What is Faith
and what does that have to do with my relationship with God, now and for all
eternity?
Faith defined
through a secular or worldly view:
·
Faith
is "unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence."
·
A specific system
of religious beliefs (Such as
Christianity of Judaism)
·
Complete
confidence or trust in a person, or remedy
·
Any
set of firmly held principles or beliefs
· Allegiance or
loyalty, as to a person or cause
People
talk about faith all the time. There are many instances when we all refer to
faith in respect to relationships and events. For example: faith that your team
will be able to win the big game, faith that you have the ability to get a new job
or job promotion, faith in the stock market, faith in our President, faith in someone’s
ability to get something done, faith as it relates to trusting someone with
something of ours, faith that someone is going to do what is asked or expected
of them, faith that someone has the ability to kick a 62 yard field goal, etc.
Faith defined
through a Biblical Worldview:
·
Belief
in the existence of God and living and acting in accordance to the principles
of that belief
·
Belief,
trust, and loyalty to God, finding security and hope in Jesus Christ
The Bible says
this about Faith:
Hebrews
11:1 New International Version
Now
faith is confidence in what we hope for
and assurance about what we do not see.
God
sent Jesus to save us from the consequences of our fallen nature.
Followers of
Jesus have faith
in the work that Jesus did on the Cross. Jesus willingly suffered and died to
save us. He demonstrated the greatest act of love we could ever imagine. Jesus'
death on the Cross rescues anyone who is willing to receive and believe His
work. Jesus’ work saves us from our sin and restores our relationship with God.
The proof of Jesus’ work has evidence we can analyze for ourselves. 3 days
after Jesus died on the Cross He was Resurrected,
(To bring
back to life; raise from the dead) the proof that he truly defeated sin and
death.
You make ask,
why did this have to happen? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross to save us?
This is God’s
prescribed way to save His people.
John
1:29 New International Version
John Testifies About Jesus
The
next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!
If
you want to know more read from the First 5 books of the Bible and you can see
how God used the sacrifice as a means to forgive His people.
God
required animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to
foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme
found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
(From Got questions.org) (link: http://www.gotquestions.org/animal-sacrifices.html)
Colossians
1:20 New International Version
And
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
The Good News: God Loves us and sent Jesus to rescue us!
John
3:16-17 New International Version
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
So what is a
Saving Faith?
I
don’t believe in Blind Faith. A Saving Faith requires proof and confidence that
God exists and that He sent Jesus to save us. Remember the biblical definition
of faith uses the words confidence and assurance. In this case proof is found
in God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible. The supernatural way people change
from the inside out. The way people’s hearts and minds go from hopeless to
hopeful. The answers to prayer, the doors that open, the compassion and love
from others. The filling of the Holy Spirit in a person who becomes a follower
of Jesus. The amazing fulfillment of Bible prophecy. God keeping His promises
to His people.
All
these things above give us the proof and confidence to have faith in God. A
faith that can lead to a Saving Faith
if one is willing to receive what Jesus did for sinners. You can have faith
that God exists but that does not mean you are saved from your sin. You must
understand your own spiritual condition.
The truth about
our spiritual condition
·
Because
of our sinful condition and sin nature we have no hope in the ability to save
ourselves from eternal separation from a Holy God.
·
It
is impossible for us to be free of our sin nature through any work we do.
·
We
are all in need of a Savior to do the work of Salvation (Deliverance from the power or penalty of sin) for us.
·
We
need the Righteousness (to be in
right standing with God no longer condemned by our sin nature) that God
provides made available through His Grace
(Unmerited favor, unearned). Jesus
accomplished this on the cross. We are Justified
(declared righteous) by Jesus’ sacrifice which Atones (The barriers of sin between man and God are removed) for
our sin.
·
Because
of what Jesus did we no longer have to pay the penalty for sin.
Jesus paid it for us. Jesus
substituted His life for ours in order to pay the
price for sin.
·
Our
faith in what Jesus did on the cross saves us.
·
We
are justified by grace alone through faith alone. Or we can say we are declared
righteous by God’s unmerited favor through our faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross.
·
As
followers of Jesus our faith is based on believing in God and acting on that
faith.
Now let’s take a
look at what a believer’s faith (Saving Faith) looks like.
There are
basically 3 elements to a believer’s faith: (Content, Response & Commitment/Trust)
Content:
·
Jesus
is the object of our Faith.
·
We
believe in Jesus and His work on the cross.
Response:
·
We
have a personal & loving response to God’s grace and love for us.
·
We
have a heart response to Jesus’ willing sacrifice to save us.
·
We
have more than just an intellectual response and knowledge of the content.
Commitment/Trust:
·
Jesus
becomes the Lord of our Life.
·
We
give up control of our lives and acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus over our
thoughts and our actions.
Question: Why do people stop short of a Saving Faith in
Jesus as their Savior?
Some
believe in an intellectual understanding that there is one God. Kind of a
mental agreement in a higher power. They acknowledge the existence of God but
believe the Bible is a nice story but is not for them. They even go as far as
saying
that
the Bible has no credibility because it was written by man. They are aware that
the Bible says Jesus died for the sins of mankind yet they never choose to go
beyond the intellectual acknowledgement of that fact.
Another
reason people stop short of a Saving Faith is that we can be deceived by our
natural sinful human condition and believe that we are in control of our lives
and should be in control. There is no desire for accountability. We reason that
the sin in our life is not really sin and we tend to justify our actions based
on the twisting of scripture and the desire to act on temptation. When this
happens people become slaves to sin and our enemy Satan. There are those believe that there are many
paths to God. In our culture today we see a trend toward universalism where all
paths lead to God. There is also the outright denial of the exclusivity of
Christ as the only way to salvation.
Some
people believe that living a good moral life doing good works saves them. The
problem here is that morality and good works are the object of their faith and
not Jesus.
Some
people believe that their heritage will save them. They believed they are saved
because they come from a Christian family and because of this fact; they are
automatically given their free pass to salvation.
Sometimes
faith itself becomes the object of their faith. A lot of times I have heard
someone say “Well if you just had faith everything will turn out OK.” Faith in
what? That my circumstances will turn
out the way I want them to!
I
think I would rather hear someone say: Trust God and lean not on your
own understanding. Acknowledge that you are in need of God’s help and He will
direct your path.
These
above scenarios are just some of the stumbling blocks to having a Saving Faith.
We
must remember that faith is the channel by which we receive the Righteousness (God declares we are in a
right relationship with Him) from God through our faith in Jesus Christ. The
object of our faith is Jesus. We cannot build a bridge to God. We cannot earn
God’s favor by the things we do. God’s grace is about the bridge He built for
us through what Jesus did on the cross. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and
Savior we are saved. As followers of Jesus we will all go through a lifelong process
where we develop a more personal and loving response to God as well as trust
Him to be Lord over all areas of our life. Even if we start out with the faith
the size of a mustard seed God will water that seed with His Word, the Holy
Spirit and other believers to help us develop as fully devoted followers of
Jesus. Be aware of the stumbling blocks
and ask God to help you keep your mind and your heart on what is good, on what
is true. Let us all desire to live a life pleasing to God. Let’s all put our faith in what Jesus
willingly did for us on the cross.
Remember:
Romans
3:23 New International Version
for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans
3:10-12 New International Version
As it is written: “There is no one
righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.”
there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Romans
8:5-8 New International Version
Those
who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what
the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind
governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by
the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Romans
5:8 New International Version
But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
Romans
8:1 New International Version
Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans
10:9-10 New International Version
If
you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 1For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that
you profess your faith and are saved.
Romans
10:13New International Version (NIV)
for,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Putting your
Faith in Jesus is the best decision you will ever make, now and for all
eternity.
Romans
6:23 New International Version
For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Just
Sayin……………..Dave
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