How does Faith ESTABLISH the law? Rom.3:31

[joaniemarie]

The Bible makes some interesting comparisons between faith and law:

• We are justified by FAITH, not by LAW (Rom 3:28, Gal 2:16)
• Abraham and his heirs are blessed on account of FAITH, not LAW (Rom 4:13-14)
• You can live by FAITH or LAW (Rom 4:14)
• No one who relies on the LAW is justified for the righteous live by FAITH (Gal 3:11)
• The LAW is not of FAITH (Gal 3:12)

Summary: You can live by faith or law but not both. It’s one or the other. But what about this…
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Rom 3:31, KJV)
The scriptures declare again and again that faith has nothing in common with law, and living under one nullifies the other.

So what is Paul saying here? Is he contradicting himself when he says faith establishes the law? Here’s the same verse in another translation:
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. (Rom 3:31 , NASB)
Like most grace preachers, Paul was slandered as someone who spoke against the law. He was labeled with the dreaded A-word: antinomian, meaning anti- or against the law. This is his response to that baseless accusation.

Sidebar: If you have never been accused of being an antinomian, perhaps that’s a sign you’re preaching a different gospel from Paul. Personally, I get accused of being an antinomiam on an almost weekly basis. For the record, I am for the law. I agree with Paul who said the law is holy, righteous and good (Rom 7:12). And I also agree with him when he says the law is not for the righteous but the sinner and ungodly (1 Tim 1:9). The law is a signpost to Jesus (Gal 3:24).
Paul says again and again that we are to live by faith, not law, but living by faith does not make one anti-law. On the contrary, it is by faith that we establish or support the law.

How do we establish or uphold the law? By trusting in Jesus who kept the law perfectly and by whose perfect sacrifice we are made righteous:

So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Gal 3:24-25, TNIV)

Those who trust in their law-keeping performance may scorn those of us who are walking by grace, but the fact is we are 100% lawful while they are the lawbreakers.
You do NOT establish the law by:

• trying to keep it (you can’t)
• adopting it as a standard for holy living (it’s a recipe for inferior living, see Heb 10:1)
• mixing it with grace (you’ll end up lukewarm and alienated from Christ)
• thinking your rule-keeping pleases the Lord (trusting in your flesh never pleases him)
• posting it on your Sunday School wall (it’s a ministry that condemns!)
• telling yourself “it’s part of our Christian heritage” (it never was!)

You DO uphold the law by putting your faith in the One who fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on your behalf and who offers you his perfect righteousness as a gift.

Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom 10:4)

Romans 3:31 says we uphold the law by faith. Period. If you’re not convinced, it may help to look at the verse in context:

• verse 28: You are justified by faith, not by law
• verse 29: In any case only one nation received the law, yet God is God of all
• verse 30: God will justify both the Jew and non-Jew by faith
• verse 31: Does that mean God’s gift to the Jews was wasted? Not at all! As long as you end up with Jesus, then you uphold the law

The Jews were misusing the law. They thought it made them righteous and pleasing to God. Paul wrote to correct this:
No one is righteous. All have sinned and fall short – even the law-loving Jews. The law doesn’t make you righteous; it makes you conscious of sin so that you may be justified freely by grace. (my paraphrase of Romans 3)
Live by the law and you dishonor both it and Jesus. According to Romans 7, living by the law is spiritual adultery. It’s cheating on the One who died to set you free from the law’s heavy demands .

The law points to Jesus. If you are relying on Christ and his perfect work, then you uphold the law and honor the reason for which it was given.
___________



Read this in email this morning from Paul Ellis. Great web site and excellent writer.

 

[Bogadile]

Great post, very positive and uplifting.

 

[joaniemarie]

We were never taught in our Baptist church here in NY that you can't live by faith AND the law. As a matter of fact we were encouraged and spurred on to live by BOTH law and grace. This is one of the major messes that had to be cleared up in our christian life before we began to experience the power of Christ in our lives.

The Holy Spirit didn't get into my life much until this truth got straightened out. Has anyone else come to this conclusion too? Please share how your relationship with Jesus changed after finding out about living by grace through faith apart from the law.

 

[joaniemarie]

Great post, very positive and uplifting.

Hi Bogadile., I agree. This writer has very helpful and concise explanation of the topic of faith and how it doesn't disrespect the law, but puts the law in perspective for a believer. For years we struggled as believers to keep the law and yet we knew about grace and faith but thought they had to go hand in hand and be BALANCED with law. Wow., that was totally false and our Christian lives proved it out. We had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof.

 

[Grace777x70]

Great post! When we see the truth of what Christ has done for us and we believe it - all the other scriptures come into proper focus and they bring life to us.

Our Christian life is like the dawn of day - it gets brighter and brighter as we see the revelation of Christ Himself until He is shining on us at full bright at noon. I believe that will be when we stand before Him - until then we see through a glass darkly and we know in part only.

1 Peter 1:13
[SUP]13 [/SUP] Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

[joaniemarie]

Great post! When we see the truth of what Christ has done for us and we believe it - all the other scriptures come into proper focus and they bring life to us.

Our Christian life is like the dawn of day - it gets brighter and brighter as we see the revelation of Christ Himself until He is shining on us at full bright at noon. I believe that will be when we stand before Him - until then we see through a glass darkly and we know in part only.

1 Peter 1:13
[SUP]13 [/SUP] Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Amen. It's a beautiful truth that sets "the captive free" It is also interesting how for years the subject has gone on as one of the top discussions between different religious groups and Christians. There was a time I thought all those who were not encouraging Christians to live by the law were just lazy slobs who wanted to skim their way to heaven.

 

[unobtrusive]

Answer to the thread title. One cannot establish anything if they first don't have faith in the outcome. Hope and faith are a gift from above, and by faith we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So, by faith we "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

Paul was a student of the law and prophets, and excelled above the other classmates that studied the same thing. After his conversion he said two profound things...

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."

I take these words of Paul as debunking the opposition to the true Law, thereby emphasizing the reality of what he firmly believed. Then told how he worshipped God the Father in the name of Jesus. He says "so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:" (Acts 24:14b)

Then on top of that, Jesus Himself clearly ties the law and faith together, saying that faith is incorporated into the law. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23:23)

Establishing His instructions (law), is to keep them intact within our heart by faith, knowing that every word of God, form the beginning of time, lasts forever. (1 Peter 1:25) How 'bout that?

 

[loveme1]

There is also a law of Faith mentioned in Romans 3







28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.


It is teaching that the law is established because it was given to bring the Messiah Son of GOD to both the circumcised and uncircumcised.. because by the law both are found guilty and both need saving and we can all be justified by Faith without the works of the Old Testament.. so the New came through the Old and is better.. and all can receive the New wine to drink through belief.. so we establish the Old by partaking in the New Testament.. fulfilled is really the best word to describe what happened to the Old Testament...

 

[Grandpa]

Matthew 11:28 [FONT=&quot]Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

We rest from our work at the law by faith in Christ. Coming to Him and receiving His Gifts.

John 15:5 [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Remaining in the state of having faith in Christ and the Rest we have received causes us to bring forth fruit. We are now the workmanship of God.

But what is this fruit?

Galatians 5:22-23
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

This is the fruit that establishes the law. It is what was required by the law but now is freely given in Christ.

This is how our faith in Christ establishes the law. Not working at a carnal commandment but receiving the Power of an Endless Life.

Now, after the way that Judaism and Judaizers would call heresy, so I worship God believing all things written in the law and the prophets. That is not working at the law in a carnal way and carnal understanding but having faith in Christ and resting from my own work at the law.

Which is actually prophesied in Ezekiel which is pretty cool, imo[/FONT]

 

[Grace777x70]

Amen Grandpa!

Christ Himself has fulfilled the law and we are in Him. Matt. 5:17 & Rom. 8:9

How do we live now in the New Covenant if the Christian has died to the law of Moses, been released from the law and not under the law but under grace now?

We don't need to live by the moral code in the law of Moses which says in Lev. 18:23 to not have sex with a animal. The law of Christ Himself , the law of love, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus will stop this.

People often say to those that speak of the grace of God and that they are not under the law of Moses including the 10 commandments anymore that they believe they are without "laws" now.

Does that mean we can now kill people? Does that mean we can now steal?

The word "law" means "principle, rule, instruction".

We do have laws in the New Covenant.

They are exciting laws that bring life and wholeness to us all - because these are all Christ Himself in us. Jesus fulfilled the law.

The law ( which the 10 commandments were a part of ) was a mere shadow of the real thing which was Jesus.

Read the law to see Jesus in it and to know that Jesus did that for us and His life in us now leads us in all things. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

We now live by:

1) The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. ( Romans 8:2 )

2) The law of love ( Romans 13:10 James 2:8 )

3) The law of faith ( Romans 3:27 and the law of Moses is NOT of faith - Gal. 3:12 )

4) The law of liberty in Christ Jesus ( James 1:25 )

5) The law of Christ - which is Christ Himself in us. ( Gal. 6:2 )

We can trust the Holy Spirit and the life of Christ Himself in us to lead us in all affairs of life. We don't go back to the law of Moses that were a shadow of the real thing which is Christ in us.. Jesus is more then enough.

Yes...we glory in the laws that we have in the New Covenant because they are all Christ Himself living in and through us. ( Gal.2:20 and Col. 3:3 )

Get this wrong and we create a religion which really nullifies the grace of God from operating in our lives like it was meant to.


Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)

[SUP]22 [/SUP] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

[SUP]23 [/SUP] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

[Nehemiah6]

Summary: You can live by faith or law but not both. It’s one or the other. But what about this… Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Rom 3:31, KJV). The scriptures declare again and again that faith has nothing in common with law, and living under one nullifies the other. So what is Paul saying here? Is he contradicting himself when he says faith establishes the law?

For whatever reason, there always seems to be confusion about the Law and what it means. So for the sake of clarity, Christians need to understand a few things in connection with this question:

1. When Paul speaks about "the Law" in Romans, he is primarily referring to the Ten Commandments, which establish the guilt of every human being as a sinner before God. Thus "for by the Law is the knowledge of sin". In other words we all must come before God and say "God, be merciful to me, a sinner". Therefore we establish the Law by admitting our guilt.

2. Since under the Law we have all been declared "Guilty" (Rom 3:10,19) our just punishment (or penalty) is death (including the Second Death), since "the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). So once again we establish the Law by admitting that the just penalty for sin is eternal separation from God.

3. However, God made a provision for this penalty to be paid in full for every sinner through the Lamb of God "which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The curse of the Law was death, and Christ took that curse upon Himself by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:10-13). So once again, when we believe that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures", we establish the Law.

In other words, when we believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, "faith" establishes the Law.

 

[OneFaith]

Love (which is spiritual) fulfills the law of the prophets (which were physical). For if you love God and your neighbor, no one has to tell you not to steal or murder- cause it would be automatic not to. God's law still exists, but the physical way of doing His law (under Moses) has been nailed to the cross. Therefore, now that we are under Christ, it would be religious adultery to go back under Moses. But we still obey God's law- just spiritually instead of physically. Under Christ, if you hate your brother you are already guilty of murder.

So when it speaks of the law, it is speaking of how the law was under Moses- which was physical. And to go back to that, is to undermine Christ. For example, if you went back to circumcision done by the hands of men, instead of circumcision of the heart, done by God during baptism. (Col 2) The physical way was only a shadow, or representation of the real way found in Christ (the spiritual way is the real way).

So don't think that the context is referring to a matter of right and wrong (such as do not murder) when speaking of the law, but rather of a list of physical rules to help one accomplish doing what's right. Take traffic law for example. Let's say all stop signs are done away with, and it is just trusted that all drivers will stop when coming to an intersection to look for traffic first, simply because they care. That is the real reason to stop, the stop sign just reminds us to stop, and makes our conscience aware of a definite line to be crossed, when we should know better even without the sign or the law to stop our vehicle, because we might hurt someone if we don't.

What if each store, restaurant, etc had a sign at its entrance saying "Do not murder or steal from anyone in here." That would be ridiculous. Why? Because no one should have to tell us such things if we love God and our neighbor, for if we do love, we don't need a list of rules that love automatically fulfills anyways.

So faith (belief, trust, and God's truth) needs no law (list of rules), but a sinner does, for times when thier faith and love are incomplete. So do we make void the law through faith? No, true faith fulfills the law. What faith nullifies is a list of rules, when faith is complete. When a list of rules are met, good works are seen. When faith is met, good works are seen. So why does it matter whether you go by a list of rules (physical) or by faith (spiritual)? Because one is only a representation of the real thing, and one actually is the real thing. God is spiritual, this world is physical. The very core of our being and motivation should be godly not worldly- since all things physical will be destroyed.

 

[joaniemarie]

Answer to the thread title. One cannot establish anything if they first don't have faith in the outcome. Hope and faith are a gift from above, and by faith we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So, by faith we "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

2 Peter 3:18 [SUP]18 [/SUP]But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and [SUP][a][/SUP]for ever. Amen.




Paul was a student of the law and prophets, and excelled above the other classmates that studied the same thing. After his conversion he said two profound things...

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."

I take these words of Paul as debunking the opposition to the true Law, thereby emphasizing the reality of what he firmly believed. Then told how he worshipped God the Father in the name of Jesus. He says "so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:" (Acts 24:14b)

Then on top of that, Jesus Himself clearly ties the law and faith together, saying that faith is incorporated into the law. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23:23)

Establishing His instructions (law), is to keep them intact within our heart by faith, knowing that every word of God, form the beginning of time, lasts forever. (1 Peter 1:25) How 'bout that?

Hi unobtrusive., Well., I see clearly we were not given grace by faith so we can complete the law in our lives. No. The goal is not to make a reality of law. The law was given to show us how we can not be complete without Jesus. Only Jesus can fulfill the perfect standards of behavior. We are to have complete faith in His ability and His reputation to go on before us.

As we see Jesus by the Holy Spirit showing Him to us through the Word.,., He is so perfect and lovely that we are spurred on to follow Him., learn of Him and in doing that we become like Him by our association. That we end up being well behaved is only a by product of our association and relationship with Jesus and the teaching and leading of the Holy Spirit.

And because of our association with Jesus we end up actually going far beyond the keeping of the law and do as Jesus said about the heart and it being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The law says do not commit adultery but I say to you.. if you look upon a woman to lust after her you have already committed adultery in your heart and so your guilty.

It's a matter of the heart/mind transformation and that takes the power of the Holy Spirit working in the minds and hearts of the believer. It's not a hunker down and do the 10 commandments sort of thing. It's seeking the presence of Jesus each day and the power of the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live out Gal.2:20-21

[SUP]20 [/SUP]I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. [SUP]21 [/SUP]I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought.

 

[joaniemarie]

There is also a law of Faith mentioned in Romans 3







28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.


It is teaching that the law is established because it was given to bring the Messiah Son of GOD to both the circumcised and uncircumcised.. because by the law both are found guilty and both need saving and we can all be justified by Faith without the works of the Old Testament.. so the New came through the Old and is better.. and all can receive the New wine to drink through belief.. so we establish the Old by partaking in the New Testament.. fulfilled is really the best word to describe what happened to the Old Testament...

Hi loveme1., Again., the law is never the focus. The focus is always becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on our behalf.

 

[Zmouth]

We hold these truths to be self-evident......

 

[joaniemarie]

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

We rest from our work at the law by faith in Christ. Coming to Him and receiving His Gifts.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Remaining in the state of having faith in Christ and the Rest we have received causes us to bring forth fruit. We are now the workmanship of God.

But what is this fruit?

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

This is the fruit that establishes the law. It is what was required by the law but now is freely given in Christ.

This is how our faith in Christ establishes the law. Not working at a carnal commandment but receiving the Power of an Endless Life.

Now, after the way that Judaism and Judaizers would call heresy, so I worship God believing all things written in the law and the prophets. That is not working at the law in a carnal way and carnal understanding but having faith in Christ and resting from my own work at the law.

Which is actually prophesied in Ezekiel which is pretty cool, imo

WOW AND AMEN!!!

 

[joaniemarie]

Amen Grandpa!

Christ Himself has fulfilled the law and we are in Him. Matt. 5:17 & Rom. 8:9

How do we live now in the New Covenant if the Christian has died to the law of Moses, been released from the law and not under the law but under grace now?

We don't need to live by the moral code in the law of Moses which says in Lev. 18:23 to not have sex with a animal. The law of Christ Himself , the law of love, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus will stop this.

People often say to those that speak of the grace of God and that they are not under the law of Moses including the 10 commandments anymore that they believe they are without "laws" now.

Does that mean we can now kill people? Does that mean we can now steal?

The word "law" means "principle, rule, instruction".

We do have laws in the New Covenant.

They are exciting laws that bring life and wholeness to us all - because these are all Christ Himself in us. Jesus fulfilled the law.

The law ( which the 10 commandments were a part of ) was a mere shadow of the real thing which was Jesus.

Read the law to see Jesus in it and to know that Jesus did that for us and His life in us now leads us in all things. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

We now live by:

1) The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. ( Romans 8:2 )

2) The law of love ( Romans 13:10 James 2:8 )

3) The law of faith ( Romans 3:27 and the law of Moses is NOT of faith - Gal. 3:12 )

4) The law of liberty in Christ Jesus ( James 1:25 )

5) The law of Christ - which is Christ Himself in us. ( Gal. 6:2 )

We can trust the Holy Spirit and the life of Christ Himself in us to lead us in all affairs of life. We don't go back to the law of Moses that were a shadow of the real thing which is Christ in us.. Jesus is more then enough.

Yes...we glory in the laws that we have in the New Covenant because they are all Christ Himself living in and through us. ( Gal.2:20 and Col. 3:3 )

Get this wrong and we create a religion which really nullifies the grace of God from operating in our lives like it was meant to.


Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)

[SUP]22 [/SUP] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

[SUP]23 [/SUP] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Amen brother! A real good AMEN!!!

 

[joaniemarie]

For whatever reason, there always seems to be confusion about the Law and what it means. So for the sake of clarity, Christians need to understand a few things in connection with this question:

1. When Paul speaks about "the Law" in Romans, he is primarily referring to the Ten Commandments, which establish the guilt of every human being as a sinner before God. Thus "for by the Law is the knowledge of sin". In other words we all must come before God and say "God, be merciful to me, a sinner". Therefore we establish the Law by admitting our guilt.

2. Since under the Law we have all been declared "Guilty" (Rom 3:10,19) our just punishment (or penalty) is death (including the Second Death), since "the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). So once again we establish the Law by admitting that the just penalty for sin is eternal separation from God.

3. However, God made a provision for this penalty to be paid in full for every sinner through the Lamb of God "which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The curse of the Law was death, and Christ took that curse upon Himself by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:10-13). So once again, when we believe that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures", we establish the Law.

In other words, when we believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, "faith" establishes the Law.

Hi Nehemiah6., But again., the focus is never the law and the success of our ability now in keeping it. The focus is always Jesus who did everything so that we are no longer shackled to the law of sin and death.

 

[unobtrusive]

Hi loveme1., Again., the law is never the focus. The focus is always becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on our behalf.

I would say that Jesus made it clear that the law is still the focus, not for salvation, but by the Holy Spirit because Paul said the law is spiritual. Here is what Jesus said to those who had totally distorted the truth of the law...

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, *and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23:23)

If we cannot see "faith" in the law, we are not looking at it the way God wants us to.

The weightier matters of the law, are righteous judgement, showing mercy, and accepting the truth by (what?) "faith:"
The Pharisees not only missed it, they didn't even do the rest of it right. "*and not to leave the other undone."

We should all be careful not to follow this Pharisaical (Judaizing) example.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:46-47)

 

[joaniemarie]

We hold these truths to be self-evident......

Hi Zmouth., it's become obvious to me that many Christians do hold these truths to be self evident and PRAISE THE LORD for that!!! But many good and seeking Christians don't know these truths and have yet to be set free by them. It's such a privilege to read and to share the proper interpretations as those who have posted here even on this thread. Posting the many verses rightly divided and properly matched up of what the law REALLY means in the lives of the believer. We can't be set free by the truth unless we know it and believe it.