The Greek word used for faith here is “pistis.” It is the word that we normally translate as “belief” or “faith.” There are several shades of meaning to this word, and all of them probably apply to this text. The Point is that the Holy Spirit gives us faith for every aspect of our lives – for everything that we might face in our lives. What are these shades of meaning?
Belief The Holy Spirit simply leads us to believe. He leads us to believe in Jesus in order to be saved. He leads us to believe in the Bible and Bible doctrines. Vines wrote that “pistis” primarily denotes firm persuasion or conviction. This is the kind of belief that is commanded in the Bible. We are never told that we should take our commitment to Jesus lightly. In fact, it is always the exact opposite. For example, because they believed firmly in Jesus, the early disciples gave up everything in order to follow Him. One of the main tasks of the Holy Spirit is to remove doubt and to put it in its place the firm persuasion that Jesus indeed died for the sins of the world – including ours. If we believe in Him with our whole hearts we will be saved. Also, the Holy Spirit is our guide to believing that the word of God is true. The Holy Spirit makes believers out of us. Faithfulness It is by the leadership of the Holy Spirit that we become faithful servants of Jesus Christ. If we will pay attention to the urging of the Holy Spirit, we will be faithful. By the Spirit’s leadership we become loyal to Jesus. We do not want to deny Him, as Peter did, or betray Him as Judas did. If we follow the Spirit’s leadership we will not want to do anything that would be unfaithful to Christ’s high calling on our lives. I don’t imagine that any of us live up to this 100%, but we should surely try. Jesus saves us and puts His mark on our lives; therefore, we belong to Him totally. We need to depend on the Holy Spirit to make us the loyal servants that Jesus called us to be. Like Peter, we need to overcome any denials of Jesus’ lordship in our lives and go in great service for Him. The Bible never shows us people who serve as perfect examples of loyalty, but there are a lot of people, like Barnabas, who show us the importance of faithfulness. Trustworthiness Our faith in Jesus leads us to be reliable, and we can give the Holy Spirit credit for that. With the leadership of the Spirit, God can trust us with responsibilities in His church and in the community. People can trust us to do right by them. Surely, if we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will be trustworthy. If we live by faith in Jesus Christ, we will be trustworthy. Too many people are like Demas in 2Timothy 4:10 who, because he loved the world too much, forsook Paul while Paul was in prison. We need more people like Timothy, Titus, Ephaproditus and tychicus, who faithfully stood by the great apostle during his imprisonment. Understand that their loyalty to Paul was borne of their faith in Jesus and by the leadership of the Holy Spirit. This is the same reason why we can stand by each other, and trust each other, as we serve Jesus in our time. Can Jesus trust you to do His bidding, even if it might make you unpopular with those around you? Can your Christian friends, your church, trust you to serve in a trustworthy manner? If you will follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, you will be trustworthy. The Holy Spirit has given us all of the faith that we need to do whatever we need to do. He can deepen our belief and lead us to greater faithfulness and trustworthiness. Let it be so in our lives. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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