Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
Chrysostom is quoted as saying that if someone “has faith, yet does evil,” it shows he has doubts about the faith itself because true belief would resist defiling sin “until the devil flees”; how does that claim confront contemporary ideas of assurance that treat ongoing “defiling” sin as compatible with strong faith?
Another way to ask: Chrysostom says if someone has faith but keeps doing “defiling” sin, it shows they don’t truly believe. How does that challenge modern ideas of assurance that say strong faith can exist alongside ongoing serious sin?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Chrysostom’s claim confronts a version of assurance that disconnects belief from obedience by saying persistent, defiling sin exposes doubt about core doctrines, not merely weakness. In this framework, strong faith normally produces resistance and habitual victory, so ongoing evil is a warning sign rather than a neutral “still saved” category.
- The speaker summarizes Chrysostom: “But if anyone has faith, yet does evil… this shows that he actually has doubts concerning the faith itself.”
- Reason given: if a man truly believed “repentance and baptism and the resurrection and judgment… he wouldn’t succumb to the evil that actually defiles him.”
- He clarifies the target is not minor failings: not never taking the “cheesy slice,” but when tempted by what “will defile him,” the mature believer “will resist… to the point where the devil actually flees.”
- He adds balance: “This is not to say that they have victory every time,” but “victory is there for the majority of the time.”
- This ties into the “milk” rebuke: after much teaching, continued doubt is “a sign of a feeble mind,” and maturity is measured by living “a right life… not… persisting in… evil deeds.”