Faith in the Christian Walk
Faith has played a part in humanity and how we react to God’s creation since the beginning. Has anyone ever asked you, “how do you know there is a God?” I’m sure that you may have been asked this before. I have even had the question asked, “How do you know that God did that?” Most of the time I can not give a great answer outside of it is faith.
Example after example has been given to us in the scriptures of what faith is in our lives. Not just here on earth, but the eternity that we all wait for. The unseen things that we cannot explain but have 100% confidence in them come from a mighty gift that God has given us. So what is Faith exactly, and does everyone have it?
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8
Let us begin by talking about where faith comes from. Paul the apostle did a great deal of writing on the subject at hand. In Ephesians 2:8 Paul states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Faith is a gift that God gives us. For those of us who believe in Jesus as Savior, we have to give respect to God first.
Where Does Faith Come From?
Our heavenly Father gives us the gift of faith to accept his son. This might then lead to the question, do some get the gift and others do not? That is a very good question to ask, so let’s dive into this question. Paul again gives readers some insight into this “gift.” He wrote in Galatians, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
If we were to poll most people would say there are universal truths. Some may not, but they are deceived and unwise. Of course, there are universal truths. The Murder of an innocent person is wrong. This was made evident with Cain and Abel. More than that, God gave us the law to make us realize that he has rules that we are meant to follow. Here is where the gift applies.
We as a species cannot live a life where we will live our whole life and not break at least one of his commands. Isaiah wrote, “ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” The best of the best we can be is a menstrual cloth, which is the translation of “filthy rag.” In other words by God’s law, we are unclean.
God’s Gift to Man
So how does this apply to the gift of faith? The law was given so we can see how unclean we are. This gift is the ability from God to recognize this schoolmaster (The Law) and recognize our need to be cleaned. That cleansing came from sacrifice pre-Christ. When Jesus was crucified it was the atonement for our sins to cleanse us all. I have had the question asked, “If Jesus died for us, then why would the gift of faith be needed, he died for all right?”
That is true, Jesus died for all, however, it is the acceptance of him as that sacrifice that is brought in by the gift of faith. Let me use an example. Most of us have never held cancer in our hands. We can not explain how some folks get it, nor where it comes from. But when your doctor says you have it, by faith in that doctor, you make a plan to treat it. Faith in Christ is the great physician (God) telling us all that our soul has cancer, and he gave us all the remedies.
Just like with cancer, there are those who could tell the doctor they do not believe they have it. They may go home with their own stubbornness, denying their bodies own destruction, which will eventually lead to death. They have shown no faith in accepting what the doctor has told them. They refused the gift of understanding he had given them. Sadly, many in today’s world have done the same to the “Great Physician.” The gift of faith was not applied.
Old Testament and Faith
If belief is in Jesus, was it a new testament concept, right? Not at all. Many of those in the Old Testament lived by Faith. Noah spent 100+ years building an Ark when it had never rained. David showed great faith that the small stone would defeat his enemy Goliath. Even Abraham was justified, not by works, but by his faith.
Hebrews 11:8 states, “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.” Faith was on full display in Abraham, enough that he obeyed. And now we come back to how that affects us today. The gift of faith is necessary to obey the command that we must accept Jesus as the savior for eternal life. The schoolmaster (the law) taught us that we are unclean, God’s gift of faith points to Jesus to clean us.
If we are to call ourselves Christian, faith must be present in our life. This leads us to understand that we have a creator. Understanding that even on our best attempt we are not going to keep every law, which brings death. Faith that the treatment to save us from death is in Christ. Just to be clear, there is no other way, I just had to say it. If we are to be justified, look to Romans 1:17. Paul wrote, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
More episodes from 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics
- Reverent: 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics | Episode 26
- Strength: 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics | Episode 25
- Servant: 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics | Episode 24
- Repentance: 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics | Episode 23
- Love: 7 Ironclad Christian Characteristics | Episode 22
