Required Faith?
Heb 11:6
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.
Wow! Quite a statement. And upon this statement has been built an entire religion that has often left the adherents to Faith feeling less then pleasing.
· The great tragedy of today is that we have been taught it is our own personal faith that must please God.
· LET’S DISCUSS THAT FOR A MOMENT.
o JUST WHAT IS MY PERSONAL FAITH BASED ON?
WHO RAISED ME, WHERE I WENT TO CHURCH, WHAT COUNTRY I WAS BORN IN, WHAT STATE I WAS BORN IN, ETC.
o HOW COULD THE ABOVE EVER BE PLEASING TO GOD WHEN IT IS SUCH A JUNGLED UP MESS?
· BUT THERE MUST BE A FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD—–AND THERE IS:
o YOU MUST BELIEVE HE EXISTS AND THAT HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM.
o JESUS SAID IT LIKE THIS:
Matt 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
· THE QUESTION WE MUST ASK OF OURSELVES CONCERNING OUR FAITH IS:
ARE WE DOING THAT? ARE WE EARNESTLY SEEKING HIM? ARE WE LOVING THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR HEART? ALL OF OUR SOUL? ALL OF OUR MIND?
· FOR ME THE ANSWER IS NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
· AND WHAT A DIRTY TRICK TO TELL PEOPLE THEY MUST DO SOMETHING I CAN’T EVEN DO THOUGH I HAVE TRIED VERY HARD.
And the reason is we have misunderstood what faith is and our relationship to it.
THERE IS A FAITH THAT PLEASED GOD AND THAT FAITH IS CHRIST HIMSELF.
Gal 3:6-9
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
LET ME JUST SAY THAT ANYONE WHO THINKS ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS HIS OWN MISUNDERSTANDS THE MISSION OF THE CHRIST.
IF ABRAHAM HAD A FAITH ON HIS OWN THAT PLEASED GOD THEN WHY DID CHRIST HAVE TO COME?
· PAUL TELLS US IN COLOSSIANS THAT WE ARE DEAD.
Col 3:3
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
WE LIVE THROUGH WHAT CHRIST DID, WHAT CHRIST BELIEVED, THROUGH HIS FAITH.
· AND YES, OUR FAITH IS IMPORTANT TO GOD BUT NOT REQUIRED FOR HIM TO LOVE US.
LET’S LOOK AT ROMANS 4 AND SEE THE KIND OF FAITH THAT GOD SHOWS US THROUGH ABRAHAM THAT WELL SUITS A HUMAN BEING.
4:1 What did our forefather Abraham find according to the flesh? Or what did he learn about himself.
Socrates was walking and talking with his student Phaidrus when the two came to a stream. They decided to take off their sandals and wade into the cool water. While resting on a rock beside the stream, Phaedrus, referring to an ancient Greek legend, asked his teacher, “I should like to know, Socrates, whether the place is not somewhere here at which Boreas is said to have carried off Orithyia from the banks of the Ilissus?”
“Such is the tradition,” Socrates told him. But Phaedrus wasn’t content with his answer. “And is this the exact spot?” he asked Socrates.
“I believe that the spot is not exactly here but about a quarter mile lower down,” Socrates answered.
Still, his young student wanted to know more. “I beseech you to tell me, Socrates, Do you believe this tale?”
Socrates reluctantly began explaining to his young apprentice that the story had many discrepancies and inconsistencies, making it almost certain that the tale was merely a legend in spite of the fact that many believed it to be true. Then on the heels of his lengthy explanation, he said to his young friend,
Now I have no leisure for such inquiries; shall I tell you why? I much first know myself….to be curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in ignorance of my own self, would be ridiculous. And therefore I bid farewell to all this. Know thyself became his battle cry.
Freud, Jung, Adler, Plato, Chardin, and many others dedicated their lives to trying to understand themselves and what their purpose was, and yet in some degree they all missed the mark.
But Abraham learned something that we all need to understand about ourselves.
1st—-HE LEARNED HIS PERFORMANCE COUNTED FOR NOTHING.
2 If he was accounted righteous by works, he could boast, but not before God.
3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness."
2ND - HE COUNTED ON GRACE AND HE COUNTED ON A GOD WHO JUSTIFIES THE GODLESS.
4 Now to the one who works, the pay is not accounted according to grace, but according to debt.
5 To the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the godless, his faith is accounted as righteousness,
6 even as David speaks of the happiness of the man whom God accounts as righteous apart from works,
7 Blessed are they whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.
· NOW HE HAD NO CLUE HOW GOD WOULD ACCOMPLISH THIS AND YET HE STILL BELIEVED GOD WOULD.
3RD—-ABRAHAM REPRESENTS A FAITH THAT ALL CAN HAVE AND WILL HAVE.
9 Is this blessedness for the circumcised only, or also for the uncircumcised? We say faith was accounted to Abraham as righteousness.
10 In what situation was it accounted? In circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 He received the mark of circumcision as an evidence of the righteousness of the faith which he had before he was circumcised. In this way he could be the father of all uncircumcised believers, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
12 Also he is the father of the circumcised, who not only are circumcised, but who walk in the footsteps of the faith which our father Abraham had when he was uncircumcised.
13 The promise to Abraham and to his offspring, that he would be the heir of the world, was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 If those of the law are heirs, faith has become meaningless, and the promise has been nullified.
15 The law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there is no disobedience.
16 Because of this, it is of faith, that it may be by grace. In this way, the promise is confirmed to all the offspring, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all,
4TH—HIS FAITH DID NOT HAVE TO MAKE SENSE.
17 as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." He believed God, who makes the dead to live, and calls things which are not as though they are.
18 Against hope, he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, as had been said, "So shall your offspring be."
19 When he was about a hundred years old, he was not weak in faith, though he considered his own body and Sarah’s womb already dead.
20 Regarding God’s promise he never had a doubt, but became strong in faith, giving praise to God,
21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what he had promised.
22 Therefore, it was accounted to him as righteousness.
5TH—YES, GOD WANTS US TO HAVE FAITH IN HIM—FAITH IN A LOVING SAVIOR WHO HAS UNLIMITED PATIENCE AS HE WAITS FOR US TO BELIEVE HE WILL NOT EVER LET US DOWN.
23 Moreover, it was not written for his sake alone, that righteousness was accounted to him,
24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be accounted, to us who believe on the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 Jesus was delivered up for our wrongdoing, and was raised for our righteousness.
1 Tim 1:12-1712 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
SO, ARE WE REQUIRED TO HAVE FAITH? YES, BUT THAT SAME FAITH HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY CHRIST AND WHEN HE WAS LIFTED UP HE DREW ALL MEN UNTO HIMSELF (AND UNTO HIS FAITH).
MY OWN PERSONAL FAITH IS AT BEST SHALLOW AND LEFT WANTING, BUT THANKS BE TO GOD WHO HAS GIVEN ME (AND ALL OF US) THE VICTORY.
PEACE,
Cliff
Cliff, I so appreciated your post. I was looking for inspiration… that spark that generates fresh thought and ignites my own desire to write. Bingo! Your elaboration on Paul’s lesson is true and needs to be said again and again, and re-articulated by more and more thinking people. Your words gave motivation to my words in my own post: http://redemption4all.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/faith-without-works-is-not-dead/
Thanks so much! Let the river flow, bro.
Abraham
Thanks Abraham.
Amen Cliff. It is so wonderful to realise that it is not MY faith, and that I don’t have to manufacture or confess repetitiously to ‘get’ it. For many years I feared the word ‘faith’ because I thought it meant ‘effort’, but now it is so simple. Three words have been an incredible revelation to me, they are found in Hebrews 11 - the old testament men and women of faith. The three words are “Saw” “Persuaded” and “Embraced”. Two of these words are in the active and one in the passive tense - and believe me … I LOVE the PASSIVE! The first word ‘they saw’ or ‘to see’: is an action from the person - meaning: ‘all our senses’, we choose to SEE that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I had no action in doing that. All I had was the ability to see it. I had no active part in making myself righteous - I just saw that Jesus had made me righteous.
The next word ‘persuaded’ means: to convince, just as the word ‘faith’ means ‘to convince and persuade’, and this persuasion is passive, and it does not come from any energy or ability of mine. I am totally passive. I see, God persuades, and I embrace. To me ‘embrace’ is: ‘So Be It!’ We have seen this in the practical outworking in our lives.
There is an effect to righteousness.
A few examples: a friend of mine had righteousness drummed into him since he was a child, but it was conditional righteousness with fear attached, and when he tried to ‘live it’ he fell short and became a heroin addict for 14 years with a $200 a day habit. He developed bacteria on his heart and all his major organs shut down. He did not respond to anti-biotics, and the doctors said he would not leave the hospital alive. He cried out to Father fully knowing, despite his lifestyle, that he was a righteous son. He said ‘Father show me your power’. One by one his organs came back on line, and the doctors can find no opiates in his system and can’t work out where they went. He is back at work and totally clean. All he can put it down to is: The Effect of Righteousness.
Another friend of ours who is embracing the truth of righteousness had a crippled arm for 40 years, she broke it in a horseriding accident and it was set crooked. One day in her home when she was alone, and reaching for a ‘bottle of Ouzo’ (isn’t God humerous?) she felt a ‘breath’ blow across her arm and it straightened. She hadn’t prayed about it, wasn’t expecting it - but she puts it down to The Effect of Righteousness. Whenever she feels condemned now, she thinks about that moment and looks at her arm and has a chuckle with the Lord who healed her when she was in her most condemned state.
Kate injured her knee years ago, and it plays up from time to time. It was excruciatingly painful recently, and while crying in bed she said ‘Father, if all old testament prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, why do we still have pain? If you have wiped away all tears from our eyes 2000 years ago, why is this so sore and why am I crying?’ She heard in her spirit ‘That’s the law of sin and death’. Well THAT was IT!!! She replied ‘I am the righteousness of God and I AM the law of the Spirit of Life!’ and in that very instant all the pain left her and did not return. (The knee took a little time for the swelling to go down, but there was no more pain.) I was diagnosed with diabetes, and I thought ‘No thank you! I’m not having it, because I am a righteous son of God.’ I changed my diet and lifestyle and the symptoms left me. Sorry this has been a long comment, but I want to encourage you - there IS an effect to Righteousness and it manifests in our physical bodies. We have never chased miracles or gone after them, but wholeness has begun to manifest in our bodies, because our minds are getting saved. We have been redeemed spirit, soul, AND body and that not of ourselves but it is the free gift of God to us all.
Jeff & Kate,
Thanks for the encouragment and for sharing your story. Indeed we are all his righteous and perfect sons & daughters and the sooner we believe that the sooner true peace will show itself in our lives.
Hi cliff thank you for your post!! i have been listening to the teachings of Mike Williams for about 9 years now…and my life has been liberated by the glorious gospel of peace and grace… my question is that i have been trying to work out something that a lady brought to mind in the 10th chapter Hebrews…
The first part we know that the entire world has been made perfect vearse14 says “for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” Every human being in the sight of God has been sanctified… ok then in verse 26 to verse 30 it says if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that dispised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses 29 of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was santified, and unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace…i would be very gratefull if could you help me with your understanding of this here thanks so much
Brian in Dublin Ireland
Brian from Ireland,
I would be glad to at least give you what I think. I need a little time to look at it and I should get back to you by this week end. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Thank you Cliff i really appreciate it! Brian