Thursday, June 19, 2014
Praying for worldly blessings?
Praying for worldly blessings?
I think the issue boils down to the
fact that people are too focused on the world here and now. We think Christ
came to give us our better life now; He didn't. The promise He consistently
gave was that His sheep would not perish but have eternal life through faith
in Him (John 3:16). The apostle Paul accounted all the glory and fame he had
in his Pharisaical position as rubbish (in fact, the original Greek could be
translated as "crap") in exchange for eternal life with Christ (Phi
3:7-11). The Eternal Word descended to man so that man might ascend to God
(Eph 4:9-10). The original apostles save John were all willingly martyred
because they knew they would be with their Lord. Early Christians were
willingly martyred because they considered this life a momentary affliction
compared to the glory of eternity with God (2 Cor 4:17).
Nowadays there is so little emphasis on the afterlife, and therefore our spiritual dreams and goals are minimal compared to our material lusts. I think partially this is because mortality has become a secondary worry - that is, until about 150 years ago there was a good chance someone we knew was going to die. Certainly in Martin Luther's day, the reason so many were focused on spiritual things was because they knew there was a good chance they might not survive the year. Nowadays, where the average lifespan is 80 years old and you're only real chance of dying (at least in the western world) is by car accident, we aren't as focused on those things. That's why the spiritual things get put on the back-burner, and we focus on material things: we now have a naturally long time to enjoy them, and the fact that this naturally long time could be interrupted at some point is not ingrained into our mind set. The fact is, death is real, and judgment is real. The aim of Christianity has not changed since our Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father. At the moment, I write this using the wireless in a restaurant, but on my way to work I could get in a car crash and die. Do you think, when I die, that I will be taking my car, my netbook, my iTouch, or anything else with me? I will be taking nothing but my body and soul, and will be judged before a righteous Lord. I am dead to the ways of the world, and my life is hidden in Christ - if God finds Christ in my heart, only then can I be given eternal life. With Christ in my heart, there will be nothing to give me but eternal life...because that is precisely all that God promised those who believe. On that note, I end with this passage from Colossians:
Therefore if you have been raised up
with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the
right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that
are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed
with Him in glory. [Col 3:1-4; NASB]
__________________
Edwards1984
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Saturday, May 31, 2014
What does it mean that Jesus is the son of David?
What does
it mean that Jesus is the son of David?
Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe Jesus as the
"son of David." But the question arises, how could Jesus be the son
of David if David lived approximately 1000 years before Jesus? The answer is
that Christ (the Messiah) was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the seed of
David (2 Samuel
7:14-16 ). Jesus was the promised Messiah, which meant He was
of the seed of David.Matthew
1 gives the genealogical proof that Jesus, in His humanity, was
a direct descendant of Abraham and David through Joseph, Jesus' legal father.
The genealogy in Luke chapter 3 gives Jesus' lineage through His mother, Mary.
Jesus is a descendant of David, by adoption through Joseph, and by blood
through Mary. Primarily though, when Christ was referred to as the Son of
David, it was meant to refer to His Messianic title as the Old Testament
prophesied concerning Him.
Jesus was addressed as “Lord, thou son of David” several times by people who,
by faith, were seeking mercy or healing. The woman whose daughter was being
tormented by a demon (Matthew
15:22 ), the two blind men by the wayside (Matthew 20:30 ), and
blind Bartimaeus (Mark
10:47 ), all cried out to the son of David for help. The titles
of honor they gave Him declared their faith in Him. Calling Him Lord expressed
their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and by calling Him “son of
David,” they were professing Him to be the Messiah.
The Pharisees, too, understood what was meant when they heard the people
calling Jesus “son of David.” But unlike those who cried out in faith, they
were so blinded by their own pride and lack of understanding of the Scriptures
that they couldn’t see what the blind beggars could see – that here was the
Messiah they had supposedly been waiting for all their lives. They hated Jesus
because He wouldn’t give them the honor they thought they deserved, so when
they heard the people hailing Jesus as the Savior, they became enraged (Matthew 21:15 ) and
plotted to destroy Him (Luke
19:47 ).
Jesus further confounded the scribes and Pharisees by asking them to explain
the meaning of this very title. How could it be that the Messiah is the son of
David when David himself refers to Him as “my Lord” (Mark 12:35-37 )? Of
course the teachers of the law couldn’t answer the question. Jesus thereby
exposed the Jewish spiritual leaders’ ineptitude as teachers and their ignorance
of what the Old Testament taught as to the true nature of the Messiah, further
alienating them from Him.
Jesus Christ, the only son of God and the only means of salvation for the world
(Acts 4:12 ), is also
the son of David, both in a physical sense and a spiritual sense.
Jesus' Two Natures: God and Man
Jesus' Two Natures: God and Man
Jesus is the most important person who has
ever lived since he is the Savior, God in
human flesh. He is not half God and half man. He is fully divine
and fully man. In other words, Jesus has two distinct natures: divine and human.
Jesus is the Word who was God and was with God and was made flesh (John 1:1 , 14 ). This means that in the single person of
Jesus he has both a human and divine nature, God and man. The divine
nature was not changed when the Word became flesh (John 1:1 , 14 ). Instead, the Word was joined with humanity (Col. 2:9 ). Jesus' divine nature was not altered. Also,
Jesus is not merely a man who "had God within Him," nor is he a man
who "manifested the God principle." He is God in flesh, second
person of the Trinity.
"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of
his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Heb. 1:3 ). Jesus' two natures are not "mixed
together" (Eutychianism),
nor are they combined into a new God-man nature (Monophysitism). They
are separate yet act as a unit in the one person of Jesus. This is called
the Hypostatic Union.
The following chart should
help you see the two natures of Jesus "in action":
|
GOD
|
MAN
|
|
He
worshiped the Father (John 17)
|
|
|
He
was called God (John 20:28 ; Heb. 1:8 )
|
He
was called man (Mark 15:39 ; John 19:5 )
|
|
He
was called Son of God (Mark 1:1 )
|
He
was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37 )
|
|
He
is prayed to (Acts 7:59 )
|
He
prayed to the Father (John 17)
|
|
He
is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22 ; Heb. 4:15 )
|
He
was tempted (Matt. 4:1 )
|
|
He
knows all things (John 21:17 )
|
He
grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52 )
|
|
He
gives eternal life (John 10:28 )
|
He
died (Rom. 5:8 )
|
|
All
the fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9 )
|
He has a body of
flesh and bones (Luke 24:39 )
|
The Communicatio
Idiomatum
A doctrine that is related to the Hypostatic
Union is the communicatio idiomatum (Latin for "communication of
properties"). This is the teaching that the attributes of both the
divine and human natures are ascribed to the one person of Jesus. This
means that the man Jesus could lay claim to the glory He had with the Father
before the world was made (John 17:5 ), claim that He
descended from heaven (John 3:13 ), and also claim
omnipresence (Matt. 28:20 ). All of
these are divine qualities that are laid claim to by Jesus; therefore, the
attributes of the divine properties were claimed by the person of Jesus.
One of the most common
errors that non-Christian cults make is not understanding the two natures of
Christ. For example, the Jehovah's Witnesses focus on Jesus' humanity and ignore
His divinity. They repeatedly quote verses dealing with Jesus as a man
and try to set them against Scripture showing that Jesus is also divine.
On the other hand, the Christian Scientists do the reverse. They focus on
the Scriptures showing Jesus' divinity to the extent of denying His true
humanity.
For a proper understanding
of Jesus and, therefore, all other doctrines that relate to Him, His two
natures must be properly understood and defined. Jesus is one person with
two natures. This is why He would grow in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52 ) and yet know all things (John 21:17 ). He is the Divine Word that became flesh (John 1:1 , 14 ).
The Bible is
about Jesus (John 5:39 ). The
prophets prophesied about Him (Acts 10:43 ). The Father bore witness of Him (John 5:37 ; 8:18 ). The Holy Spirit bore witness of Him (John 15:26 ). The works Jesus did bore witness of
Him (John 5:36 ; 10:25 ). The multitudes bore witness of Him (John 12:17 ). And, Jesus bore witness of Himself (John 14:6 ; 18:6 ).
Other verses to consider
when examining His deity are John 10:30-33 ; 20:28 ; Col. 2:9 ; Phil. 2:5-8 ; Heb. 1:6-8 ; and 2 Pet. 1:1 .
1 Tim. 2:5 says, "For there
is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus." Right now, there is a man in heaven on the throne of
God. He is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1 ). He is our Savior (Titus 2:13 ). He is our Lord (Rom. 10:9-10 ). He is Jesus.
Faith in God
Faith in God
Faith in God is marvellous because God is reliable. Faith releases the
blessing of God. It brings God onto the scene.
In previous studies, we have seen that God has provided a marvellous salvation from all the consequences of
man’s rebellion.
This salvation is to be received through repentance and faith. God
expects us to change our allegiance. We must now love Him and serve Him –
not our old selfish and corrupt desires. He wants to set us free from
every
oppression. But as well as this change of allegiance or repentance we need to
believe God and His promises with a living faith. In this lesson we will
consider what it means to have faith in God.
What is Faith?
Faith is not religion. Many times people say “We have our faith”. What
they mean is this: “We have our religious ideas and doctrines, our traditions,
our ways of doing things passed down through the generations. Don’t you try to
change them” This is not the Biblical idea of faith.
Faith is not mental assent. It is not agreeing with your mind, “Yes that
is true.” Many professing Christians believe mentally that the Bible is the
Word of God, but this faith does not change the way they live. It is not a
faith that can save. (James 2:14 )
Even demons have that kind of faith. They know and believe that God
exists (James 2:19 ) – and tremble. They have no
loving confidence in God.
Faith is not a way to manipulate God. It is not a power by which we make
God do what WE want when otherwise He would be unwilling to do that thing. It
is not a kind of magic through which we make God into our servant!
Faith is not hope, nor positive desire. Hope is good, and relates to the
future. Faith, however, takes the promise as done NOW. Many people have hope
and are anxiously looking for results, but they lack the settled confidence and
present assurance which faith has.
What Faith Is
In the general sense of the word, to have faith is to believe in
something or someone, to fully trust, to be so confident that you base your
actions on what you believe. To have faith is to be fully convinced of the
truthfulness and reliability of that in which you believe.
Faith in God then, is having the kind of trust and confidence in God and
in Christ that leads you to commit your whole soul to Him as Saviour
(Justifier, Cleanser, Healer, Deliverer) and Lord (Master, King).
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The NIV translation says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and
certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).
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The NKJV of the Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 ).
Faith is a spiritual substance. When you have this spiritual substance
in you, it communicates to you a certain inner knowing that the thing you are
hoping for is certainly established, even before you see any material evidence
that it has happened.
Faith is a spiritual force. Faith in God is a response
to God’s Word which moves God to act. Jesus said in Mark 11:23 , “For assuredly I say to you,
whoever SAYS to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea,’ and does not
doubt in his heart, but BELIEVES that those things he SAYS will be done, he
will HAVE whatever he SAYS.” Words mixed with the real, pure faith can and will
move mountains or any other problem that we face.
Faith in God must be from the heart. It is not merely intellectual. It
is spiritual. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10 )
Faith causes you to know in your heart before you see with your eyes.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2Cor 5.7)
Some say, “Seeing is believing.” Once you see the thing hoped for
already existing in the natural order, you don’t need faith.
Hope is a condition for faith. Hope is “a positive unwavering
expectation of good”. Hope is for the mind (1 Thessalonians 5:8 ; Hebrews 6:19 ), an anchor for the soul.
It keeps us in the place where we can believe, but it is not in itself “faith”.
Yet, without hope there are no “things hoped for”, and therefore there cannot
be faith.
Through faith we can know we have the answer to our prayer before we see
anything change in the natural order (1 John 5:14 ,15). Jesus said, “Therefore
I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive
them, and you will have them.” (Mk 11:24 ). God expects us, even commands
us, to believe that our petitions are answered by God AT THE MOMENT WE MAKE
THEM. We must believe that the response is immediately sent WHEN we pray.
Faith is like the confirmation slip in our hearts that the goods are on the
way. We have that confirmation slip instantly from God. We sense it in our
hearts. The manifestation of those goods, the answer received, comes later as
long as we are patient and do not throw away our confidence. (Hebrews 10:35-39 ; Hebrews 6:12 )
Faith is like a cheque. All you have to do is hold on to the cheque, go
to the bank to present it and you can confidently expect the money to appear in
your account after a certain time. If you throw the cheque away the money will
not be put in your account. God is trustworthy and always has resources to back
his promises.
Living faith always has corresponding actions. We talk what we really
believe, and we act according to what we really believe. The heroes of faith
like Abraham were considered men of faith because they acted on what God showed
them. They acted on their faith. (Hebrews 11:17-38 ,James 2:21-23 ).
To live in faith means to do and say what you believe is right, without
doubting.
Faith is a rest. It is compatible with inner peace. It is not “trying to
believe”. To say that you are “trying to believe” God is to say that you don’t
believe Him. The man who is “trying to believe” may be sincere, but he does not
have faith in that area yet.
Why must we believe God? Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without
faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
“Whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23 ) and God hates sin. When we
don’t believe God, we treat Him like He is a liar. Remember that He is
everywhere and sees all things. He is hurt when we act like He doesn’t exist,
or that He will not do what He promised to do. Only when we have confidence in
God and His Word can we please Him.
Lack of faith leads to lack of obedience. God’s commands can only really
be fulfilled through faith. Without confidence in God’s promises a man will
never really do what God says. Lack of obedience in God’s eyes is rebellion.
Such lack of obedience dishonours God and surely deserves to be punished.
“The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17 ). We must live by faith in
order to be considered by God “right” and “correct”. Otherwise we stand
condemned.
Those who don’t believe God inevitably believe in something else. Either
religious tradition, or their understanding of science, or what the women’s
magazine says, or what their next door neighbour tells them, the education
system, the mass-media or a combination of all these things. God is not
impressed. “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22 ) In fact, those who don’t
fully believing God end up believing the devil somewhere along the track. It is
very possible to believe what the devil says without even believing that he
exists! Satan is speaking through so many philosophies and religions without
openly declaring himself. Not too many actually know they are trusting the words
of satan and his demons.
God is therefore righteous in expecting us to believe in Him and what He
says. Who is better qualified to tell us the truth and help us to find answers
for life and eternity?
The Bible teaches us that genuine faith is “more precious than gold that
perishes” (1 Peter 1:7 ). Indeed such faith is going
to be “tested by fire”. You can expect difficulties and persecutions in your
life of faith, as well as blessings. Therefore to encourage you to hold onto
and develop your faith, we will consider some of the benefits of faith.
1. Faith brings salvation. (Ephesians 2:8 ,9). Whosever believes in
Him has eternal life. (John 3:16 ), and shall not come into
judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24 ). The just shall live by
faith. (Romans 1:17 )
2. Faith brings answers to prayer. “And whatever things you ask in
prayer, really believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22 ). Since God tells us to
pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11 ), faith is therefore a key
to our material provision.
3. Faith brings all the benefits of salvation into our lives (Ephesians 2:8 ,9). This includes healing,
prosperity, peace, love, joy (1 Peter 1:8 ), deliverancefrom demons and the curse, sanctification of the mind and emotions
(the salvation of the soul) and any other benefit which the word of Godpromises to us.
4. Faith is a spiritual force through which our ministry for Christ
becomes effective. (Mark 11:23 ; Matthew 17:19 ,20). Faith is a major key
to ministry success. It brings to you what you need for your ministry, and by
imparting it to others through your life and your ministry of God’s Word, you
enable them to receive the blessings of God’s grace mentioned above.
5. In particular, faith is the major key for an effective healing and
deliverance ministry. Jesus Christ “the same yesterday, today and forever”
lives in the Christian (Hebrews 13:8 , Galatians 2:20 ), and through the
Christian wants to reveal the power of salvation to men in a way they can see
and feel. In this way, our evangelism concerning the Kingdom of God will not be
in talk, but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20 ).
We see how important faith is. Yet some people despair here, thinking
that they don’t have faith. Yet faith comes (Romans 10:17 ), it can grow and develop.
If you are not full of faith today, that doesn’t mean you will be that way all
your life. You can choose to be a person of faith! Here are some keys to
developing faith.
1. Listen to the Word of God as much as possible. “Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17 ). Constant attention to the
Word of God produces faith, especially if we attend to it with an open heart
and mind. The book of Proverbs encourages us to constantly keep the Word in our
hearts and to keep our attention on it (Proverbs 4:20-22 ). Health is one of the
benefits promised.
What we listen to affects what we believe. If we listen to the TV more
than to the Word, we will believe the lies of the world more than we will
believe what God says. Constant attention to lies produces deception.
Eventually the mind will accept something if that thing is heard often enough
and persuasively enough. That is why we should keep hearing the Word of God,
through preaching, Christian tapes, confession of the Word, daily fellowship with
godly Christians. This will cause us eventually to believe the truth from our
hearts.
2. Realise that every believer has been given a measure of faith by God.
(Romans 12:3 ). We just have to use and
develop what God has given. We must put it into action.
3. Pray in tongues and be full of the Spirit (Jude 20). We will look at
this later. If you have been baptised in the Spirit as the disciples were in
the book of Acts, you should pray and praise in tongues often because through
this you “edify yourself” (1 Corinthians 14:4 ) and “build yourself
up in your most holy faith”. Praying in tongues is a key to being full of the
Spirit. Since faith is a fruit of the Spirit, all things things are related
together.
4. Obey God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is as you walk that you gain
strength. God will not reveal greater things to you until you are faithful in
the things He is showing you NOW. Therefore obedience to the Spirit and what He
is showing you through the Word or through your conscience is important in the
development of your faith. You cannot have living faith without taking some
practical steps of obedience. Act on what God is saying!
5. Give thanks. Give thanks for the results before you see. Don’t
complain – that shows you doubt God’s love and God’s answer to your situation.
Give thanks in all situations (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ).
6. Develop a life of praise and worship. Praise drives the powers of
darkness away and brings the throne of God into your circumstances. Praising
God is an act of faith and helps your faith to grow. It is commanded (Hebrews 13:15 ). Worship is admiring God
through the Spirit. If you can perceive who is God, His power, faithfulness and
love your trust and faith in Him will grow.
7. Spend as much time as you can with people of faith. The spirit of faith on
them will touch your life also (Proverbs 13:20 ).
8. Speak the WORD. By saying with your mouth you
exercise your faith, you hear the Word and you build it into your life. God’s
Word is anointed and has power when it is spoken to change the spiritual
atmosphere (Joshua 1:8 ; Romans 10:10 ). Confession of God’s Word
(saying the same thing as God’s word) brings you into the place where the Lord
will move to fulfil it (Hebrews 3:1 ). The angels hearken to the
voice of God’s Word (Psalms 103:20 )
9. Seek holiness, purity of heart. “Pursue peace with
all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 ). It is with the heart
that man believes (Romans 10:10 ). To the extent that the
heart has uncleanness, unforgiveness and other bad conditions within, the man
will lose the spiritual perception of the Lord which enables his heart to
believe. Purity and faith feed each other.
10. Remember that faith works by love (Galatians 5:6 ). The centurion (Matthew 8:5-13 ) and the woman of Canaan
(Matthew 15:21-28 ) were both motivated by
their love for another in coming to Jesus. And both were described as having great
faith. Let us believe God for others to be blessed, in a spirit of love, and as
we give of our selves God will give blessings to us also (Luke 6:37 ). This is related to the idea
of “seed-faith”. Express your faith by planting a seed in terms of some form of
giving. God will release a multiplied harvest in return if we endure and do not
faint (Hebrews 10:36 ).
“With the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10 ).Confessing Christ as your Living Lord and
Saviour with your mouth releases God’s salvation into your life. Since
salvation includes many benefits and blessings our right mouth confession is a
major key to receiving what God has provided for us by his grace.
We should realise that “Death and life is in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21 ). The power of the tongue
is in the power of the words we speak. All our words have an effect on the
spiritual atmosphere around us, either for good or bad. It is through words
that covenants and promises are established. It is through words that our faith
or our fears are expressed. Bad words open the door for bad spirits to work.
Good words open the door for God and His angels to work.
Angels heed the VOICE of God’s Word (Psalms 103:20 ). Words are spiritual
seeds. Words of life produce life. Words of faith produce faith. Words of love
produce love. Words of hope produce hope, and so on. Words of death attract
spirits of death, words of doubt attract doubt, words of fear attract spirits
of fear, and so on. Therefore we must guard carefully what we SAY. The Bible
has much to say on this subject, especially in the Book of Proverbs (e.g. Proverbs 10:19 , 20, 31, 32; 12:18, 22;
14:23, 33; 15:1, 4, 28). Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word
men may speak, they will give account of it on the day of judgment. For by your
words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. ” (Matthew 12:36 ,37). Paul said, “And
WHATEVER you do, IN WORD or deed, do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17 )
Confession (Gk: homologeo) means literally “to say the same thing”. To
confess the Word of God then means to say the same thing as God’s Word says.
When you say it, it tends to produce faith because in saying it you must also
hear it from your own mouth, and hearing the Word causes faith to come (Romans 10:17 ). In saying the Word
yourself, you identify YOURSELF with the truth of God’s Word. It is one thing
to hear someone else say something, another to say that thing yourself. The
more you say God’s Word, the more you will believe it, and the more you believe
it, the more you will say it.
“A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with
the increase of his lips shall he be filled.” (Proverbs 18:20 , see Proverbs 12:14 ). This means that we feed
on the words we speak. What we say comes back to affect our own heart and our
own spiritual condition. That is another reason why confessing the Word and not
negative things will greatly help our faith.
At times it is difficult to speak consistently with what the Bible says
because our minds are not sufficiently renewed. We still have doubt in our
souls. We must reprogram our subconscious minds to accept God’s principles and
God’s promises without doubt (Romans 12:2 ). Meditation, repeated
pondering, listening to good preaching, confession of the Scripture, as well as
informed study will help here. The Word must enter deeply into us. This will
change the way we are, the way we speak, the way we respond to difficulties and
challenges. If it does not we have been too superficial in our treatment of the
Word. We have substituted the mental knowledge and recognition of the words for
real meditation and confession.
God talks in faith. God “gives life to the dead and calls those things
which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17 ). Through faith-filled
words, God created the universe (Hebrews 11:3 ). As sons of God we are
called to be imitators of God, filled with God’s Spirit (Eph 5:1 ,18). When we are in Christ and
we have the promise of God, we have the right to speak about something God has
promised as if it existed even before our natural senses are conscious of it.
It is our faith that gives substance to this confession of things not seen. For
example, if we have believed God for a car, we can talk about our car before we
see it. We should realise that God has already “given us all things that
pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3 ) and all spiritual blessings
(Ephesians 1:3 ). But the effective
receiving depends on our faith. Faith is confident of the faithfulness of God
in His declared promises and talks and acts so, even before the natural eye
sees.
Acting in Faith
Real faith has corresponding actions. Looking at Hebrews 11:4-37 we see that all
those who are commended for their faith did something as well. It is possible
to have actions, even religious actions, without real faith – but these actions
are dead works. Without faith you can’t please God. (Hebrews 11:6 ).
Sometimes confusion arises in this matter of faith and works. There is a
radical difference between works or actions that spring from real faith, and
works which spring from SELF in an effort to earn God’s
approval. The former cannot be separated from real faith. The latter are as
filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6 ), and are wrong because the
man occupied with them cannot understand or accept God’s free grace – that it is by GRACE, by CHRIST
that we are saved, and not by our own works.
Faith hears the word of God, the voice of God and acts in obedience with
a trusting heart. God often speaks to us through our consciences by His Spirit,
pressing us towards a particular kind of action which is based on God’s Word.
Real faith yields to God’s suggestion and does it.
Jesus told the blind man to go to the pool to wash. The blind man, by
acting in obedience to Jesus’ words BEFORE he received healing, demonstrated
the kind of faith which God required of him in that situation, and he was
healed. (John 9:7 ). If he had not obeyed, he
would not have been healed.
God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac up as a sacrifice. Abraham’s
obedience in this matter demonstrated the reality of his faith. (James 2:20-24 ). Even justifying faith is
not passive. It does not rest in sin. Justifying faith works with repentance to
open the door for the receiving of God’s great salvation.
In closing this lesson we will consider some of the main enemies of
faith and how they can be overcome.
1. Ignorance. You cannot believe a promise until you hear it or find it. Much
unbelief rises out of the fact that people just don’t know what the Bible says.
The cure for this is study, meditation and consideration of the Word.
2. Unbelief. This is the sinful choice to not believe God. It is usually
motivated by pride, rebellion and ignorance. The cure for this is therefore to
humble oneself, change one’s mind, choose to believe. Fasting puts done the
flesh and is often very effective in destroying the power of unbelief, because
it aids in humbling ourselves and in removing fleshly distractions to the voice
of God. If done correctly it can help us to focus on God and will make the
spiritual things more intense to us, thereby destroying unbelief.
3. Fear. Negative fear is a negative emotion based on the real
expectation of bad things to come. It is rooted in anxiety and a lack of trust
in God’s fatherly protection and love. Perfect love casts out fear. (1Jn 4:18 ). God is perfect love.
Therefore by seeking God, His presence and the fullness of His Spirit we will
be set free from fear. When we are conscious of God’s power it is very easy to
be courageous and bold. We expect success when we are consciously full of God
and know that we are doing what He is telling us to do. To overcome fear we
must look to God and not to natural considerations which could cause our
failure if God were not with us. Peter, looking to the wind and the waves, was
overcome by a fear which paralysed his faith and caused him to sink. He needed
to keep looking to Jesus. God says, “Fear not, FOR I AM WITH YOU.” (Is. 43:5 ). God gives us a reason not to
fear, and a commandment. To fear anyone or anything except the Lord is a sin.
We can overcome this sin by being full of God and looking to Him. Also we must
forgive all men if we want to be delivered from this form of torment. (Mt 18:34 , I Jn 4:18 )
4. Doubt. Doubt is an enemy to faith because it speaks with a voice that
challenges the truth or the reliability of what we should be believing. To
overcome doubt we must fill ourselves with the Word of God, meditating deeply
and repetitively on it. Doubt is the evidence of an unconsecrated heart and mind. It is the
evidence of lack of devotion to God’s Word. Doubt, like fear, torments. We must
forgive others and give our whole hearts to God. We must stop listening to the
voice of demons or the voice of our own carnal mind trained from early days to
resist God. This is a decision. It helps to hear the testimonies of others to
overcome doubt. However, doubt will never be fully overcome until we treat the
Bible as God’s voice TO US.
5. Discouragement. Sometimes we feel discouraged because of physical
or emotional weakness or tiredness. We may be disappointed by the behaviour of
other Christians. We may be discouraged by the persecution of others, even of
our families. Perhaps we have waited for what may or may not be God’s promise
to us, and we grow impatient. Many Christians at some time in their life become
disappointed with God. Satan uses discouragement to weaken and if possible
destroy our faith. To overcome discouragement we must make a decision to be
strong (Hebrews 12:12 ; Ephesians 6:10 ) in the Lord. We must
want to be strong and stop making excuses for our weakness and failure. We must
consider God’s faithfulness to us in the past, even through difficulties (Hebrews 10:32-34 ). We must rededicate
ourselves to God’s Word, to thankfulness, to prayer and to the voice of the
Spirit. We need to learn to obey the Spirit in small things. Sometimes even
great men of God like Elijah were discouraged. At one time, even after a great
victory, he ran away from Jezebel, the witch. God restored Elijah through the
ministry of angels, through his voice, and by getting him occupied in new
missions for God full of the promise of hope.
5. The Love of Praise. When you are more interested in
what people – even Christian people – think of you, more than what God thinks
of you, according to Jesus, you won’t be able to truly believe in Him. Why?
Because God’s priorities and man’s are different. Jesus said, “How can you
believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that
comes from the only God?” (John 5:44 )
To overcome this, you must cultivate a personal relationship with God
through prayer and obedience. You must allow your old nature to be weakened as
you say yes to God and no to these desires for seeking praise and recognition.
God is calling all of us to put our faith in action in many ways. Many
of the following lessons relate to practical areas which as a Christian we must
put into practice. True faith will lead us to church commitment, to pray, to be baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit and to tell others about
Christ.
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