What about Faith?

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2, NIV

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is the assurance or the confirmation of things we hope for and the certainty of things we do not see. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7 we walk by faith and not by sight. In other words, we do not conduct our daily lives by the appearance of things revealed to us by our senses; we conduct our daily lives by the assurance and certainty of what we believe to be true.

How do we get faith? Again, the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith in God comes from hearing the message, and that which is heard is the word of Christ.

Now would be a good time to ask the question, why would I want to hear the message of Christ? Jesus speaking in John 6:44a answers this question by saying, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”.

Why do we need faith? Ephesians 2:8 tells us we can be rescued from eternal death and damnation; we can be saved, but only because of the grace, mercy, love and benevolence of God the Father. We can only be saved through faith in Christ Jesus, but no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws him through the urging of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, the source of and the finisher of our faith, died on the cross, defeated death, rose again so that we might have life eternal. So back to Ephesians 2:8:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Once saved, Paul writes in Galatians 2:20 saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Christ lives in us and as we walk on our spiritual journey we are to, “take up the shield of faith” in order to extinguish “the flaming arrows of the evil one”, Ephesians 6:16.

James 1:3 tells us that the testing of our faith will develop patience and perseverance and that our faith will cause us to be active. James 2:26 tells us, “as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

The Apostle John, the beloved disciple, writes in 1 John 5:4,

“For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Amen and God Bless!