“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is a powerful force in our lives, but that power does not lie in faith as much as it does the object of faith – Jesus Christ. We are not just saved by faith; we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. We are not just sustained by faith; we are sustained by faith in Jesus Christ. We do not have faith in faith; we have faith in Jesus Christ. (I think I’ve proved my point.) With this in mind, let’s look at the power of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is by the power of faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved - that we become Christians. Ephesians 2:8 records: “For by grace through faith are you saved.” It is faith in Jesus that unlocks the door to our hearts. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that the only way that we can please God is by faith. Anything that we do for God must be done by faith. Any request that we make of God must be by faith. If we want the salvation that God offers us in Jesus, we must come to Him by faith. There is no way that we can save ourselves. It is by the power of faith in Jesus Christ that we are sustained. We are not saved by faith then kept by our own initiative, our own works. The faith that saves us is the same faith that sustains us in all of the ups and downs of life on a daily basis and keeps us going. In 1Corinthians 15:13b we are encouraged to “stand fast (firm) in the faith.” We are not told to stand fast in our “inner core,” as new-agers would put it. Without Jesus, we have no “inner core” that will sustain us in life when the going gets tough and take us to heaven when we die. “Stand fast in the faith” means to keep on believing in Jesus and to keep on trusting through all of the twists and turns of life. Faith in Jesus can keep us from life’s dark moments, but even if we have to pass through some dark moments, our faith in Christ will sustain us through them. Remember that it is not faith in faith that sustains us, but faith in Jesus Christ – period. It is by the power of faith in Jesus that that we can live for Him and do His will. In Luke 17:1-5, Jesus told His disciples to forgive anyone who trespassed against them seven times in a day if they had to. This was a difficult commandment for them, and it is a difficult commandment for us as well. I think that the disciples had the right idea though when they responded to Jesus by asking Him “to increase our faith.” They knew that this kind of forgiveness can only come by faith. This is true of obeying God in all of life. Doing God’s will is sometimes hard to do, because it might go against our pride, or it might go against what we might call common sense. It is at these times that we must remember that living the Christian life is not all about us, but it is about pleasing our Savior by living the quality of life that He would have us live. It sometimes seems that the world is designed to defeat us. It is true that the world system under the control of Satan is trying to defat us. How in the world can we overcome it? Take a look at 1John 5:4-5: “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” We overcome the world by the power of the same faith that saves and sustains us. It is important for us to remember this when the master accuser, Satan, tries to convince us that we are failing in our faith. We must not succumb to the temptation to give in to discouragement and defeat. That is where Satan wants us and where he will keep us – except for faith in Jesus Christ. Exercise your faith in Christ and it will grow, and the more it grows, the better your life will be. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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