Faith Series

Few words in scripture relate to our eternal destiny like the

word: faith. Love, hope, repentance, obedience, confession, all

are interconnected and woven into the principle of this one

expression: faith.

Faith is a central word in the gospels, and in all the New Testament.

In fact Jesus favorite expression to those he healed is: Your

faith has healed you... to those he offered forgiveness to, Your

faith has saved you... to the disciples in times of crisis, O you

of little faith, to the disciples about miraculous powers, If

you had faith the size of a grain of mustard seed you could say

to this tree, be uprooted and cast into the sea and it would obey

you... to a centurion who trusted that Jesus could merely say the

word and his servant would be healed, I have not found such great

faith in all Israel... to a woman who refused to stop begging for

her child’s healing even after being insulted, Woman you have

great faith, may it be done as you believed...

Faith is so central to the gospel message. So what is faith?

Because it is spiritual, faith is a work of God. It is produced

by God in those who hear The word of Christ with the right

attitude.

Faith is more than belief. It is more than obedience. Faith is

substance. Faith is evidence. Faith is like a plant that grows

up in those who’s hearts are honest after the seed of the Word

has been sown in them.

So central to our salvation is this, that when Paul describes how

the righteousness from God comes to us, he says in Romans 1:17

As we look at faith today and how God’s righteousness comes to us

by faith, we will notice several steps that are involved in this

saving faith.

First we are awakened to the reality of God. God is. And God is

the source of everything else that is. Faith accepts this as

true. Not only do we accept the reality of God but we recognize

his power and authority and nature of holiness. So far so good.

We are here and everything else is here because God created and

sustains us.

But then we learn that although God is holy, we are not. God is

absolutely good. We aren’t. In fact we are enemies of God

nature. We are powerless and hopeless with out him. We have

offended him and we are deserving of his condemnation. One man

sinned and it has spread to us all.

Faith agrees with God on this. Unbelief denies that we are

really that bad. Faith accepts the truth of sin and the

consequences that God says they deserve. Unbelief resists the

word of God on this and rejects the condemnation of God.

This is where many people reject God and seek to establish their

own righteousness. I mean sure I’ve done a few things I’m not

proud of, but basically I’m a good person. God says that

basically you are not a good person and in fact you are fatally

flawed because of sin.

Here we see a sharp contrast drawn between us an God. We like to

think of ourselves as a lot more like God is that we really are.

The truth of the gospel attacks our pride and our self

centeredness. We like to think in terms of what we can

accomplish and God says, all our righteousness is as filthy rags.

Sin blinds us into thinking that it is not really that serious.

In fact sin makes us believe that the problem isn’t really ours

it’s God’s!

We end up pointing an accusing finger at the one who exposes our

problem.

Remember Adam in the Garden? God asks a couple of questions and

Adam starts pointing the finger of blame. He says, The woman you

gave me!! It’s not my fault its her fault and your fault.

Rejecting our condition of sin, or making light of it is

basically rejecting God. Faith on the other hand agrees with God

and accepts the conviction of sin as seriously as God says it is.

Romans 3:9-18

Third, Faith accepts that we are powerless with out God. We

can’t help ourselves.

Like the song: With out him...

Accepting our condition is the beginning of our healing.

AA. Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our

lives had become unmanageable.

Jesus in Jn 8:31-36

Faith embraces the truth of our condition and accepts that we can

not redeem ourselves.

Unbelief tries to make things right with God. Like the child who

wants to tie his own shoes. Me do it self!

Fourth, faith accepts God’s answer to the problem.

NOt law, not righteousness that we do. We simply embrace what

God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:22-29 describe this