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FAITH                                         STUDY NO.10

The two basic steps we make when we respond to the gospel are to
repent and to believe.  Our response involves turning from our own
ways and entrusting ourselves to God; choosing His way rather than
our own, relying on Him for every detail of our lives.  Turning
from our own ways is repentance; entrusting ourselves to God is
faith.  Just as repentance is an initial step then a continuing
daily experience and attitude; so also is faith an initial step
then a way of life we must enter into.

Faith is trust and confidence in God: being certain of God's
goodwill and faithfulness.  Faith is acting on our confidence in
God, rather than on what we can see, hear or feel.

     "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the
     title-deed) of things (we) hope for, being the proof of
     things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality -
     faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the
     senses." Hebrews 11:1 (Amp).

Faith is not only believing in our minds the truth of God's
promises, but acting upon our belief by committing and redirecting
our lives towards God's purposes.  Read James 2:15-19,22.  The
Greek of the New Testament uses the same root word, "pistis" for our
English words faith and believe.

WHAT IS OUR FAITH BASED ON?

1. The Nature of God

Faith is not blind, but is based on our understanding of God's
nature: His goodness, His faithfulness, His power, His great love
for man and the promises He has made to care for and protect His
people.  Our faith rests in the knowledge that God has both the
desire and the ability to fulfil His promises.  Read 1 Chronicles
29:11,12; Jeremiah 32:17-19.

2.   The Word of God
    "So Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by
     the word of God." Romans 10:17.

God's written Word reveals to us His nature and how we can relate
to Him.  It reveals the ways of God: what pleases Him, how He
thinks and how He works.  As we become familiar with these, we
become more and more confident to live and walk by faith according
to all God's promises.  Read Isaiah 55:8,9.

The `word of God' which produces faith is a specific word spoken
to us personally by the Holy Spirit from the Bible, or by the inner
voice of the Spirit in agreement with the principles of Scripture.
So it is not sufficient just to look up a Bible verse that applies
to our situation and then demand that God fulfil it.  Read Matthew
10:5-8; Isaiah 30:21; Jeremiah 1:12; Numbers 23:19.

Because it is the Spirit who places a word in our hearts, we don't
have to try to believe, we don't have to `work up' faith or think
positively.

3.   Relationship
     " ...I know ... Whom I have believed (adhered to and
     trusted in and relied on), and I am (positively) persuaded
     that He is able to guard and keep that which has been
     entrusted to me and which I have committed (to Him) ... "
     2 Timothy 1:12 (Amp).

Faith is a natural outcome of knowing God in our personal
experience.  As our relationship with God grows, so does our
faith.  The apostle Paul knew the One He believed in - from
personal experience.  He knew His faithfulness and love and power.
Our initial commitment and willingness to believe in God comes
both from a growing conviction within ourselves of God's
trustworthiness as well as testimony of others in the church who
share with us how they have proved God's faithfulness in their own
lives.  Personal trust will deepen as our knowledge of Him grows.
That trust in turn will lead us more and more to live by the
principle of faith, than by the limited laws of selfish mankind.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

The only relationship that please God is faith.  Hebrews 11:6.
     -    it is the only way we can live day by day as Christians
          beyond the experiences of our five senses.
          Romans 1:16,17.
     -    it is the way by which we receive from God.
          Matthew 21:21,22.
     -    it is the only `work' that pleases God.  John 6:28,29.
     -    without faith, our activities are just human, so that
          God classes them as sin. Romans 14:23.
     -    by faith, the world is overcome. 1 John 5:4
     -    faith makes all things possible.  Mark 9:23.

HOW FAITH WORKS IN PRACTICE

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul uses the life of Abraham
as the great example of faith.  He was the "father of all who
believe".  Romans 4:11.  By tracing through the story of Abraham's
life we can discover how faith can work in our own lives each day.

The word that God personally gives us: our goal

God gave Abraham a personal word for his life.  "Go from your
country ... to a land that I will show you.  And I will make of
you a great nation . . . " Genesis 1 2:1,2 (RSV).  He was
challenged to leave behind security and possessions in order to
adventure with God.  In order that a great nation come forth, and
"all the families of the earth be blessed" (verse 3), he would
have to produce a son.  This was God's personal word to Abraham.
A miracle was needed because Abraham and Sarah were so old.

Obedience: acting on the word God gives us

"So Abraham went . . ." Genesis 12:4 (RSV).  In order to have the
promised son, Abraham had to obey God's first word - to leave his
own country.  This step of obedience took Abraham out into the
unknown where he experienced the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Faith means abandoning all trust in our own resources and instead
relying completely on God as we obey every aspect of His word to
us. Read James 2:19,20, Luke 6:49.

Continuing to trust in God, though His word to us is tested

God's promise to Abraham did not immediately come to pass.  In
fact many years passed but Abraham "did not weaken in faith when
he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ... or when
he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.  No distrust made
him waver concerning the promise of God, fully convinced that God
was able to do what He had promised" Romans 4:19-21 (RSV).  It was
in these years of testing that real faith was revealed: when
circumstances and his senses indicated the very opposite of what
God had promised.
These times, when we have already obeyed and yet things don't seem
to be working out as they should, we have to remember God's word
to us, trusting His faithful nature.  Though temptation might try
to persuade us to give up or to 'help' God out, faith assures us
that God will keep His word and bring to pass what He has promised.

Trusting with joy

Abraham laughed in delight at God's promise of a son and "grew
strong in his faith as he gave glory to God".  Romans 4:20 (RSV).
Read Genesis 17:17.  Faith comes with great joy and thanksgiving
- not with striving, self effort or fear.  Once God's personal
word has been planted in our hearts, we can relax in expectant joy
and wait for its fulfillment.  Read Romans 15:13, 1 Peter 1:8,9.
joy and worship cause our faith to grow.  Read Matthew 17:20.

The fulfillment of God's word

"And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the
time of which God had spoken to him" Genesis 21:2 (RSV).  After
waiting for years, God's word was fulfilled.  The fulfillment of
God's promise brings glory to God.  But as Christians we are to
live a life of faith: we should be entering this exciting walk of
faith in God all the time, not just once or twice in a lifetime.
Read Hebrews 6:12,15.

THE END