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
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