiety, or fear of some unknown thing with a sense of an inability to control the future and feelings of hopelessness. Noah’s fear was not fear of the unknown because God had already revealed to him that He was going to destroy the world with a flood and had also shown him His plan of saving him by the ark (Genesis 6:13-17). Obviously, then anxiety was not the kind of fear that he had. To the contrary, his was a reverential fear of God that circumspectly defined his lifestyle. The fear of God was his motivation for obeying God diligently. This fear of God proceeded from faith, i.e. the faith of God; for it says "by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear." In other words, this kind of a fear of God can only proceed from faith in God. It is unlike the fear that the demons have (James 2:19); for though they believe that God exists they do not have the faith of God and so have no reverence for Him; instead, they shudder and tremble at His presence out of an instinctual fear related to their concern for themselves and not a regard for God. The word for "warned of God" is again one word in the Greek, chrematistheis (χρηματισθεὶς) and is used 9 times in the New Testament, each time referring to a revelation, a warning or a labeling by God. Thus, for instance, the wise men were chrematisthentes in a dream that they should not return to Herod (Matthew 2:12); Cornelius was echrematisthe by an angel to send for Peter (Acts 10:22); the disciples were first chrematisai as Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26); and Moses was chechrematistai to follow the blueprint of the tabernacle that was shown to him by God (Hebrews 8:5). Evidently, God spoke to Noah through one or more of His many ways. It may have been through a dream or a vision or through an angel; we are not certain how; but, it is clear that Noah never doubted God’s revelation. He believed and obeyed God. The revealed truth, indubitably, was prophetical as it says "of things not seen as yet", i.e. of things to come. The fear, as has already been seen, was not a fear of portended evil that drove Noah to build the ark. It was a fear that came from an apprehension of God’s mission-related revelation by faith. That is to say that God’s word to Noah came with a mission for him to complete; Noah took that mandate and cautiously (fearfully) worked out the task. For Noah, as for any of us, it is the fear of God that gives direction and meaning to life. It is the rudder that drives our lives forward towards God’s goal; propelled by the arms of faith.

True Reverence is Obedient

Only reverential fear can obey God first before even seeking to understand the rationality of the commandment. It is so since only the word of the Lord has ultimate sense and significance for a heart of faith. All that is needed is that the commandment be clear; every other thing is only secondary. A classic example of this godly fear is found in Abraham. When God asked him to take his only son Isaac to Moriah and offer him to God on one of the mountains that He would specify, Abraham obeyed without any questioning whatsoever (Genesis 22:2-3). The reason was not because Abraham believed in human sacrifice but because he knew the promise of God that God would make a nation from Isaac (Genesis 15:4-5; Genesis 21:12). This faith was what made him tell his two servants near Mt. Moriah to tarry there as he and the lad go to worship and will come back to them (Genesis 22:5). He didn’t say "we’ll go and I’ll come back" but "we’ll worship and come back to you" because he knew that even if Isaac died God will have to raise him up to keep His promise which He could never break. This faith is also obvious in his answer to his son when he asked "Father, we have the wood and the fire but where is the lamb for the offering?" Abraham answered, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son" (Genesis 22:7-8). The movies paint a false picture of this episode when they show that Abraham was filled with grief when God gave him this command. The Bible never tells us this about our father of faith. Abraham never doubted the voice or character of God for even a split of a second. Neither was God’s command grievous to him for he knew the finality of the faith of God who never fails in perfection. People of the world submit to the orders of their captains and leaders by faith that they know better or have the right to command their obedience; yet, none of these leaders are perfect. If worldly men could so be feared and obeyed, even if it be for the sake of smooth governance, how much more should our faith be obedient to the only wise and true God. Abraham believed God and acted in reverent obedience to Him; therefore, God testified to him saying "now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me" (Genesis 22:12, MKJV). And Abraham looked and saw before him a ram caught in a thicket by its horns; he took it and offered it as a burnt-offering instead of his son. This is the kind of godly fear that prompts obedience to God’s command.

Godly fear is a sense of awe and reverence from a vision of God’s holiness, power, and love. The world knows two kinds of reverence: true reverence and faked one. True reverence is that which comes from the heart while faked reverence is hypocritical. It is axiomatically true that no one who really knows God can ever fake reverence before Him. Only they will attempt to deceive God who do not know Him as the maker and discerner of hearts (Psalms 94:7-9). Therefore, the opposite of godly fear is ungodly rebellion. It is inevitable that Noah, being moved by godly fear, constantly warned his generation of the judgment to come on earth while he reverentially prepared the ark (2 Peter 2:5). However, none of them but his family responded to the message of God. Their stance was that of open rebellion. It reveals the condition of their sinful heart that had lost its capacity to either blush or bristle at the divine indictment (cf. Revelation 9:20-21). They could not fear God because they did not believe Him. And they did not believe Him because they did not want to fear Him. That is the contradiction of human rebelliousness; man demands of God to give him evidences so that he can believe in Him, but if the same were demanded of him, his answer would beg the question and run into a whirlpool of blank reasoning. A true atheist is never rational; for if he were he could not be an atheist, since denying God is equivalent to making a universal statement which is only possible on grounds that the maker of the statement possessed universal or infinite knowledge, which being not true, the atheist’s belief in God’s non-existence is rationally unsustainable. An atheist, therefore, is not an atheist by virtue of rational deduction but because of his unwillingness to believe in God. In fact, no one can be rational and deny God; even the agnostic is being careless if he keeps on saying that he doesn’t know whether God exists or not. This doesn’t mean that God is known by reason, but that faith in God is necessary to sustain reason and ultimately the rationality of life. Therefore, the Scripture says about the unbelievers that though "they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21) as the Word also says in Genesis that "the imaginations of the thoughts of their heart was evil continually." But the loss of reason also means the loss of sense and meaning.

Two disturbing characters in the Bible who ended their lives in suicide were King Saul and Judas Iscariot. Both of them were chosen by God. Both of them saw the power and majesty of God. Yet, both rebelled absurdly against God (1Sam. 15; 1 Samuel 18:28-29 ; 1 Samuel 28:6-7 ; Matthew 26:14-16). The former fell on his own sword after realizing he could no longer fight against the armies of God (1 Samuel 31:4). The latter fell into remorse after betraying our Lord and hanged himself to death (Matthew 27:3-5). In either case, they chose not to come back to God and humbly seek His forgiveness and mercy. Their rebellion was rebellion because they knew God earlier and showed their submission to Him, but later giving in to their own fleshly lusts they lost sight of God and fell into the irrational and unnatural desires of the flesh: the one wanted to retain a kingdom that God had taken away from him and the other acquiesced to sell the Messiah for just 30 pieces of silver; if this was not irrational then irrationality will need to be redefined. Consequently, their failure to cope with the senselessness of their own rebellion drove them to suicide. Any work or mission that has not the sanction of God is ill-driven and ultimately senseless. For it is bound to self-destruction since no one can rebel successfully against the Source of life and intelligence; no one can fight against truth and remain intact as the Word says "Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?" (Jeremiah 8:9, NIV). In fact, we can have some hope for the man who cuts the branch on which he sits but never for one who thinks that he can rationally rebel against truth. Therefore, without godliness it is impossible to rationally cope with life.

Faith Makes Sense

Noah’s construction of the ark, obviously, made no sense to most people of his day. Similarly, serving God seems nonsensical to many in our own day. Jesus said that our days would be like the days of Noah (Luke 17:26); for as the people of Noah’s days never took the words of Noah seriously, so does this generation disregard the Gospel of Christ. In a vigorously materialistic age, all godly work is naturally set to be despised by worldly men as it is done. But the man of faith knows that God’s work in this world is more important than the world itself, a view that’ll cause constipation to materialists. While people everywhere were building houses and making future plans, Noah was building the ark. He knew the futility of their works while they thought that he was crazy. We can only imagine the milieu of Noah’s ministry since the Scripture only tells us that the people of his generation were disobedient or unbelieving (1 Peter 3:20 ). Obviously, people had many reasons to give for disbelieving in Noah’s preaching. There had neither been a universal flood before nor were any signs of such an impending flood visible. If God wanted to save people, He could do that without an ark for nothing was impossible for Him. Why would He need a human to help Him in constructing the means of salvation and wait till the work be over? There were no signs or miracles as proofs of God’s existence and He never appeared to any. If a flood were to come it would be predictable, and several such arguments could have been brought to disannul Noah’s preaching. But God is not interested to provide evidences for and answers for the questions of those who have made up their mind not to believe. The people’s own wickedness and the revelation of divine wrath through Noah’s preaching were evidence enough as the Word says "Say to them, ’This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen – for they are a rebellious house – they will know that a prophet has been among them" (Ezekiel 2:4-5, NIV). That is the reason even why Jesus didn’t give a defense of Himself at His trial; in fact, Herod had wanted to see some miracle but Jesus didn’t answer him (Luke 23:8-9 ). God doesn’t fulfill the desires of the unbelieving heart but if there is someone who seeks Him in spirit and truth, God readily answers him (Psalms 91:14-15). It is only an irreverent heart that demands of God answers to its carnal questions. In fact, all such rebellious talk and action will be judged in the Day of Judgment as is said "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 1:14-15).

If one wishes to live a real life he must give himself to serve God through obedience to His Word; for the pursuit of worldly gain at the loss of one’s own soul is a foolish business as Jesus said "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36); the proverb also says likewise that "riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death" (Proverbs 11:4). For the purpose of a thing is not determined by the thing itself but by its maker who made it with a purpose for himself or for someone else. Similarly, the Scripture says that God made the universe through Christ and for Christ that He might be the head over all things subjected to Him by the Father (Colossians 1:16-18). Rebellion is the self-imagination and determination of one’s meaning for oneself; it is the rejection of God’s definition of what life was meant to be. But all such determinations are foiled by death and will be proved false on the Day of Judgment. It is therefore crucial for us to stop hardening our hearts and listen to the voice of the Spirit today (Hebrews 3:7); for the Spirit strives with us through the preaching of the Gospel convincing, convicting, and calling us to repentance (Genesis 6:3 ; John 16:8 ; Hebrews 2:3-4) as the Scripture says:

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart… (Psalms 95:6-8 ).

It is only in obedience to this Spirit of grace that our lives can really make sense. This was what distinguished Noah from the people of his day. He knew his Maker and knew the logic of life in the service and worship of his Maker.

SAIL OR SINK! By his act of faith Noah condemned the world (Hebrews 11:7). It is not well known how big the world then was; though it may be supposed that there was just one large land mass surrounded by sea on all sides and the world was undivided. It may also be calculated that there were above or less than 1 crore (10 million) people on the earth. Whatever be the case, it is apparent that the news of Noah’s message and ship-engineering was in wide circulation in those days from what the Scriptures tell us about Noah’s preaching to and condemning the world for their disobedience (cf. 1 Peter 3:20). The statement "by the which he condemned the world" can be taken in at least three senses.

First of all, Noah’s faith condemned the world by convicting it and proving its just deserving of divine judgment. His life and message was a sign of their doom. The contrast of his life with theirs revealed their alienation from God. The disobedience of the people and their rejection of God’s grace were grounds for their condemnation. Noah’s display of unflinching faith in God condemned them by leaving them no excuse for disbelief. If he could believe God beyond all uncertainty, they could also have done the same. But their disobedience meant their doom. There were no alternatives left.

Secondly, Noah’s faith condemned the world by proving them all wrong at the end. While they died in their self-invented prisons of false beliefs and practices, Noah and his family were saved by an obedient faith in God. To the world seeing is believing. To Noah believing was seeing. Therefore, being warned of things yet unseen, moved with fear, he built the ark, by which act of faith he condemned the world and himself became heir of the righteousness that is by faith. Noah’s faith won the battle of beliefs at the end. Indubitably, our world does rest on faith. Much of the information that one possesses and acts upon is a matter of belief. Much is assumed as a matter of faith in our relationships, our work, our dreams and our plans. One can’t shirk the reality of faith aside since very less can be done on the basis of knowledge acquired by pure reason or direct experience; but much is done on the basis of faith. However, the directing and acting out of faith cannot be an irresponsible business. One must not believe lazily or blindly as if he has no alternative but this before him, and one must not also believe in things out of social pressure or for maintaining the status quo. For no one is a slave of any other man’s opinion. We have seen how whole nations led into false thinking, prejudice, and war-justification during World-War II. Most Germans had fallen into believing Hitler’s lie about the purity and supremacy of the German race and the vileness of the Jews. The irresponsibility of belief in this matter was cataclysmic. Albert Einstein, himself a Jew writing to the heroes of the battle of the Warsaw ghetto, said: The Germans as an entire people are responsible for these mass murders and must be punished as a people if there is justice in the world and if the consciousness of collective responsibility in the nations is not to perish from the earth entirely. Behind the Nazi party stands the German people, who elected Hitler after he had in his book and in his speeches made his shameful intentions clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding. The Germans are the only people who have not made any serious attempt of counteraction leading to the protection of the innocently persecuted. When they are entirely defeated and begin to lament over their fate, we must not let ourselves be deceived again, but keep in mind that they deliberately used the humanity of others to make preparation for their last and most grievous crime against humanity.

Obviously, Einstein’s mind could not absolve the German crime of (whether irresponsibly or willingly) submitting one’s faith to undeniably inhumane beliefs and values. Speaking out of his experience of the shame and terror inherent in the War (one must remember that over 6 million Jews were killed in Hitler’s concentration camps), he is not at all considerate to those who acted on such morally shocking terms. Those who did that stood condemned in the sight of Justice. Similarly, by an irresponsible and willing self-giving to the dictates of the flesh and rebellion against God, the world of Noah’s time stood condemned before God. But Noah’s submission to God in faith justified him.

Thirdly, Noah’s faith condemned the world by showing that salvation is not by works but by faith. Only faith can seek the help of God. Pride, on the other hand, seeks to find its own way because it imagines of itself as being something while forgetting that it is nothing. The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6 ). God can only give grace to the humble because only the humble seek God’s grace. The proud cannot bow down before God but consider themselves as equal to God in the choice of what is good and evil. That was the deception into which Eve fell and is referred to as the condemnation of the devil (1 Timothy 3:6 ); for the devil thinks that he is not anything less than God himself (Isaiah 14:12-14). In this the devil and all who bear his mark of perdition stand condemned. But "blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Thus, the world was condemned because of its insolent rejection of God and His grace. As a result of this, they were destroyed.

There were also other godly men in the days of Noah. Both Noah’s father and grandfather were living while the ark was being made. Noah’s father, Lamech, died when Noah was 595 years old, i.e. five years before the flood came and Methuselah died five years later, i.e. in the year that the flood came (see Genesis 5:25-31; Genesis 7:6). We understand that Lamech was a godly man from his calling his son Noah, meaning rest, saying "This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed" (Genesis 5:29) which signified beforehand that hat God would bring rest to the earth through Noah, a prophetical foresight revealing the foreknowledge and fore-plan of God. This prophetical legacy, definitely, was carried down in the family line from the time of Lamech’s grandfather, Enoch, who was a prophet and walked with God. It reveals the godly upbringing of the children. Lamech’s father, Methuselah, himself was a living prophecy to the people, his name carrying at least two different meanings with prophetical significance: "dying" and "darted" or "sent forth or sprout forth", prophetically signifying that "it will be sent out as a dart when he dies". Accordingly, in the year that Methuselah died the flood was sent like a dart on the earth as fountains of the deep burst forth and the firmament cracked in to send down torrents of rain deluging the earth. Thus, God had not left man without a witness; the warning was already given as these men became living symbols of God’s impending judgment on the world; but the world had no more ears to hear or eyes to see since sin covered their ears and eyes with deceptive sounds and visions; therefore, their condemnation was made obvious by the faith of Noah.

God knew beforehand who needed to be saved; He also knew who will not be saved (i.e. all the others who were disobedient). Therefore, in accordance to His foreknowledge He gave the design and the commandment to Noah: "I am surely going to destroy them and the earth. So make yourself an ark…. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you" (Genesis 6:13-14; Genesis 6:18, NIV). Even the exact dimensions and material of the ark were specified. In fact, God foreknew what He foretold. Similarly, regarding the people of the Anti-Christ during the Tribulation, God has foretold that they will not repent but will be destroyed by His wrath (Revelation 16:2; Revelation 16:8-21). The same is true also of the devil and his angels for whom there is no possibility of repentance. The Bible never asks to pray for the devil and his angels! God also forbade Jeremiah from praying for the rebellious house of Israel (Jeremiah 7:16 ; Jeremiah 11:14 ; Jeremiah 14:11-12). There was no chance or possibility of their repentance; therefore they were doomed beyond hope. Their unbelief had passed the extent of becoming irreversible and they had made themselves immune to God’s grace by hardening their heart beyond repair. Obviously, here we find the instance of absolute unbelief or the maturation of unbelief. In the same manner that faith can grow to the position of becoming irreversible; unbelief can grow into irreparable demonic degeneration. Therefore, believers are warned several times in the New Testament to beware of false confidence created by the fleshly mind. For instance, Peter says, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness" (2 Peter 3:17). Similarly, "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck" (1 Timothy 1:18-19). Also, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:12-13). All such warnings are given to believers to keep them from falling from their faith in God knowing that any concession to sin can be fatal to faith. The Scripture also commands the Church not to appoint newly converted Christians in leadership positions saying: "Not a novice lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:6). To commission novices in leadership positions within the church, though they may be successful elsewhere, is like sending untrained and inexperienced soldiers to command forces at battle frontlines, which is a fault that lies not on the part of the soldiers but on the part of those who carelessly appoint them so in the Church of God. And whatever is done to the Church of Christ is more serious than any other business in the world for the Church is the body of Christ and to be careless with regard to it is a great offence (1 Corinthians 3:9-10). Therefore, it is the sacred duty of each believer, not to be indifferent or ill-disposed towards each other but, to build each other up in the faith through the love of Christ and the ministration of the Word (Zephaniah 4:31-5:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 ; Jude 1:20-21). But above all, the responsibility rests in the believer himself to hold on to faith and preserve the genuineness of his first love towards God. And the Scripture assures us that God "is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). If one knows His Lord and both loves and is loved by Him, it is before Him that He stands or falls; and our Lord is faithful to lift us up if our hearts stay resolute on Him even in our weaknesses (Romans 14:4 ; John 21:16). By faith Noah didn’t just save himself but also his family as the Scripture says "By faith Noah, being warned of God… prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world." God didn’t give this commission to other families as well, though He could do so and there could be many arks instead of just this one. But the fact of the ark is this that it was only constructed because the rest of the world stood condemned. All humanity had corrupted its way before God (Genesis 6:12). But as head of his family, Noah was faithful in his house before God. He was faithful before God as a steward of the family of God and a priest unto Him. Therefore, he alone among all the men of the world got the honor of worshipping God at His altar in the new world (Genesis 8:20). Noah’s family was his church and the ark symbolized God’s grace and salvation by faith since all the world outside of it stood condemned when God’s wrath fell on the earth. One can imagine what would have happened if Noah too disobeyed; for instance, no one would be here to write these words about him since humanity would have been wiped out. Human responsibility in his salvation is symbolized here in Noah’s building the ark "to the saving of his house". Indubitably, Noah was saved by faith but this faith could only save because first it prepared the ark. This is what the Scripture refers to as working out one’s "own salvation with fear and trembling" (Php 2:12) along with the assurance that it is God who works in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (v. 13). In other words, God’s work in us must be met by a faith that is active. God has no use of spiritually careless and slothful men who try to push on God all the blame for their failures. The Bible warns us saying "be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12). Noah inherited the promise of a new world because he labored and did his best to finish the ark in accordance with all that God has said. He had no time for questions and doubts about the workability of the design given by God, he believed and acted on faith because He knew his God. Therefore, he inherited the promise of God and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

BEYOND THE BILLOWS By faith Noah "became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." The Scripture attests that no one can be justified before God except by faith. It never says that one is made righteous by faith but that one is declared righteous or testified as being righteous, or becomes heir of righteousness by faith. The only place where the phrase "made righteous" is used is Romans 5:19 ; but even there the Greek word kathistemi, used for "made", means "to designate", "to appoint", or "to ordain" indicating that it is not because of one’s worthiness or merit but by grace that one is designated as righteous. Noah is said to have become heir of the righteousness which is by faith which indicates that there are two kind of righteousness: one of works and one of faith; and the Scripture states that no man is justified in the eyes of God by the works of the Law. There is only one righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, we understand that Noah inherited Christ’s righteousness by faith (Romans 3:22 ; Romans 10:4). The Bible tells us that Noah’s salvation through the ark symbolized the baptism (figuratively) that now saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:20). In other words, Noah’s passing through the flood and becoming the father of a new world foreshadowed the gift of a New Creation (in which righteousness dwells, 2 Peter 3:13) that those who believe inherit through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this righteousness that Noah was made heir of by faith.

Jesus said that "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6) and, again, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). The word "righteousness" (Greek dikaiosune, δικαιοσύνη) means "the quality of being right and doing right" or the "state of being just". It comes from the word dike meaning "justice". Two other derivatives from dike are dikaios (just or righteous) and dikaioo (to justify). Thus, to be righteous means to be just, to be justified, or to be in conformity to justice. Plato defined justice as "the having and doing what is a man’s own, and belongs to him" In other words, justice as a condition is a man’s possessing what is his own; as an act, justice is giving to a man what is his own (if it is taken away from him). In this sense we talk about economic justice, political justice, and social justice. In each of these cases, justice is the removal of inequalities among men and securing of their natural rights. This is sought to by trying to purge unjust laws by resort to reason and to initiate activities that will restore and administer justice to the people. That false interpretations of a just law can create unjust laws is a fact that is well known. Jesus, for instance, rebuked the Pharisees and the Jews for making God’s Law void through their traditions (Matthew 15:2-6). Thus, justice, reason, truth, righteousness, and God’s Law are related. The traditional way of looking at righteousness is to connect it to some law or principle of right and wrong; thus in Judaism righteousness means conformity to the Mosaic Law, in Hinduism righteousness means conformity to dharma (caste duty), and in Islam righteousness means conformity to the Shari’ah (God’s Law revealed to Mohammed), whose primary tenet, however, is faith in Allah which is the essence of the Law. In all these, interpretation of Law is important in order to distinguish between what is just (righteous) and what is unjust (unrighteous). Justice is considered to be retribution or reward for conforming to or not conforming to the Law. Now this Law is above the laws and interpretations of men. For instance, our governments have hundreds of laws for citizens to abide by. When the laws of a nation conform to the standards of justice, they are considered to be just laws; but when not, they are considered to be unjust laws. In other words, the particular laws of a nation or people are also measured by the absolute Law of God. While in Hinduism and Buddhism justice is administered through the impersonal principle of karma (what one sows that he reaps), in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ultimate retribution is always in the hands of God, who is considered to be the only wise and just ruler. The rulers of this earth are themselves accountable to God. In any of the cases, the retribution of unrighteousness (sin, iniquity, evil or wickedness) is severity. Even the ethical imperative of ahimsa (non-violence) in Jainism is not without himsa (violence) in terms of retribution. The reward of righteousness, on the other hand, is life in heaven or supreme bliss. However, it is commonly accepted that such perfection of righteousness is hard to achieve in this present evil world (the Hindus call it kalyuga or the age of darkness and unrighteousness). Therefore, deliverance from sin and justice (just retribution) is sought in ways other than trying to establish one’s own righteousness (which is impossible). The different ways include practices like trying to earn merit through religious rituals, devotion, or fulfillment of some particularly difficult mission that will earn a place in heaven. However, the Bible makes it clear that all such ways do not match the penalty demanded by the justice of God which is nothing less than eternal death.

Righteousness and Justice

Obviously, unrighteousness or sin is sin against the righteous Law of God or the justice of God. In the Bible, the word "righteousness" is often related to justice in the kingdom of God. Justice is administrative and retributive, in the sense of giving to someone what is properly his own or what he justly deserves. To the just, justice administers good and to the unjust, justice administers evil; if the scheme is not so then evil will be exalted as the Scripture says: "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalms 12:8, NIV) and the element of falsehood and lovelessness will freely gain ascendency in God’s world. But God as just God will not permit evil forever. At the time appointed all things will be brought to judgment. Some, however, misunderstand the Day of Judgment as the day when people will be condemned for their sins. But, the Scripture makes it very clear that the moment one breaks the Law of God one already stands condemned in the Law’s eyes. And the Law of God is impartially rational and true. It never fails. It discerns the innermost things of the human heart (Hebrews 4:12 ) and nothing is hid from the eyes of God. Thus, the predicament of man is not that he is guilty and will be condemned at the Judgment Seat of God but that he is already condemned because of his sins and the irrevocable sentence is already passed over him. This sentence is based on the righteous decree of God (Romans 1:32, Amplified) which is irrevocable. The decree is that those who do such things are worthy of death, i.e. eternal separation from the life, presence, and goodness of God. And since the decree is irrevocable (for the laws of God are just and perfect), there is no way for a person to be saved from it.

One may say, however, that God being Sovereign has the authority to pardon the sin of those He will. And so all one needs to do is repent and believe in God and the merciful God will pardon him. But while it is true that God is merciful and that He is willing to pardon sins, yet it is also true that it will be false for Him to treat someone who has stolen something, for instance, as one who has not stolen anything. In other words, God cannot treat a sinner as a righteous (as justified). If God did that He would be false though He were merciful in judgment. Therefore, God’s sovereignty to forgive sins cannot justify the wicked; the guilt still remains. However, if the guilt remains then the forgiveness (even if given) cannot be infinite. And if it is not infinite then it is not ultimately real; therefore, God cannot forgive sins infinitely without being false (overlooking of sins on earth doesn’t mean absolution from eternal damnation) – and God cannot be false since He is infinitely perfect and positively all-sufficient. Therefore, the only way one can expect to escape the judgment of God is to be justified; but, obviously, a sinner cannot justify himself of his past sins even by repentance. However, God provided a way of escape for those who would come to Him in faith. That way of escape is Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that He willingly offered Himself as the ransom for our sins (1 Timothy 2:6) so as to redeem us from all sin and present us holy and blameless before God (Zephaniah 1:4). However, He can only present before God the one who comes to Him in faith and repentance accepting His sacrifice as that which purges his soul and conscience from all sin before God.

Jesus died and rose again from the dead for the justification of sinners. Those who die in their condemnation due to their unbelief in Christ will be resurrected at the end of time with a body fitted for eternal torment and separation from God. But those who come to God in repentance are made partakers of Christ who partook of death for our sins so that by the offering of His sinless body a glorious resurrection would be obtained for those who trust in Him. Anyone who is in Christ is justified by faith in Christ and there is no condemnation over him (Romans 8:1). As in Adam all die (1 Corinthians 15:22 ), meaning that death has become part of our being adamic by nature; in Christ all those who believe shall be made alive in a glorious resurrection. The Scripture compares the death of a person with the death of a seed. If one sows a mustard seed, for instance, one obtains a mustard plant. Similarly, when a sinner dies he is sown to a resurrection of condemnation which ends up in the eternal fire of hell. But when one who believes in the atoning death and resurrection of Christ dies, he is sown to a resurrection of glory which inherits the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:42-58). Thus, death in one’s sins is the door to hell while death in Christ is the door to eternal life. But how does one get into Christ from Adam? The answer is by being born again (John 3:3) by faith in the eternal and imperishable Word of God (1 Peter 1:23-25) so that one is made heir of the promises of God’s Word by faith. This doesn’t mean that we stop bearing this adamic body. But that this body will be transformed at His coming into His likeness (Php 3:21) and the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Now to those who ask the question of how Christ’s death could possess any "mysterious or miraculous virtue" to redeem man from his sins (its power, presence, and penalty), the Scriptural answer is as follows (only two basic aspects of it are given here; there are many more):

1.    By the Authority and Power of the Word of God. It is by the decree of God that one is condemned; likewise, it is by the decree of God that one is justified. The just decree of God has appointed Christ as the Judge and the merciful decree of God ordained Him as the Savior. In history, the decree of judgment met the decree of mercy in the willing and substitutory sacrifice of the Messiah for the sins of the world by which sinners are reconciled with God. God’s Word appears to us in two forms: the Law and the Gospel. In the same manner that condemnation is by the Law (its pronouncement), justification is by the Gospel (its promises). The Gospel is the free gift of Christ’s fulfillment of all that is required by the Law to justify us before God. Thus, as Adam’s sin condemned us and made us inheritors of corruption, Christ’s righteousness makes us heirs of incorruption by faith: both by legal pronouncement, for the unbelievers the pronouncement of condemnation and death, while for the believers the pronouncement of justification and life. (John 3:18 ; John 8:11 ; Romans 5:16-18). Apart from Christ, however, the sinner has no hope for there is no other way by which one can be saved. Therefore, justification is by faith in the Word of God.

2.    By the Condemnation of Sin in His Flesh (Romans 8:3). The just requirements of the Law that Christ fulfilled were not just His obedience to the Law of God but all requirements pertaining to the legal means of securing our salvation. Thus, for instance even His sacrificial body was prepared according to and by the Will of God (Hebrews 10:5). This means that Christ was sinless and not under the condemnation of Adam since, first of all, He preceded Adam in existence and then also He as Son of God could not have sin. Adam’s sin could only be imputed on those originating from him. But Christ being born of a virgin (possessing adamic body) by the power of the Spirit, thus taking the form of a human, was not under Adam’s condemnation of flesh and spirit. Therefore, in His flesh sin was condemned in the sense that He, by His obedience to God in the flesh (i.e. as the Man), condemned sin as having no power over Him and those who come to Him by faith. Then through His sinless offering on the cross He condemned sin in His flesh (destroyed the power of sin) by demonstrating its incapacity to kill Him for it had no power over His sinless body (He was not killed but He offered Himself to God, John 10:17-18) nor over those of whom He was the substitutory price. Thus, He put an end to sin itself in His flesh (removed the presence of sin) by nailing it to the cross. The old race (adamic) is still under condemnation, being both mortal and sentenced to eternal punishment. However, He being ordained the sin-offering for us, sin was condemned and judged in His flesh so that we could be heirs of His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). His condemnation of sin in the flesh constituted the fulfilling of all righteousness. Through this offering up by the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), He eternally vanquished sin and death, thus also disannulling the penalty of eternal damnation by bearing away its infinite intensity and density by His death (He paid off and cancelled the penalty of sin; Colossians 2:14). The New Man in the resurrection is the glorified Christ and the Law of God pronounces the blessing of life eternal and glory to all those who put their faith in Him so that His power works in us to finally save soul, spirit, and body because the Spirit of God’s power operates by the Word of God by which the heavens and earth were made and which by mixture with our faith has the same power in us. The act of faith is the event that connects one with God’s power available to us. The door was opened by Jesus; it is the act of faith that enters it. Therefore, justification is by faith alone and so is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us.

Thus, the Bible provides a distinctive perspective of divine justice and mercy in which man is saved by faith is Christ. Evidently, Noah could not have known much about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But he had faith in God and, though he passed through the Flood, and eventually died, he became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith, so that in the final resurrection he will, in Christ Jesus, rise up to incorruption and immortality. This was so because Jesus, who came much later than Noah, paid the price for Noah as well and provided the basis for the new creation of God. Christ is truly "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). Thus, God took Noah beyond the billows into the realities of the Resurrected Lord. The faith of Noah teaches us several things: that faith in God is inseparable from the fear of God, that promptness of action is characteristic of faith, that faith stimulates diligence in work, that one’s faith impacts the people it comes in contact with, especially one’s family, that justification is by faith, and that by faith we inherit all that is secured to us in Christ. We also learn the truth that because of our faith we are also signs of God’s warning to our generation so that the world is without excuse if it rejects the righteousness and salvation of God that is by faith alone. We are His witnesses.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

1.    Faith and fear of the Lord go together. One who approaches God by faith also does so with reverence in his heart.

2.    One who believes also obeys.

3.    A man of faith brings conviction to the lives of people.