Jesus, when looking at the time when He would return to this
earth said, ".....when the Son of man comes, shall He find THE
FAITH on the earth" (original Greek, Luke 18:8). Obviously
Christ did not expect the last generation before His return to be
exhibiting THE faith, in any large amount.
But is there not a religious REVIVAL sweeping our nations?
More are attending church today than 10 or 20 years ago. Surely
then, is not FAITH strong? According to Jesus He said THE faith -
the REAL faith of God would not be very evident at the end of
this age.
On another occasion Jesus said: ".....O you of LITTLE
faith....." (Mat.6:30). Then still at another time He said:
".....I have not found so GREAT faith, no not in Israel"
(Mat.8:10). It is possible then to have LITTLE or
GREAT.....FAITH!
To a woman Christ once said, ".....Your FAITH has saved
you....." (Luke 7:50).
A Christian is actually SAVED through FAITH. Paul was
inspired to write, ".....for by grace are you saved through
FAITH....." (Eph.2:8). And again, "But WITHOUT faith IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM: for he that comes to God MUST BELIEVE
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that DILIGENTLY
seek Him" (Heb.11:6). And so it is: "The just shall LIVE BY
FAITH" (Heb.10:38).
It takes FAITH to BELIEVE God, to OBEY God and receive His
gift of grace and eternal life.
Today the Lord is calling the "firstfruits" of His great
plan of salvation (James 1:18) in order to prepare them for
positions in His Kingdom. Only a FEW are being granted a
conscious CONVICTING KNOWLEDGE of His TRUTHS and WAYS (1
Cor.1:26). They are the "salt" of the earth sprinkled here and
there that Christ talked about.
In these Bible lessons of the foundation of redemption and
salvation, the way to be saved, God is granting you the knowledge
of His TRUTHS. He is calling YOU to REPENT of SIN, to accept His
Son as your personal savior and to LIVE by FAITH!
But WHAT IS faith? What KIND of faith do we need to please
God?
Before we learn the answer, let's first be sure we know what
faith is NOT.
FAITH is not a "pull yourself up by your own boot straps"
philosophy. This is man's method of self-salvation, and although
such ideas and practices may have some reward in this physical
life on a human level, it is as far as eternity goes, useless in
saving anyone. Such ideas that man can FORGIVE himself of sins
apart from God's grace, and live by his own standards of his
society, to be justified, and live forever, is SELF DECEPTION!
This way of man builds confidence in the SELF not God or Christ.
Wise King Solomon called persons who trust in their OWN heart, a
FOOL (Prov.28:26).
Many confuse faith with EMOTIONS - trying to work up faith,
which is to them an emotional feeling. But true emotional
feelings are not the evidence of SAVING FAITH. Faith is a
SPIRITUAL matter, not physical. To LIVE by FAITH does not mean
that you put on some sentimental feeling that tingles the spine,
act or speak in a certain "religious" manner or follow after some
mental or physical signs. This is not to say God's way is
emotionless. It is written, in the shortest verse in the Bible,
"Jesus wept." He also got righteously ANGRY at times, as when He
cleared the Temple of the money hustlers.
True living faith though is not FOUNDED on human emotions.
It's foundation is from the solid rock of God the Father and
Christ.
FAITH DEFINED BY GOD
Hebrews 11:1-6
1) Is "faith towards God" one of the foundational doctrines
of the Bible?
2) Is it possible to PLEASE God WITHOUT faith?
3) Did the people of God in the past ages LIVE by faith?
Did the Eternal give them a good report for so doing?
4) Do those that have faith seek and look forward to
promises and rewards which are not seen?
5) Does having faith towards God mean we BELIEVE God
EXISTS and He rewards us both in this life and that which
is to come?
6) Is faith coupled with our desire to diligently SEEK God?
Note. Faith is the "substance" - more accurately rendered
ASSURANCE or CONFIDENCE - "of things hoped for." You do not hope
for that which you already have. Faith then comes BEFORE
possession! Before you receive what you hope for, you already
have it in substance - in assurance that you shall possess it.
That assurance is FAITH!
Faith is expressed in absolute recognition that God exists,
but it is not a BLIND faith though. It has proved there is a God
by the physical creation around us (Romans 1:19-20). And that His
word contained in the pages of the Bible is INSPIRED and to be
believed and trusted (2 Tim.3:15-17).
God has given to Christians very real promises, some are for
this earthly life here and now, and some for the life to come.
Unseen as yet, some are. Faith is the assurance we shall possess
them.
Faith is ACQUIRED. You cannot "dream it up" or hypnotize
yourself into receiving true LIVING SAVING faith.
Faith comes by HEARING. Hearing about the promises and ways
of God. And hearing comes from a willingness to read, to study,
to listen, to understand the WILL of God through His WORD
(Rom.10:17; Eph.5:17).
What the Lord has promised He will also perform. It is
IMPOSSIBLE for Him to LIE because He is PERFECT HOLINESS
(Heb.6:18; Mat.5:48). We can have absolute confidence -
POSITIVE FAITH - that God will always do whatever He has
promised.
Faith is assurance that God's word is TRUE! That His
promises are sure and that it is impossible for God to lie! This
assurance, this reliance on God's word - this confidence - is
FAITH!
YOUR FAITH
You have studied in a previous lesson what the word of the
Lord has to say about REPENTANCE, SIN, JUSTIFICATION, and the WAY
of God to the beginning of the road of salvation. You have seen
that ALL have sinned (Rom.3:23). All have incurred the wages of
sin - death (Rom.6:23). That God calls you to REPENTANCE (Acts
17:30). Whatever you NOW DO (keeping God's law completely
perfectly) will NOT erase, blot out, justify you of your past
sins.
You have seen that God the Father sent Jesus Christ to DIE
for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2; John 3:16). That
through Him there is justification - reconciliation to God the
Father and ultimate eternal life (Rom.3:23-28).
You then have HEARD these truths. You have studied God's
word to understand these truths. You have found the promises of
God pertaining to FORGIVENESS and being reconciled to the Father.
YOU NOW MUST EXERCISE FAITH! You must have TRUST, ASSURANCE,
CONFIDENCE that what God has PROMISED He will do. Remember He
cannot lie.
God has said that upon your REPENTANCE and willingness to
CHANGE your life to conform to His WAY, He will apply the very
blood of His Son, the blood He shed on the stake in death, to
YOU! Your sins can be washed away by the blood of Christ.
YOUR PART is to BELIEVE this promise of God. To have FAITH
that the Father will DO as He has said. You must let go of your
doubts or worries. Throw yourself completely on God's love and
mercy. Cry out to Him in HUMBLE repentance. BELIEVE what God
has said, He is there wanting to forgive you, to justify you
through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.
When you have done this, exercised your trust and faith in
this PROMISE of God, then the Father has also PROMISED that you
can have the VERY FAITH that was IN Christ(while He lived on this
earth as flesh and blood). That very same faith the Father has
promised to PUT WITHIN YOU!
JESUS' LIVING FAITH
When Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, He possessed
TREMENDOUS FAITH! Few realize that what He did, His obedience to
God's laws and the miracles He performed, was not done by any
power of His OWN! Everything He did was done through FAITH in
the Father's POWER - the power of the Father IN Him.
John 8:38,42
Did Jesus' family say He came from God the Father?
Matthew 19:16
How did Jesus answer the question, "How can I have eternal
life" ?
Was Jesus talking about the Ten Commandments(verses 18-19) ?
John 15:10
Did Jesus say He could of Himself do nothing?
John 14:10
How did Christ LIVE and DO the works He did?
LIVING BY THE FAITH OF CHRIST
Romans 3:31
Does FAITH render the law of God VOID, unnecessary to
observe?
James 2:20-22
Is faith WITHOUT works, obedience, a DEAD useless faith?
Romans 1:17
Must those who are declared RIGHTEOUS - justified , forgiven
of sins LIVE by faith?
Phil.3:9
By WHOSE faith is a Christian's righteousness, obedience to
God's commands, made possible?
Rev.14:12
WHOSE faith does God's people have today?
Gal.2:20
Did Christ live WITHIN Paul?
By Whose faith did Paul live?
Romans 8:9-10
Does Jesus live within the individual Christian by the Holy
Spirit (see also John 14:16-18)?
Romans 5:5
What does the Holy Spirit impart to us?
1 John 5:3
What is the love of God?
Note. The false teaching being promulgated today is that Jesus
kept God's holy spiritual law in our stead, and that we don't
have to keep it!
But if you ask those people who teach this NO LAW doctrine
if they mean you can go out and MURDER someone, STEAL from the
supermarket, commit ADULTERY with your friend's wife or husband
etc. they will usually stammer around and say, "well, I, I, ....I
didn't say you could do those things."
The fact is that the no law teaching has come about because
of the 4th commandment, what it clearly states, and because most
of professing Christianity does not observe it.
No, Jesus did not live a good life FOR you - in your stead.
You are not excused from keeping God's commandments. You are
expected to obey them, to grow in spiritual grace and knowledge
(2 Pet.3:18), to ENDURE and OVERCOME to the END in order to
inherit eternal life (Mat.19:17; 24:13).
We must be willing to do these things to be saved. Yet we
cannot do them of ourselves - even Jesus could not do them by
Himself alone (John 5:30).
The answer is FAITH! The very faith of Christ IN us. The
same LIVING FAITH - the same POWER of God IN US that Jesus had in
Him.
That same faith of Jesus in us will ESTABLISH the law - will
lead and help us to OBEY God, to do His WILL!
We are "justified" - forgiven our past sins - reconciled to
God the Father - through OUR faith in the sacrifice of Christ
(Rom.3:24-26, 28). But only those who will be willing to go on to
OBEY God's law will He justify (Rom.2:13). There are CONDITIONS
in order to be forgiven of sins. Jesus came to save us FROM our
sins, not IN our sins (Mat.1:21). We must REPENT, BELIEVE and be
WILLING TO OBEY!
The members of God's family have the very "FAITH OF Jesus."
It's not just OUR faith in Him, but HIS faith - the same
spiritual power He had - placed WITHIN us. So He lives His life
over again INSIDE our moral body and mind.
Jesus is said to be the "author" and "finisher" of our faith
(Heb.12:2). A better translation for the words "author" and
"finisher" is PIONEER and PERFECTER. Jesus led the way, setting
us the perfect example of LIVING FAITH (1 Pet.2:21). But Jesus
also PERFECTS His faith IN us!
We have seen Paul said he no longer lived by his OWN faith
(Gal.2:20) but by the very faith of Jesus Christ IN him, through
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God implanted
in Paul's mind the SAME KIND of faith, trust, and obedience, that
can be in YOUR mind. This faith - the very faith of Christ in
you - will enable you to be willing to obey God's commandments,
to serve the law and ways that are pleasing to Him, as it did for
the apostle Paul (Rom.7:12; 22-25).
Christ IN us - His faith in us - will give us the victory
over SIN and death. We will be able to overcome the world, sin,
and Satan. We will be able to endure to the end, and serve God
in humble obedience.
HOW TO RECEIVE THE FAITH OF CHRIST
Eph. 2:8-9
Is this living faith of Christ a GIFT from God?
Gal.5:22
Is this faith an attribute of the Holy Spirit?
Acts 2:38
How can we receive the Holy Spirit?
Acts 5:32
To whom will the Holy Spirit be given?
Note. The very faith of Christ comes to us by means of the Holy
Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit BOTH the Father and Jesus can
come to live their lives in us. As Paul said, it is Christ IN US
that is the HOPE of GLORY (Col. 1:27). Read about the WORK of
the Comforter in John chapters 14 and 15. It is by means of the
life of Christ - the Spirit of Christ - HIS faith in us that we
are eventually SAVED (Rom.8:9-11; 5:10) to INHERIT the
Kingdom.
This saving LIFE - faith - is given to us as a gift from
God. You cannot EARN it, work for it, and so demand it as a
right from God. You cannot "work it up" emotionally, or receive
it by any thought of "I can do it on my own steam" philosophy.
God will give it to us as a gift, BUT just as any gift given
to us may carry certain CONDITIONS that we must meet in order to
qualify for the gift, so God has laid down TWO conditions for us
to receive His gift of saving life.
1) REPENTANCE. We studied about the experience of real
repentance in the previous lessons.
2) BAPTISM. We shall study all about water baptism in the
next lesson following part two of this study.
When these two conditions have been met by us, God has
PROMISED to GIVE us His Holy Spirit, the very saving power and
faith of Christ, that will enable us to obey and say with Jesus,
"not my will be done but thine."
FAITH MUST BE ACTIVE
James 2:14-20, 26
1) What must faith have in order to SAVE you?
2) How did James say he would declare his faith to others?
3) Do the demons BELIEVE in certain FACTS? Will mere
factual belief save them?
4) What kind of faith is a DEAD faith?
Note. We have seen that we shall be saved by the life of Christ
in us. The Holy Spirit which emanates from the Father through
Christ Jesus into us, gives us eternal life here and now (1 John
5:11-12). And if His Spirit remains in us to the end (our
physical death or Jesus' return) we shall be made immortal
(Rom.8:11). God's Spirit is a LIVING power. Faith is one of its
attributes. So the faith it will manifest in an individuals life
will be a LIVING FAITH!
James tells us that in order for faith to be living it must
have WORKS.
But what does the Bible mean by WORKS? Some of the EXAMPLES
recorded for us answer that question. James uses the example of
Abraham (verses 21-24 of chapter two). Abraham's life is a good
place to start, for he is known as the "father of the faithful."
To be continued
Written 1989
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.
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