Skip to main content

Faith



   
     Faith is something that we often have issues with for one simple reason; it’s invisible. The word itself does not mean a tangible object that the five senses can detect. However, it is made up of the hope of eternal life and the evidence of God and His work.1 I truly think this is the crux of the matter on faith. To many souls believe faith is something else. It is treated like a mythical creature that can only be witnessed by a few. It is presented like a lore that has no real root and no true evidence. It is handled flippantly. It is talked about frequently with no substance. Everyone is an expert on faith, but few truly understand it nor have it.

     Faith is made up of someone's hope of eternal life. First, you must believe in the very thing that holds the keys to immortality, God. Christ made it clear that those who believe will be saved.2 You have to believe God created a plan to save man in Christ from the beginning of time.3 You have to believe that this plan was Christ.4 You have to believe that Christ is the key to heaven.5 You must believe that Christ is the door that gets you to the fountain of youth.6 All of these key facts come by the word of God.7  That is why faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.8 They must be what you believe in to be called a man of faith. This is just the substance of things hoped for. Side note this is just some of those things.

 Faith is action. I mean, that is what the next part of God's definition is. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. You cannot see belief in and of itself. You cannot see Heaven. Although Christ was here for a short time none of us can see Him now. We cannot see God’s coming wrath nor know the time. We believe in them. This believe causes action. Faith without action is not faith but words. Faith must have works, and those works are the proof of our faith. 8  The souls in Ephesus proved their faith and gained access to the things they hope for by acting on the things they heard. 10 They trusted this word, the gospel. They acted on this by obeying the things they heard. Jesus said if you want to go by the narrow gate and have the things you hope for you must be born again.11 He made it clear that you cannot be born again without belief. 12 Christ went on to say that not only will you have the kingdom of Heaven when your reborn but He is with you. 13 We know by the word given to us by the Holy Spirit through holy men of God that this rebirth takes place in total immersion into water.14 This rebirth allows us to come in contact with the very blood we believe was sacrificed for our sins.15 It is at the point we are saved.16 The rest of the evidence that makes up faith is by us willingly keeping God’s word.17 This active faith belongs to Christians is lived by the perfect law of liberty. 18  The perfect law of liberty is a complete moral instruction on right living that demands faith and is approved by God, given to us by Christ when kept frees us from the control of sin so we may live a life that does the will of God from the urge of our soul. Because of our active believing, we take actions to gain us access to the things we hope for and to be able to do good. The evidence is in our good work done by the Word of God to God because we believe in Him.

    Well I mean at this point of this discussion I realize I could have just said “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”19 We have been saved by Christ through our active seeking of things hope for and active actions based on our belief in God. This faith is a gift from God because without that plan for salvation realized through Christ and His word given to us we would have no reason to believe much less anything to believe. This was all done, so we could do the good things that God created for us to do. Good works are what is to make up our life as they are the evidence of our faith and the things we believe.



1.       Hebrews 11:1
2.       John 3:16
3.       Ephesians 1:3-12
4.       Philippians 2:5-11
5.       John 14:6
6.       John 10:9; John 4:13-14
7.       John 12:48-50; John 8:31-32; 2 Timothy 3:16-17
8.       Romans 10:14-17
9.       James 2:14,17
10.     Ephesians 1:13-14
11.     John 3:1-5
12.     Mark 16:15-16
13.     Matthew 28:18-20
14.     2 Peter 1:19-21; Acts 2:38-42, 8:9-13,26-40,9:10-19,10:44-48, 16:11-15,25-34, 19:1-5; Romans 6:1-7; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-12
15.     Revelation 1:5
16.     1 Peter 3:21; Mark 16:15-16; 1 John 5:20
17.     1 John 5:1-5
18.     James 1:25
19.     Ephesians 2:8-10

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

True Friendship

     When friendship comes to my mind, I think of two relationships in Scripture. They are Jesus and John and David and Jonathan. Jonathan loved David as his soul. 1   John was the one that Jesus loved, and you can see it in the gospel of John. 2 Not because Jesus showed it so much, but by the in-depth writing, John provides you can see how close they were. John was always with Jesus. John was so close to Jesus; he leaned on the chest of Jesus and asked Christ, who would betray him at the last supper. We see the same closeness between Jonathan and David when Jonathan sought to save David, when Saul’s edict to kill David, went out. 3   These two examples are what I believe God wants with us and wants us to desire to have with Him and His body.      The mentioned examples of friendship are the friendship we find deep in the fellowship that John speaks of in 1 John 1:1-10. Godly friendship is a friendship that is not one-sided. It is a bond that is not given up for futile moment
Post a Comment
Read more

A Little Bit of Singing & A Whole Lot of Accompaniment.

 The subject of instruments and clapping in worship is an interesting one. I know this a controversial topic. I’m well aware that as a “Christian” group we do not all agree on the same opinion in the matter. I would like to bring you today not an opinion but fact on this topic. I pray that with an open heart you will read, search the scriptures for yourself and discover what God commands.  Mosaic Covenant When we examine the Mosaic covenant, we see that the music conducted was both in song and with instruments. Special assignments were given by God. This was done by God through His prophets and overseen by King David ( 1 Chron. 25:1-7; 2 Chron. 29:25-30 ).  We must keep in mind that the singers from the tribe of Levi and instruments of music were not merely authorized but that they were commanded. Even in Nehemiah we see the use of instruments. This was done according to the commandment we see in the ordinance for the restored temple services. Nehemiah says that Ezra the scrib
1 comment
Read more

Whispers & Squeaky Wheels

When we make concessions for deviation from the word we began to die spiritually. (2 Cor. 11:1-4)   Anyone who says “I know Him” and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in Him (1 John 2:4). We too often lay claim to being God’s while forsaking Him. Hey, that is just easier to do. Like all things we would rather just say we have a connection to something than actually commit. Seriously, what would you do if something went bad? So, let’s just say "Yeah, I know Him." Then we can do what we want. That is how many want to treat Christianity. John was speaking on such atrocities when he stated that if we claim to know Him we must keep His commands or be a liar. Sounds Good To Me     We need to be seeking to be doers of the word not just hearers only. James 1:22  makes it clear when James says for us to be doers of the word not hearers only deceiving ourselves.   The deception comes in the fact we are no more than wearing a cheap name
3 comments
Read more