Jesus and Paul's Concept of Dangerous Faith in Scripture
Faith in the New Testament carries an inherent risk that both Jesus and Paul acknowledge without softening. Jesus warns his disciples that following him means taking up a cross (Matthew 10:38), and Paul describes faith as warfare requiring spiritual armor against "fiery arrows" of temptation [5]. This danger is not merely metaphorical—it involves staking one's eternal destiny on claims that cannot be empirically verified and trusting promises that demand present sacrifice.
The Peril of Misplaced Confidence
Paul distinguishes sharply between authentic faith and its counterfeits. He warns that "all that make a profession of faith are not such in reality" [6], identifying a category of nominal believers who possess "the appearance and honorary title of piety" while remaining "very far from the reality." James similarly confronts those who "profane the faith by impious and lying pretence" [3], suggesting that false assurance poses its own spiritual danger. Calvin notes that Jesus himself taught that "every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up" [3], indicating that some who appear to believe will ultimately fall away.
The danger intensifies when faith rests on human merit rather than divine provision. Paul contrasts "man's own righteousness" with "the righteousness of God," calling the former "valueless" and the latter "infinitely meritorious" [4]. The folly lies in "refusing the latter and trusting to" one's own works [4]. This misplaced confidence creates a false security that leaves the soul exposed.
The Risk of Genuine Trust
Authentic faith requires what Calvin describes as casting oneself "entirely upon his mercy for salvation" in "distrust of his own works" [1]. This involves recognizing one's reconciliation with God "by the intercession of Christ" and obtaining "the pardon of his sins" through means outside oneself [1]. The danger here is not deception but vulnerability—faith demands abandoning self-reliance for dependence on an invisible God.
Paul frames this trust as requiring the Spirit's testimony, which Charles Hodge describes as enabling believers to perceive spiritual realities "by the testimony of that Spirit with and by the truth to his heart" [2]. This inward experience cannot be manufactured through argument or research [2], making faith inherently precarious for those seeking empirical certainty. The believer must "hope in God" based on knowledge of his name and testimony [7], not on independently verifiable evidence.
Sources
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 66: and destitute of good works. He, therefore, seeks the cause of kindness in himself, that thus he may affect the sinner by a sense of his goodness, and induce him, in distrust of his own works, to cast himself entirely upon his mercy for salvation. This is the meaning of faith by which the sinner comes into the possession of salvation, when, according to the doctrine of the Gospel, he perceives that he is reconciled by God; when, by the intercession of Christ, he obtains the pardon of his sins, and is justified; and, though renewed ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 11: of research or argument, but of inward experience. The change may, and often does, take place in a moment. The faith of a Christian in the Bible is, as before remarked, analogous to that which all men have in the moral law, which they recognize not only as truth, but as having the authority of God. What the natural man perceives with regard to the moral law the renewed man is enabled to perceive in regard to “the things of the Spirit,” by the testimony of that Spirit with and by the truth to his heart. Proof from Express Declarations of S”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 57: have received. Accordingly, Paul claims faith as the peculiar privilege of the elect, intimating that many, from not being properly rooted, fall away ( Tit. 1:1 ). In the same way, in Matthew, our Savior says, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up,” ( Mt. 16:13 ). Some who are not ashamed to insult God and man are more grossly false. Against this class of men, who profane the faith by impious and lying pretence, James inveighs ( James 2:14 ). Nor would Paul require the faith of believers to be unf”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 23: man’s “own righteousness” is that which would render him righteous, then “the righteousness of God,” in this connection, must be a justifying righteousness. It is called the righteousness of God, because, as said before, He is its author. It is the righteousness of Christ. It is provided, offered, and accepted of God. Here then are two righteousnesses; the one human, the other divine; the one valueless, the other infinitely meritorious. The folly of the Jews, and of thousands since their day, consists in refusing the latter and trusting t”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 6:16: 6:16 Faith is trust in Christ as Savior or trust in God to meet one’s needs in evil times. • fiery arrows: Paul graphically pictures the nature of temptation to sin (cp. Matt 6:13; 26:41; 1 Cor 10:13; Jas 1:12-15). Arrows were sometimes dipped in pitch and ignited before being shot.”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, section 80.3: say this as to strangers; but Paul simply says that all that make a profession of faith are not such in reality. Should you take in all Jews, they appeared to have nearness to Christ, for they ought to have recognized him by means of the law and the prophets. Paul, there can be no question specially marks out those with whom he would have to do. Now, it is probable that they were those who, while they had the appearance and honorary title of piety, were nevertheless very far from the reality. From this came the con”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 57: ). 31. Hence again we infer, as has already been explained, that faith has no less need of the word than the fruit of a tree has of a living root; because, as David testifies, none can hope in God but those who know his name ( Ps. 9:10 ). This knowledge, however, is not left to every man’s imagination, but depends on the testimony which God himself gives to his goodness. This the same Psalmist confirms in another passage, “Thy salvation according to thy word,” ( Ps. 119:41 ). Again, “Save me,” “I hoped in thy word,” ( Ps. 119:146, ”