Throughout Christian history, every Believer has been responsible for knowing Jesus and making Him known to others. Our first responsibility is to be in a relationship with Jesus through His Holy Spirit. This means learning what Jesus purchased for us at the cross of Calvary; we are justified, saved, forgiven, made righteous, and empowered to serve the Lord. It is our faith in the one who saved us, Jesus! who enables us to be healed and made whole in our souls. Show More
Our faith must be in the Lord and Him alone. When we are in a relationship with the Lord, we get to know Him in a personal way, and with that comes a trust or faith in Him and His word. Jesus has called us to become faith walkers. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we are to, “Walk by faith and not by sight.” Our relationship is spirit to Spirit. Someone once said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience!” How true that statement is, and once accepted as truth, it changes how we see ourselves and the world we live in.
Our second responsibility is known as the Great Commission, which Jesus gave to His followers and is found at the end of each of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Notice that I said every Believer, not just prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. So often, we assume that the work of the Gospel is for what is known as the “five-fold ministry,” described in Ephesians 4:11, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,” While it is true that the Lord gave these ministry gifts for the benefit of the church, it is not true that they are the only ones responsible for the message of the Gospel. Every Believer is responsible and empowered to share the Gospel or “Good News.”
Too often, as Christians, we think, “Let the pastor do it,” when, in fact, the Lord is calling you to rise up and be His ministers of truth, light, and life. Jesus told his followers in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Those who heard the message at that time knew Jesus in the flesh and had faith in Him and His words because of their relationship with Him. Today, we have a relationship with the resurrected Jesus by His Spirit, and we know that He is alive and has a plan for our lives. It is no different today than it was when Jesus walked the earth; the issue is faith! Will you believe?
Faith is central to our salvation, our relationship with the Lord, and our God-given destiny. So, what do we mean when we talk about faith? Is faith natural or supernatural? Let’s take a look at the difference between the two.
Natural Faith – Dictionary
- 1. Allegiance to duty or a person: loyalty, fidelity to one’s promises, sincerity of intentions.
- 2. Belief and trust in and loyalty to God, belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion, and firm belief in something for which there is no proof of complete trust.
- 3. Something that is believed with strong conviction, a system of religious beliefs.
The kind of faith described here is based upon understanding, sometimes called intellectual assent. You agree that something is true, but are you willing to trust your life to that truth? For example, it is easier to fight for a principle than it is to live by that principle. I remember someone saying that most people are “legends in their own minds!” In other words, they picture themselves as strong and courageous in their imagination, but when it comes to action, they fail to live up to the truth. In the second part of Daniel 11:32 it says, “but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” You see, a strong Christian is one who knows the truth and does the truth. That’s faith in action.
Spiritual Faith – Bible
Hebrews 11:1 States that “faith is the substance (guarantee) of things hoped for and the evidence (convincing proof) of things not seen (invisible).” There is a sense of certainty when we speak of faith in this sense. It is seeing the invisible.
Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”
Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Hebrews 11:27, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
Spiritual faith means that we believe what God has said in His Word, the Bible, and confirmed by His Holy Spirit. It is a knowing in our hearts that God is true and will never leave or forsake us or break His promises.
The Apostle Paul gives us an illustration of this kind of spiritual faith when he describes the faith of Abraham in Romans 4:19-22, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.” From these verses, we see that Abraham did not look at the natural facts of his old age but could see the invisible workings of an all-powerful God.
The key to true spiritual faith is 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” It’s a simple statement, but so profound. It means that we don’t need evidence first to believe; we believe, and then the evidence of our faith appears.
–Not faith in faith, but faith in Him.
–Our faith is relational. Oswald Chambers said, “We blunder when we tell people they must believe certain things about Jesus Christ; a man cannot believe until he knows him, then belief is spontaneous and natural.”
Christian faith relies upon the Word of God—Jesus; the power of God—the Holy Spirit; and the love of God—the Father. This is our faith position!
You see, we don’t need more understanding; we need more trust and reliance upon Him! Hear what the scriptures says in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
The human mind cannot understand God’s mind. No matter how brilliant a mind is, it cannot come close to God’s mind. The good news is that everything the Lord feels we need to know He graciously gives us. Deuteronomy 29:29 says the following, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Remember that God is not influenced by how we think He should work; His plan is always better than yours.
Faith is our position as Christians, having done all we stand!
Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:34 that we will experience troubles in this life, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” However, at the same time, Jesus makes it clear that He has overcome the world’s troubles. John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We can trust the Lord because He always keeps His promises and that becomes apparent when we learn to walk by faith and not by sight.
Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
In other words, troubles, trials, and tribulations will fall on us, but we are called to stand in faith; when we do, we are not responsible for the results—God is, and He will give us the victory! The Lord does not create life’s problems, but He will use them to perfect our faith. Because faith is not simply an idea it is an action. The evidence of faith is found in the action or deed.
Your faith must be tested.
“If your faith has not been tested, how can you trust in your faith? Are we “legends in our own minds,” or do we truly “walk by faith and not by sight?”
I believe the following accurately explains how God takes everyday situations to develop our faith:
- If you ask for Patience, God will allow Trials to develop your endurance
- If you ask for Strength, God will allow Difficulties to make you strong
- If you ask for Wisdom, God will provide Problems for you to solve
- If you ask for Prosperity, God provides you Wisdom and Strength to work
- If you ask for Courage, God will allow Perils to overcome
- If you ask for Love, God will provide Troubled People to help
- If you ask for Favor, God will give you Opportunities
- You may not get everything you Want, but you will get everything you Need because our God is a faithful God.
You may ask, “What do I do when doubt or fear enter my mind?” Let’s go to the Bible. You may recall the time that Jesus healed a demon-possessed child in Matthew 9. Listen to what Jesus said and the response of the child’s father. Mark 9:23-24, “Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Faith is the doorway to seeing God work, and there will be times when we can release faith in a situation. However, if we are honest, there may also be times when doubts enter our hearts. That is when we must be open with the Lord, confess our unbelief, and ask Him to help us overcome that unbelief. Doubt, fear, and unbelief are the enemies of genuine faith in the Lord because they prevent us from action, and action is the evidence of faith.
If we want to strengthen our faith in God we must be in the Word of God, the Bible. Because faith comes from hearing the Word of God. We must also be careful who we associate with. Friends, co-workers, and sometimes even family can be a negative influence if they are not strong Believers in Jesus Christ. Of course, it is impossible to avoid every negative person because we are in the world, but the Bible says we are not of the world. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” So, to the greatest extent possible, we must try to surround ourselves with people with righteous attitudes and behavior.
Finally, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” If you let the Lord guide your actions, you will walk in His blessings.
