Brother M.C. Kurfees, in his classic tract – WALKING BY FAITH: ORIGIN OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN CHRISTIAN WORSHIP --, says:
Christianity is pre-eminently a religion of faith. Let us get this fact well and firmly fixed in our minds, for it will be seen that upon a proper understanding and appreciation of this vital principle, all acceptable service to God depends. Many skeptics attempt to throw discredit upon the Bible because its religion is purely a religion of faith. They fell us we have never seen the joyous “summer land,” nor heard the enchanting music of angels in sweet vibrations “beyond the river,” but that it all rests on faith. But the same may be said of other things founded on faith whose credibility, in the estimation of skeptics, is not affected by this circumstance. The fact that in sowing and reaping, boarding a railway car for transportation, or carrying on commercial intercourse with each other, man can only believe success will crown their efforts as it has the efforts of others in the past, is never urged as a reason for not acting. On the contrary, it only shows that men act on the principle of faith, and that they act in proportion as the evidence is strong and convincing. Hence, as a matter of fact, it is not unreasonable to act where action rest exclusively on faith; and hence, the objection has no force against the Bible.
But, not only is Christianity, as a system, purely a system of faith (Gal. iii.23), but in order to its acceptableness, all service, which we render to God, must be of faith. No proposition is more clearly established in the Word of God than this. Not only is it plainly declared that “we walk by faith,” but in Heb. xi.16, is the explicit statement that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Any act of religious worship, therefore, however great or small, must be of faith in order to please God. This does not mean that every act of man outside of religious service must be of faith. Man may follow his own wisdom or reason in the management of his own affairs, but in the service or worship of God, the only legitimate use of man’s wisdom or reason is to acquiesce in whatever divine wisdom has revealed, and to thus “walk by faith.” In the management of all affairs exclusively his own, man has the unquestionable right to follow his own judgment, provided he contravenes no principle of moral propriety or righteousness. In other words, beyond the regulation of man’s conduct in all spheres of action by principles of moral integrity and righteous dealing, God has no where legislated for man, except in the service to be rendered exclusively to Him. In this sphere, however, God has legislated. He has ordained the worship to be rendered to Him, and human wisdom must neither add to, take from, nor in any way modify what He has prescribed, otherwise those who do so are walking by their own judgment, and not by faith. Hence, that we may see the principle on which all acceptable service to God must be rendered, let us now consider –
1. FAITH DEFINED IN DISTINCTION FROM OPINION.
Two questions properly answered will present this distinction in its true light.
1. What is it to walk by faith? In Rom. x17, Paul declares: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” This settles it as to how faith comes; it comes by hearing the Word of God. Accordingly, where there is no Word of God there can be no faith; and if no faith, then no walking by faith. This is not the opinion of any man or set of men; it is the unquestionable teaching of God’s Word. Hence, if hearing the Word of God is the way faith comes, then where the Word of God is, there can be faith, but none beyond that. If, therefore, the Word of God says nothing concerning a given course, there can be no faith in pursuing that course, for FAITH COMES BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. And hence, since we are to “walk by faith,” and “without faith it is impossible to please God,” it follows that in any matter whatsoever in which we are not directed by the Word of God, we are neither walking by faith, nor pleasing God. This prepares us for the second question:
2. What is it to walk by opinion? In Jno. Iii.1,2, we have the words: “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; that same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou does, except God be with him.” But, you are ready to ask, what has such a passage to do with the question before us? Let us see. There are two questions in connection with this famous conversation to which I wish to call attention: (1.) Did Nocodemus come to Jesus by night? The universal and unanimous response from all believers in the Bible of every class and distinction is, that he did. But what is the cause of this perfect unity of sentiment? Simply because the Bible says he came by night, and there is always union where all follow what the Bible says. (2.) Why did he come by night, and not by day? It would be easy to find an answer to this question among the theologians. But the trouble with this class of wise men is, that to attempt to follow their guidance in such matters is like the attempt to ride two horses in opposite directions at the same time. One class of them tells us Nicodemus acted in this instance through fear of his colleagues in the Jewish Sanhedrin, choosing the curtain of night behind which to converse unobserved with the Great Teacher. Others tell us it was not through fear, but to avoid the crowds that gathered about Jesus during the day, the eminent ruler of the Jews preferring the stillness of the night that he might converse undisturbed with the Galilean Reformer. Now, one or the other of these views may be correct; but, as the Bible does not say one word about it, no mortal can know why he came by night. And this is precisely what is true of all the learned theologians. They only tell what they think about it; that is, they express their opinion. The word opinion signifies what one thinks, and in religious matters, it means what men think concerning matters on which the Bible is silent. The distinction, therefore, between faith and opinion is perfectly clear. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God; opinion is what men think where the Word of God does not speak. Hence, when men introduce as worship to God, as service to be rendered to Him, things on which His Word is silent, they walk by opinion and not by faith.