Faith is the second of the five Sola's of the reformation. Faith is foundational to our relationship with God. Faith and hope are eternal and bound together in 1 Cor 13:13 and Hebrews 11:1.
Noah demonstrated commendable faith as he obeyed God, built an altar, and received God’s covenant. (Genesis 8:20; 9:9; Hebrews 11:7). This is important for us today because Jesus said, "As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood... Noah didn't know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be (Matthew 24:36-39 NKJV). Yet he spent his life believing God and acting on this belief, preaching righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). We have the same Spirit of faith today like Paul says in 2 Cor 4, "...I believed God, therefore I have spoken... (2 Cor 4:13-18). We follow Christ when teach others to obey everything he commanded (Matthew 28:20). We can speak boldly like Noah, Romans 10 reminds us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." How does your faith compel you to make disciples of Jesus Christ?
What is faith? Saving faith believes content: the good news about Jesus Christ: life, death, resurrection, and promised return (1 Cor 15). It's putting all your weight on Jesus Christ, personally trusting in the finished work of Christ to cover your sin, and walking over a bridge to God. Faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8), like a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) it must be planted and cultivated to grow (James 1:21). Jesus explains that the word of God is like a seed planted in the heart of men (Luke 8:11). Saving faith always brings a commitment to repent from sin and follow Christ. The most important parable is that of the sower and the soils (Luke 8:4-8). Blessed are you because you have eyes that see, ears that hear, and a heart that understands (Luke 8:15). You received this promise and acted by accepted this leadership position, you will persevere and produce a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.
When we exercise faith, we surrender control of our lives and our agenda to trust God and believe that what He has promised is true. 2 Peter chapter 1 encourages us to add to our faith, to make every effort to confirm God's calling.
When I do not believe, I am left to depend on myself for what I cannot accomplish. I am mightily discouraged and burdened by my own sinful inclinations and the regularity of my failures. When I believe that my salvation and standing with God rests in Christ’s finished work, I can have peace. Having faith in Christ means my security is in His perfection, not my own.
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Before having faith our minds were dull, believing in Christ removed the veil (2 Cor 3:12-17). We walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7), with shoes fit with the Gospel of Peace (Eph 6:15). Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33, Isaiah 54:4-7,8-10,13,14,17)”
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? (Hebrews 12:25)
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Our faith is a response to and is sustained by God’s faithfulness. Every person lives by faith, faith is to put your trust in something or said another way to put all your weight on it. Jesus said faith is like a small seed that contains everything needed to make a huge tree. Faith can move mountains, in fact we’ve seen this literally in our world, Carrara marble in Italy used in buildings, bathrooms, and monuments. Faith in Christ turns a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. Makes dead people alive in Christ. Faith connects us to God’s Grace and in the process of receiving this free gift of God we are born again. It’s the core of all other doctrines.
How does one grow in Faith? 2 Peter talks about adding to your faith, avoiding false teachers by knowing scripture
Galatians and Ephesians talks about putting off the old self and putting on the new self
Jesus explains that as He is the vine, we are the branches no-one apart from the vine will produce fruit
- bigger ideas trimmed down: Yet he spent his life believing God and acting on this belief, preaching righteousness (2 Peter 2:5) for at least 45 years before starting to build the ark (AIG)
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