WHAT IS FAITH TO A CHRISTIAN STRUGGLING TO GO TO HEAVEN?
| What is faith |
First reading Hebrew 11 :1 ,6
Text is Hebrew 11 :1 -13
Faith means different thing to different people, so what is Faith to a christian struggling to go to heaven?
Faith means reliance ,Loyalty ,or complete trust in God or in someone else .
2 chronicles 20 :20 , At the desert at tekoa,Jehoshaphat said to the people ,have faith in the lord your God and you will be upheld , have faith in his prophet, you will be successful.
Faith is when you trust in God and when you trust in his words,e g what he said in the bible ,his word ,the promises of his son Jesus.
Faith is a word with many meaning::- it can mean ::-
Faithfulness ( Matthew 24 :45) Jesus talks of a faithful servant who was put in charge of a household , he did everything his master asked him to do.
Many have faith in Jesus and came for healing ( Luke 7: 2 - 10) the centurion
The book of James said its a barren believe that leads to no good work.
It means confident hope ( Hebrew 11:1) , it defines faith as :-
Confident in what we hope for
Assurance about what we do not see
There are two words at the beginning and at the end point of faith.
Beginning is ::- believing in Gods character , he will do what he says .
Why? Because .....
1, He is a faithful God
2, He has authority (sovereignty over all)
3, He is three persons in one
Is the trinity or the triune God
4, He all knowing , all present and all powerful.
End is ::- Believing in his promises,that is he will do what he says when we believe that God will fulfil what he promised, even if we are not seeing it happening yet (that is faith).
Romans 8: 24b says " but hope that is seen is no hope at all, who hopes for what what they have already?)
2 Corinthians 4 :18 " So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary,but what is unseen is eternal"
Our ultimate hope is not on things of this world, this life only gives us terrible sickness, poverty , pain and suffering. Our hope is in the life to come a life after death. Knowing that we will live with Christ in a place free from these problems should be our comfort, joy and target.
Hebrew 11 : 4 ::- The ancient t people were commended for their Faith
By faith Abel brought better offering than cain, because of faith he was seen as righteous, his deeds still speaks today. Hallelujah.
By Faith god called the world from nothing, by faith Enoch ,by faith Noah , by Faith Abraham..
Hebrew 11 :39 says All of them were commended for their Faith yet Monte ieved what was promised them.
These heroes of faith did not receive all that was promised, they all died before Jesus Christ came.
WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN WHEN HE SPEAKS OF " SAVING GRACE" ?
| What is saving faith? |
Apostle Paul ties faith so closely with salvation , that is , without faith(believe) there will be no salvation. Faith is not something we must do to earn salvation, if that was the case, then faith had become one of our many deeds., And Paul clearly states that our good works cannot save us. (Galatians 2 :16).
" know that a person is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ "
If Obeying The Law Cannot Justfy Us ,Why Should We Still Obey The Law(Ten Commands)
Paul was not saying the law is bad, (ROM 7 :13) he wrote " the law is holy". The law was holy expressing Gods nature and will for his people.
He was saying the law cannot make us be acceptable to God. but the law has an important role to play in the life of a christian. E.g
1, It guards us from sin by giving a standard of behavior.
2, It convicts us of sins ,giving us room for repentance.
3, It drives us towards what Christ did on the cross, not how we can obey the ten commandments.
The law cannot possibly save us , but when we become Christians by faith.It can guide us to live as God requires.
Faith is a Gift god gives because he is saving us (Ephesians 2 :8).
" for it is by Grace ,you ha ebeen saved through faith,it is not from yourself, it is a gift of God".
It is Gods Grace not Faith that saves us,he is the one that gives us the faith., through the faith he give us ,he carried us from death to life.
John 5 :24
" whoever hears my words, and believe him who sent me, has eternal life"
Eternal life I.e living forever with God.
It begins when we accept Jesus as our personal lord and Saviour. At that moment a new life begins in you.
Even In the old testament time , Grace not deeds was the basis of salvation.
Hebrew 10 : 4 states that ::-
" It is impossible for the blood of bulls ,goats to take away the sins, they pro ides temporary way of dealing with sin before Jesus came and dealt permanently with it.
HOW THEN WERE WE FORGIVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TIMES?
Ole testament believers were following Gods commands to offer sacrifice that is Obedience. He graciously forgave them, when by faith they sacrificed., but the practice look forward to Christ perfect sacrifice. (hallelujah)
The old testament way pointed to what Christ will do to take away sins Romans 9: 12-13.
Christ triumph over death ,he canceled the charges against us and open the way to the father. Colossians 2 : 13 -13.Because God is merciful , He offered us faith, faith is a gift not what we can do.
CONCLUSION
We never come to God through our own faith.
It would be like the sacrifice of of the old testament believers
Let's accept the gracious gift of God offers with thanksgiving.
And allow God plant the seed if faith in us
Amen
PRAYER
Father thank you for your word that had come forth to us,help us to be doers of the word.
Lord plant in us the seed of faith, so that we will please you.
Thank you for the gift of faith in my life, in Jesus name we have prayed.
