SAVING FAITH #2

 

Saving Faith - Part 2

EXAMPLES OF LIVING FAITH Abraham Gen.12:1-7 1) When God called Abraham out of the land he was residing in, did he ARGUE with God about leaving? Did he, in FAITH, simply obey God? 2) Did God promise to make of Abraham a GREAT NATION and bless him abundantly? 3) Did he BELIEVE God (see Gen.15:5-6)? 4) Was the land of Canaan promised to Abraham(see also Gen.15:7, Acts 7:1-5)? 5) Did he have FAITH in God and His promises (Heb.11:9-10)? 6) Was there certain CONDITIONS Abraham had to meet in order to inherit these promises (Gen.17:1-8)? 7) Was this promise of eternal inheritance of the land of Canaan to expand and ultimately include the whole earth (Rom.4:13; Mat.5:5; Rev.5:8-10)? Note. In making His original promise to Abraham, God conditioned it upon OBEDIENCE. The marginal reading for the word "perfect" in Gen.17:1 is "upright" or sincere. Jesus told his followers that they should strive to be perfect(or mature) just as God in heaven was perfect or mature (Mat.5:48). Abraham met those conditions - he OBEYED God - Gen.26:5. Abraham had faith in what God promised and he demonstrated that faith - he performed that faith as James tells us (James 2:22) by his WORKS - his OBEDIENCE to the Eternal's commands. Abraham BELIEVED God, so God could JUSTIFY him, forgive him of his past sins - declare him to be righteous, because the KIND of belief or FAITH Abraham had led him to OBEY God (James 2:23-24; Rom.2:31). The works that Abraham had were the works of OBEDIENCE to the laws and commands of God. Ge.17:15-19 1) Did God promise Abraham a SON through whom his family would grow great? 2) How old were Abraham and Sarah at the time? 3) Did Abraham and Sarah TRUST God in FAITH, that what He said He was able to perform (See Rom.4:18-21; Heb.11:11-12)? 4) Did God fulfil His promise to Abraham (Gen.21:5-7)? Note. The promise of God to make Abraham into a great nation, was given when God called him out of Haran into Canaan (Gen.12:1-4). Abraham was 75 years old at the time. He had to wait patiently for 25 years for the son through whom his family would grow as numerous as the sand on the sea shore. During those 25 years Abraham demonstrated faith in his obedience to His will, though at times he did sin, for he was not perfect as God is perfect. Gen.22:1-19 1) Did God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac? 2) Did he argue or rebel against the Lord, or did he obey willingly? 3) Was Abraham ready to slay his son? 4) Did he have complete faith in God, that if necessary the Lord would resurrect Isaac (See Heb.11:17-19)? 5) Did God stop Abraham from slaying his son? 6) Why did the Eternal test Abraham this way? 7) Because of Abraham's unquestioning obedience, did God make His promises to him UNconditional (verses 15-18)? Note. Abraham did not hesitate to obey God - he did not argue with God, or try to reason around the command of the Lord. Abraham simply OBEYED. He knew - he trusted God, had FAITH in God that if Isaac was to be sacrificed, the Lord could raise him up or give him another son to fulfil His promises. Abraham was FULLY PERSUADED that whatsoever God had promised, He was able to PERFORM. Abraham's FAITH, trust in God, was COUPLED with WORKS - the works of OBEDIENCE! God had tested Abraham's willingness to obey in and through FAITH. After he had been put to the test and found faithful, God's promise then became UNCONDITIONAL (verses 15-18). Abraham did faithfully obey God's commandments (Gen.26:5). He is one of the great examples of LIVING FAITH. I found this in religious magazine: "A noted Bible teacher once explained the reason so many Christians get a let-down after a great spiritual experience. ' They get their eyes on the gift, and take them off the giver ' he said. ' This is the meaning of the dramatic story of God asking Abraham to offer up his only son, Isaac. God wanted to see whether Abraham loved the Giver, God, more that the gift, Isaac. When He saw that Abraham's love for the Giver was greater than his love for the gift, God allowed Abraham to keep the gift as well.' " NOAH'S FAITH Gen.6:1-22 1) Was the world in Noah's day full of wickedness, evil and corruption? 2) What did God say He would do? 3) How would God destroy mankind? 4) Who found grace - favor- with God? 5) Why did Noah find mercy with God? 6) What did the Lord instruct - command - Noah to do? 7) Did Noah OBEY God? Note. In the days of Noah the whole earth had become corrupt before God. Only Noah and his immediate family were worthy of God's grace or mercy. Noah walked with God. He was told by the Lord to build a ship that would serve him and his family from the watery destruction that would come to destroy all life from off the earth. Noah BELIEVED God - he had FAITH in what the Lord said. He willingly OBEYED the command. His trust and faith in God was demonstrated by his works - his OBEDIENCE! There was no physical evidence that a flood would come upon the earth. It would be 120 years before it would come (Gen,6:3), but, "Prompted by faith Noah.....took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family....." (Amplified Bible, Heb.11:7). Noah's LIVING, active faith, was rewarded. He and his family were saved from destruction and death. SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO Daniel 3:1-28 1) Did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, build a great image of gold? 2) Did he command all the people to bow down and worship this idol at certain times? 3) What was to happen to those who would not obey the king's order? 4) Is one of the commands of God against the bowing down to idols(See Ex.20:4)? 5) Did the three Hebrew men obey the king's order or the command of God? 6) What did the king of Babylon then do? 7) How did the three men answer the king? 8) What happened to them for staying faithful to God's commandments? 9) What did the king see as he looked into the fiery furnace? 10)Did God help, protect, and deliver, those three men? 11)What did the king say about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Note. This example of LIVING faith is one of the most thrilling in the entire Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar was probably the most powerful king on the earth at the time. His very word or nod of the head meant life or death! He built this image for all to worship. This was in direct conflict to God's command that no idol was to be bowed down to and worshipped. What would YOU have done had you been there at this time? Would you have said: "Well, I have to bow down to this image or I'll be killed." Maybe you could have reasoned around it this way: "God tells us to be subject to the powers of the state government doesn't He? Then if I am killed for not obeying the king, what will my wife and children do without me, or my close relatives. Better to be a live coward than a dead hero." It can be easy to excuse ourselves from having to OBEY God if we are looking for an excuse. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, knew that where there was a conflict between the laws of man and the commands of God, the Lord should be obeyed (Acts 5:29). They knew that through FAITH God makes it possible to obey Him! These courageous men were adamant in their display of faith. They firmly BELIEVED God was able to save them. They knew God COULD save them if He so chose, yet IF God did not choose to save them from literal death, they still would obey the Eternal first, before breaking His commandment. They had their eyes on the KINGDOM, on Eternal life, not just this present physical life. They were not afraid of what man could do to their physical bodies, but had that right kind of reverend fear, of what God could do to their eternal life (Mat.10:28). These men refused to break God's commandment against idolatry, even if it meant their death. They trusted - had faith - in God for their ultimate salvation. Their faith was manifested in works - OBEDIENCE to the laws of God. God made these men face this trial and test. They were brought to the door - still willing to die than disobey God - they were cast in. God allowed them to be tested to the very end - all the way. They were faithful to the end. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, had real LIVING FAITH - the kind of faith that SAVES. OTHER EXAMPLES OF FAITH Paul in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews - commonly called the FAITH chapter - enumerates MANY examples of faith. Such as JACOB who in faith blessed the sons of Joseph and said they would become a NATION and a MULTITUDE/COMPANY(or fullness) of NATIONS. And that Joseph's descendants would be in the latter days like a fruitful vine by a well, whose branches would spread abroad - they would possess the riches of the earth (see Gen.35; 48:22-26). This was a LAST DAYS prophecy (Gen.49:1). There can be no doubt today that Jacob's faith - his trust in God's promises - has been rewarded. These prophecies are fulfilled in the peoples of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic race, who have inherited the wealth of the earth and have spread abroad around the world. Joseph has truly become a company of nations and a great nation. Jacob knew that what God had promised, HE was able to PERFORM. There is recorded the faith it took to bring down the WALLS of the great city of Jericho (Joshua 6). In this account notice that God told them to DO SOMETHING - walk around the city for seven days, on the seventh day they were to walk only when told. There was to be OBEDIENCE to God's commands - the people did obey - the walls of Jericho fell! Faith and obedience produced the right results. David had faith that God would deliver him from the huge mountain of a man called Goliath. David had FAITH in God (1 Sam.17:37) for deliverance, but he also had WORKS - he had practiced for months, years, with his SLING SHOT - he was an expert marksman. David did not have BLIND faith - he took FIVE stones from the brook (verse 40) just incase he missed with the first. He was humble enough to realize he could miss. Interestingly, the number five is used by God in the Bible as the number for GRACE. David had trust - faith in God, humility and WORKS. He loved the law of God and throughout his life had the attitude of wanting to OBEY and do the will of the Lord. He was always ready to confess his sins and repent of them. He wanted God to even reveal to him his secret faults and sins. All this can be found in the many Psalms David wrote which are part of the Bible for us to read, study and meditate upon. Daniel was another man full of the LIVING faith of God. A plot was undertaken to destroy Daniel. He was to be accused of breaking the law of the land, because he would not stop praying to the true God (Dan.6:1-13). The penalty for such violation of this law of man was carried out - he was cast into the lion's den (verses 14-17). Daniel was, if it was the will of God, prepared to DIE for his faith - his way of life with the Eternal. He had faith that no matter what the outcome, life or death in the physical, he was God's. He looked beyond this life to the next life and the resurrection, to eternity. His faith lead to works of obedience. He believed God could deliver him from the lions. God did choose to send His angel to deliver him from death. It does take faith to obey the laws and commandments of God, even in the face of death. On and on we could go, with example after example, of the people of God who are recorded in the Bible, that exhibited by their life and deeds they had LIVING FAITH. There's the examples of GIDEON, BARAK, SAMSON, RAHAB, MOSES, SAMUEL, RUTH, ESTHER and many more. Read their life stories, and as you do note their faith, their LIVING faith. We are indeed saved by GRACE through FAITH and not of our works(Eph.2:8). All our good works from the beginning of our life to the end, cannot pay for one single sin. All the good works a murderer can do in his life cannot take away the penalty of death for the one murder he committed. He is still on death row for that sin. Only grace from the judge of the land, only pardon from the authorities can release him from the death sentence that hangs over his head for his sin. Yet when that grace is shown to him, he cannot go out and murder again. The law against murder has not be made void because grace and mercy has been shown to the guilty murderer. The law is still in effect. Grace, pardon, mercy, may be shown to the murderer upon the CONDITION he deeply repents of his sin, and promises to abide by the law from that time forward. He is not saved from death by works, by any good deeds, but the grace shown to him, and he having faith in that grace, will and must lead him to LIVING OBEDIENCE within the law. We are not saved by our works, but being saved by grace will lead us to LIVING obedience to the law and will of God. That living obedience takes faith. It is the faith of Jesus IN us that we live by as Paul said in Gal.2:20. The life he lived was by the faith OF Jesus who lived in him. Actually Jesus promised that BOTH the Father and He would come and live WITHIN the true child of God (John 14:23). They are ALIVE, they live! So the faith that is in us, is THEIR faith in us, because they live in us, and so it is a LIVING FAITH. They live within us by and through the means of the Holy Spirit, which is their NATURE (2 Peter 1:3,4). One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is FAITH (Gal.5:22). Another basic attribute of the Holy Spirit is that it is the LOVE of God (Rom.5:5). And the love of God is that we will KEEP, OBEY His commandments - 1 John 5:3. So it all fits together like a perfect picture in a jig-saw puzzle, when all the parts are collected and put together we have a perfect whole. Many are not able to put all the parts together, they are confused over many scriptures that seem to contradict each other, as to the truth of the matter about being SAVED BY GRACE. I have an in-depth article on the subject of being saved by grace through faith, and it will make the truth plain, so you will understand about grace and living obedient faith as never before. Please request it. I can send it to you either E-mail, or Regular mail. It is free. The land of Canaan - the promised land - the land of REST - was a TYPE of the ETERNAL LAND OF REST that God offers to all people who will REPENT. Who will look to God in FAITH for FORGIVENESS of SIN, through the shed blood of JESUS. Who will be BAPTIZED as an outward expression of that repentance and faith, and who will then live by the faith OF Christ - the same faith He had - given to them by the indwelling of the very Spirit and Nature of God. Such persons will have a LIVING - SAVING FAITH - a faith that BELIEVES all the promises of God, that He is able and will perform all He has promised, a faith that leads to a humble life of OBEDIENCE to God's will and commandments. That is the faith OF Christ in us. A faith that will ensure all those who have it, ETERNAL LIFE in the very family and Kingdom of God. Our next study will be ALL ABOUT BAPTISM. We shall find truth, inspiration, and also a few surprises along the way. ....................... First written in 1989. Re-written and revised in 1997.