1. What is Faith?
A practical man says: “Seeing is believing”. A man of faith replies, “Believing is seeing”.
Before a person becomes a Christian, he is a citizen of one world. When he placed his faith in Christ, he is a citizen of two worlds, the earthly dwelling that he is in, and a heavenly citizenship (Phi 3:20). Before he becomes a Christian, he walks by sight. When he becomes a Christian, he has to learn to walk by faith (2Cor 5:7) because without faith, it is impossible to please God or grow in Christ-likeness (Heb 11:6).
What then is (Christian) faith?
The acronym: FAITH = Forsaking All I Trust HIM
Forsaking all doubts against what HE has said.
Faith is believing in what God has said even though it has not come true yet.
2. What has God said?
(1) Eph 2:8,9 – We are assured of eternal life and no judgment of hell by God’s grace. This is the very beginning of the Christian faith – a faith rested in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(2) Psa 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I have no lack of anything”. David the shepherd boy, experiences it. He devotional thought penned in Psalms 23 become God’s Word to us. We too then can have this calm assurance that HE is our shepherd.
(3) Rom 8:28 – able to trust God that He will work for the good all things, no matter how bad or difficult it is that will happen to me. He has a purpose to allow such things to happen.
…
Do you believe in His Word? That takes faith. If you do, you will delight in His Word – reading, studying and mediating – because that is where we can find His assurance of things hope for, the confidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1).
A practical man says: “Seeing is believing”. A man of faith replies, “Believing is seeing”.
Before a person becomes a Christian, he is a citizen of one world. When he placed his faith in Christ, he is a citizen of two worlds, the earthly dwelling that he is in, and a heavenly citizenship (Phi 3:20). Before he becomes a Christian, he walks by sight. When he becomes a Christian, he has to learn to walk by faith (2Cor 5:7) because without faith, it is impossible to please God or grow in Christ-likeness (Heb 11:6).
What then is (Christian) faith?
The acronym: FAITH = Forsaking All I Trust HIM
Forsaking all doubts against what HE has said.
Faith is believing in what God has said even though it has not come true yet.
2. What has God said?
(1) Eph 2:8,9 – We are assured of eternal life and no judgment of hell by God’s grace. This is the very beginning of the Christian faith – a faith rested in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(2) Psa 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I have no lack of anything”. David the shepherd boy, experiences it. He devotional thought penned in Psalms 23 become God’s Word to us. We too then can have this calm assurance that HE is our shepherd.
(3) Rom 8:28 – able to trust God that He will work for the good all things, no matter how bad or difficult it is that will happen to me. He has a purpose to allow such things to happen.
…
Do you believe in His Word? That takes faith. If you do, you will delight in His Word – reading, studying and mediating – because that is where we can find His assurance of things hope for, the confidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1).
3. What must I do?
Learning to obey and trust in God what has promised in the Scripture is not easy. But faith can grow as we get to know HIM. That is the Christian journey – a pilgrim (sojourner) in this world.
Faith is best understood with the following story:
During the terrible days of the Blitz, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a shell hole. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Terrified, yet hearing his father's voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, "I can't see you!"
The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, "But I can see you. Jump!" The boy jumped, because he trusted his father.
The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.
With faith in Jesus Christ, we are seen by the Omniscient Father and we obey what He tells us.
Heb 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Agape
Mark Lim
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