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Understanding Faith
Hababkkuk 2:4
Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by faith.
Why we need to understand FAITH. . .
Romans 4:5
But to him who does not work but believes on Him (JESUS)
who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted
for righteousness.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WHEN WE PLACE OUR FAITH IN JESUS,
HE MAKES US RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD!
SINCE FAITH IS THE BASE ON WHICH CHRISTIANITY STANDS,
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BELIEVERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT FAITH IS
AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THEIR DAILY
LIVES.
Romans 3: 24-25
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as propitiation
by His blood, through faith.
propitiation means: an atoning sacrafice.
The definition of righteousness is:
to act in accord with divine or moral law and be free from
guilt or sin.
AND
Morally right or justifiable.
To be righteous is to be JUST(IFIED).
God cannot dwell among unrighteousness.
Therefore, because of our unrighteousness, we must become
righteous or JUSTIFIED.
FAITH is the gateway to our justification by means of Jesus'
blood.
>>>>>>>FAITH makes us righteous (justified) before God!<<<<<<<
Romans 1: 17
The just shall live by faith.
So, faith in Jesus is the difference between living with God in
heaven or apart from God in hell for eternity.
If this is true, then faith must be one of the most important
topics to understand!
Actually, God's Word states that it is in the top three:
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
** The purpose of this lesson is to shed some light on the
area of faith according to the Truths in the Bible,
and to understand what it means to live/walk in faith.
But, we cannot discuss faith without also discussing
hope and love.**
NOTE #1:
These three things are all we will be able to take with
us after we depart from this earth. Not money, not material
possessions nor worldly things; only that which is done in
faith, hope, and love.
1. Defining Faith: (Faith and Hope)
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
The Greek word translated "substance" (Strong's #5287)
literally means "a standing under" (support), "assurance",
"confidence". The word is also used in the technical sense
of a "title deed".
So, faith is the:
substance,
support,
assurance,
evidence,
confidence,
title/deed,
for our HOPE!
The "things hoped for" are those things that Christ has told
or promised us beforehand. Therefore, this hope is born in
us when we believe Christ.
Faith is not the same as belief. Faith implies action.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by (act in) faith, not by sight.
Faith must be acted upon to be proven as faith.
To "walk by faith" or "live by faith" is to be acting
upon what Christ has told us, ("faith-ing") in every step
we take and in everything we do.
FAITH is an action based uopn a belief that when
Jesus says He will do something,
He is going to do it!!!
2. Components of Faith (Faith and Love)
In order to believe someone, you must first be able
to trust them. Trust grows between two individuals as
their relationship develops. The closer your relationship
is with someone, whether they are a friend, spouse, relative
etc., the more you're able to rely on their own personal
trustworthiness. The same goes with Jesus Christ. The more
we get to know Him, the more we begin to realize how
faithful He is to us. Christ is 100% trustworthy, 100% of
the time. But you can't trust Him if you don't have a
realtionship with Him. You can't trust someone you don't
know. Our degree of FAITH in Him, our ability to act upon
His word, is a clear indicator of the depth of our
relationship with Him!
THE 3 COMPONENTS OF FAITH
1. ACT
2.TRUST
3.BELIEF
Mark 12:28-31
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked
Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:
"Hear , O Israel, the Lord our God, the LORD is one.
30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength.' This is the first commandment.
31 "And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater
than these."
How do we love the Lord our God with all our heart,soul,mind,
and strength?
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith not by sight.
FAITH =
1. Trust with our soul and heart. (will/emotions)
2. Believe with our mind. (logic)
3. Act with our strength. (physical body)
SOUL & HEART:
We must will to place our trust in Jesus. This is something we
must consciously choose to do even though it may be a struggle.
It is a struggle to get the will and emotions aligned to what
our spiritual self wants. We must choose to take our emotions
(fear,anxiety,anger,loneliness,self-pity,procrastination,etc.)
captive and make them respond in accordance to His will.
Doubt is an emotional response which we confirm with our logic.
Any emotion teamed up with the support of our logical mind will
create what we will do.
Example: If we fear heights, and our mind tells us being high
off the ground is scary because we fear that we could
die if we fell from that height,then we will always stay close to
the ground. This is why we must focus our mind on His
promises before we do anything and align our emotions
according to His will.
MIND:
When we choose to believe Jesus with our mind, despite what we
see, becomes an act of worship. Loving Him with all
our mind is honoring and recognizing His word as Truth even
though our reasoning may seem to tell us the opposite.
We are denying our logic and exalting Him above our thoughts.
Our present reasoning may not see the Truth of His word,
but as the relationship grows with Him, the Truth shall be
discovered (or un-covered) by our logic and reasoning.
STRENGTH:
It is His strength, not ours. He gave us our soul, mind and
heart: He must also provide our strength. Trying to act on
our own strength is a work of the flesh and will fail us
every time. We must rely on Him. This is a physical act of
worship. We can not act until our mind, will, and heart are
in agreement.
"Faith-ing" in Christ is an act of love
involving "all our heart, all our
soul, all our mind, and all our
strength".
This is worship because we fully
submit our whole being to Him in
obedience.
**Hope is the by-product of faith.**
3. Living by Faith.
Luke 17: 7-10
7 "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep,
will say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come
at once and sit down to eat"?
8 "But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my
supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and
drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink"?
9 "Does he thank that servant because he did the things that
were commanded him? I think not.
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which
are commanded, say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have
done what was our duty to do.'"
The "good" deeds that we do are not really good at all (especially
if we are trying to look good and/or earn His grace). Our "good"
works is what we should have done in the first place! Obeying
Him and doing what is right earns us no points and is nothing
special...it was our duty. What have we profited by our "good"
works? Nothing! It is what He has already commanded. He will not
thank us or be impressed by us on the Day of Judgement.
So, an important question to ask is: How can we please God?
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him".
AND
Romans 8:8
those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
AND
Romans 14:23
whatever is not from faith is sin.
Anytime we are not exercising FAITH in our lives, is dis-pleasing
to Him. Seeking the Lord pleases Him because it is and ACT of faith.
A "good" deed done with the wrong motive is sin in the sight of
God! Wrong motives make our "works" outside faith and instead these
works come from the flesh. A good deed done out of FAITH and TRUST,
please Him and is looked upon as "good".
Being motivated by FAITH is what makes the difference.
If we say in our heart "I will do this work He has told me-
because I know He will provide for me - and take care of the rest"
and then we do it in secret,
will be the only time the work we do is deemed "good".
An example of how deeds are done in faith:
Matthew 6:1-6
1 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men,
to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your
Father in heaven.
2 "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a
trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3 "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing,
4 "that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father
who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say
to you, they have their reward.
6 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have
shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place;
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
To live or walk by faith is to be reacting in faith
to our Father in Heaven, and Jesus Christ, the
son of God, in everything that we do!!
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