FAITH
The most important
element we must have when searching for the truth is FAITH. We cannot survive without it and we all have
“a measure” of it given to us by the Lord.
There are many ways that we exercise faith everyday without realizing it.
Just think about it for a moment… when you sit down on a chair, you have faith
that the chair will hold you up. When
applying the brakes in your car, you have faith that the car will come to a
stop. These are two simple examples of
FAITH but they are true. Let us now
learn the Eternal Truth about… FAITH.
1.
What is faith?
Hebrews
11:1
11:1 Now faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
2.
Is faith really necessary?
Hebrews
11:6; Romans
1:16,17
11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
1:17 For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith: as it is written, The
just shall live by faith.
3.
Can merely acknowledging the truth save anyone?
James
2:19; Galatians 5:6
2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I
have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my
faith by my works.
2:19 Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble.
4.
Where does faith originate?
Hebrews
12:2
12:2 Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God.
5.
On what is our faith based upon?
Romans
10:17
10:17 So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.
“There are 2 errors against which the children of God —particularly
those who have just come to trust in His grace—especially need to guard.
The first...is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything
they can do to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his
wonderful works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is
polluted with selfishness and sin. It is
the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is
that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we became partakers
of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our
redemption....
“Obedience—the service and allegiance of love—is the true sign of
discipleship....Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith
only that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render
obedience. We do not earn salvation by
our obedience; for salvation is the free
gift of God, to be received by faith.
But obedience is the fruit of faith....That so-called faith in Christ
which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not
faith, but presumption.”—Steps to Christ,
p.64-66.
Faith may be strengthened by daily
exercise. It is not some great thing,
done once for all, that gives an individual faith; but an everyday, simple, childlike trust in
God, and an implicit obedience to His Word.
Some make faith a more difficult matter than God would have them, because
they try to embrace too much at one time.
They take on the burdens of tomorrow or next week, when the Lord supplies
strength only for today. When tomorrow
comes, grapple with its duties, but not until it does come. We should remember the precious promise, “As
thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
Deuteronomy 33:25.
6.
How are faith and obedience related?
Hebrews
11:8; James
2:20-26
11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went.
2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead?
2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac
his son upon the altar?
2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made
perfect?
2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only.
2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she
had received the messengers, and had sent [them] out another way?
2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also.
7.
Is faith alone or is it yoked with something?
Revelation
14:12; Romans 3:31
14:12 Here is
the patience of the saints: here [are] they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus.
8.
Faith restores what relationship?
Galatians
3:26; Romans 5:1
3:26 For ye are
all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus.
5:1 Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
9.
How do trials and tribulations affect our
faith?
James
1:3
1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1:4 But let patience
have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed.
1:7 For let not that man think that he shall
receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.
10.
How is the Christian to walk?
2 Corinthians
5:7
5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
11.
How does faith protect us against sin?
Ephesians
6:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 1 John 5:1-4
6:16 Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
“Our faith must be increased, and we must become more like Christ in
conduct and disposition in order to endure, and successfully resist, the
temptations of Satan. The grace of God is sufficient for every follower of
Christ.” White, 1 Testimonies, p.
307.
12.
What is faith’s great purpose?
1 Peter
1:8,9
1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory:
1:9 Receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your
souls.
"The apostle's words were written for the instruction of believers in
every age, and they have a special significance for those who live at the time
when "the end of all things is at hand." His exhortations and warnings, and his
words of faith and courage, are needed by every soul who would maintain his
faith "steadfast unto the end." Hebrews 3:14.”
E. G. White, Acts of the Apostles,
p.518.
Dear friend, would you like to have a faith
that will maintain “unto the end?” Jesus
will give you that faith, freely. Ask
Him for that faith right now, won’t you?