FAITH TOWARDS GOD

FOUNDATION SERIES ON THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST (III)

FAITH TOWARDS GOD

SCRIPTURE:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

… If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13

Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless? James 2:20

OBSERVATION:

In the first doctrine of repentance, we realize that we need to turn to God, that we are lost in our old way of life, destined for death and destruction. Then, once we turn to God, God in His mercy and love, shows us that there is a way that we can be saved. He has provided us a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by putting our faith and trust in Him, we receive eternal life. When we hear His Word, and believe, we come into His precious salvation.

This gift of eternal life is for everyone and anyone who will believe, regardless of race, gender, or social class. In the parable of the wedding banquet, the Lord asked His servants to invite everyone without distinction so that His house would be full!  

What does it mean to put our faith in Jesus? It is to believe in what He said, to follow after Him as the Way of eternal life!

Now, there is a common teaching prevalent in many churches today that says that faith is a one time event and that once a person says the “sinner’s prayer” to ask Jesus into his life, he is forever saved. However, in the original Greek Bible, there is a present continuous tense in the Scriptures related to faith. In John 3:16, it should more correctly read “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever continues to believe in Him should not perish but go on having eternal life!” Likewise, in Romans 10, it should be read “with the heart one continues to believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession continues to be made unto salvation”.

Salvation is a process, and faith must continue until the end until salvation is complete. There were those who stopped this process, like Demas who turned back to the world, and in the last day, Christ Himself warned that the love of many would grow cold. We need to press on to the end, continuing to put our entire trust in Jesus for salvation, and as He promised, those who overcome and stands firm to the end will be saved. The faith that He calls us to is a faith so sure and steadfast on Him, that not even death or suffering can move us from trusting in Him as the way of salvation.

Also, true faith is also always accompanied by actions. As James writes, faith without actions is dead. When Abraham was called by God to leave Ur of the Chaldees, he showed his faith and trust in God by moving out. Likewise, Rahab showed her faith in the God of Israel by risking her life to help the spies sent out by Joshua. If we truly have faith in Jesus as the way of Salvation, our lives will show it. We will be interested in the Word. We will take His teachings and warnings seriously. We will want to know Him personally as Savior and Lord, and to live our lives in a way that pleases Him.

APPLICATION:

Faith is not just believing that there is a God, or even that Jesus is God. It is believing that what Jesus said is true, and that by trusting in Him to forgive our sins, by following Him as the Way to eternal life, we will remain in His salvation. Faith is not just a feeling, it is a conviction, a decision to put our complete trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Our faith may be small at first, like a mustard seed, but let us start acting out on that little faith, starting to live life following Jesus, believing that He will send His Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. Let us start reading the Bible, believing that God will speak to us. Let us start talking to others, telling them that Jesus is our Savior and Lord personally and how He has blessed us.

Imagine we had a very wealthy great granduncle who promised us an inheritance of 10 million dollars in 10 years time. If we believed this would happen, how would we live life today? Wouldn’t we have a deep joy day by day knowing something great was happening to us soon? Wouldn’t we hold precious our relationship with that great granduncle? In the same way, if we believed in the great wonder and beauty of our future in Heaven, wouldn’t we have that same joy in our hearts? Wouldn’t we hold precious our relationship with our Lord through whom we have this future?

PRAYER:

We praise You and worship You, precious Heavenly Father, marvelous Lord Jesus. You made the way that we could be saved. You made everything possible so that we might have such a great future in Heaven with You! Help us, Lord, empower us, let us always have a faith that is strong and real in You. Increase our faith in You O Lord, that Your reality will become stronger and stronger in our lives. Help us always cling on to You and put our whole trust in You. Help us always look to You as our Great Savior. We love You and praise You and honor You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.