After Timothy had been sent to the Thessalonians to establish and console them for the sake of their faith, and had come back, bringing with him the evangel of their individual faith and love, the apostle was, indeed, consoled through their faith, and was able to repay thanksgiving to God for them and beseech Him for an opportunity to readjust the deficiencies in their range of faith as we have seen. First, indeed, I am thanking my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, that your faith is being announced in the whole world. For God is my witness, to Whom I am offering divine service in my spirit in the evangel of His Son, how unintermittingly I am making mention of you, always in my prayers beseeching, if somehow, sometime, at length I shall be prospered, in the will of God, to come to you. While the Thessalonians needed information on meeting the Lord in the air, the Romans were still ignorant as to justification, conciliation, and God's sovereignty. It has been suggested that faith is an act of merit on our part which procures justification, and all who do not obey in this way, do not deserve it.
Faith has exactly the contrary function.
Because it has no merit , it is the only requirement in this economy of purest and fullest favor. Even faith obedience does not consist of acts performed in order to deserve God's gifts, but is a figure in which the obedience to God's law is displaced by faith in His Word . Faith is merely the channel through which grace may operate. It cannot act through works or attainments of any kind. These can only nullify its effects.