Faith In God - Or Maybe Not
“We walk by faith, not by sight…” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Biblical faith is a term which most people struggle with. Faith is not a blind leap into the dark, nor is it just saying we trust God or Jesus. Faith is believing something God or Jesus has SAID he has done or will do for us. Salvation by faith is not “inviting Jesus into your heart”, or joining the church, or confessing your sin, or “calling upon the name of the Lord”, or getting baptized. If those things are of any value at all, they are just a way to express that we believe what God says he will do. Those things are NOT a condition to God being faithful to save mankind, they are a response to the realization that they have been saved by the GRACE of God “not of works lest any man should boast”. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (1 Timothy 1:15)
All of our evangelistic efforts will not add to what Christ Jesus came into the world to do. Evangelism should be simply introducing the world to their Savior. Salvation is what God and Jesus will do for mankind…save them. Not try to save them or offer to save them, but actually save them. For Christianity to imply he will not do so without our help or acceptance of an invitation is evidence of a LACK OF FAITH it seems to me.
“This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.” (1 Timothy 4:9-11)
Sometimes I wonder if institutional Christianity as a group are included in the “especially of those who believe”. When Christianity returns to faith in what God through Christ Jesus has DONE, and returns to teaching and preaching that gospel, our churches might again be filled with joyful men and women.
The Joel Osteen church has tapped into that joyous message, but he makes his money from promising his listeners that if they have faith in themselves, God will pour out His “abundant life” now in various forms of success. But that abundant life in the Kingdom that Jesus promised will not be ours until after Jesus returns and we have been resurrected and our natural bodies replaced with a new spiritual body...
“...it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body …flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:44, 50)
From about the 4th Century AD Christianity has made salvation a matter of man DOING SOMETHING for God to get saved and blessed. Not so, salvation is a DONE deal, and eternal blessing will follow our resurrection as the free gift of God's grace. God through Christ Jesus has reconciled mankind to Himself and Jesus will return someday to literally save us from death and give us a new spiritual body created to live an abundant eternal life.
FAITH that God is the savior of the world and has reconciled it too himself is what it means to “walk by faith, not by sight”. We just don't SEE it now, it is just a promise from God, and we have faith in what He says - or not.
Biblical faith is a term which most people struggle with. Faith is not a blind leap into the dark, nor is it just saying we trust God or Jesus. Faith is believing something God or Jesus has SAID he has done or will do for us. Salvation by faith is not “inviting Jesus into your heart”, or joining the church, or confessing your sin, or “calling upon the name of the Lord”, or getting baptized. If those things are of any value at all, they are just a way to express that we believe what God says he will do. Those things are NOT a condition to God being faithful to save mankind, they are a response to the realization that they have been saved by the GRACE of God “not of works lest any man should boast”. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (1 Timothy 1:15)
All of our evangelistic efforts will not add to what Christ Jesus came into the world to do. Evangelism should be simply introducing the world to their Savior. Salvation is what God and Jesus will do for mankind…save them. Not try to save them or offer to save them, but actually save them. For Christianity to imply he will not do so without our help or acceptance of an invitation is evidence of a LACK OF FAITH it seems to me.
“This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.” (1 Timothy 4:9-11)
Sometimes I wonder if institutional Christianity as a group are included in the “especially of those who believe”. When Christianity returns to faith in what God through Christ Jesus has DONE, and returns to teaching and preaching that gospel, our churches might again be filled with joyful men and women.
The Joel Osteen church has tapped into that joyous message, but he makes his money from promising his listeners that if they have faith in themselves, God will pour out His “abundant life” now in various forms of success. But that abundant life in the Kingdom that Jesus promised will not be ours until after Jesus returns and we have been resurrected and our natural bodies replaced with a new spiritual body...
“...it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body …flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:44, 50)
From about the 4th Century AD Christianity has made salvation a matter of man DOING SOMETHING for God to get saved and blessed. Not so, salvation is a DONE deal, and eternal blessing will follow our resurrection as the free gift of God's grace. God through Christ Jesus has reconciled mankind to Himself and Jesus will return someday to literally save us from death and give us a new spiritual body created to live an abundant eternal life.
FAITH that God is the savior of the world and has reconciled it too himself is what it means to “walk by faith, not by sight”. We just don't SEE it now, it is just a promise from God, and we have faith in what He says - or not.