Stepping Out In Faith Series

Introduction:

The belief in the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our redemption and “stepping out in faith” in obedience to His Word is the only way to the abundant life. It is the only way to a Christ-Centred life and God’s abundant blessings. Stepping out in faith is to step into the reality of the spiritual realm. Faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Faith is a substance, it is a reality, even when we have not seen it. The believers Faith is in God and His word and no one should be deceived to put their faith in anyone or anything else. It has become common practice to hear believers claiming whatever they desire and hoping to receive it by faith. This is not faith in the Word of God. Faith in self and the world is not faith in God and His Word. What prevailed in the beginning in the Garden of Eden was faith in God and God’s Word. This faith demanded trust and total dependence on God. This faith died when Adam chose to obey the devil rather than God and became a slave to sin and the devil. Instead of faith in God with the evidence of belief and dependence on God, Adam chose faith in self and Satan with the evidence of unbelief and independence from God. Faith in God is the way back to God from unbelief and independence from God. Stepping out in faith in obedience to God is to restore our belief and dependence on God.

Step One: Stepping out in Faith

a) Hear the word of God

When Adam yielded to sin, he lost God’s image and likeness and all of us have inherited Adams sinful nature for in Adam “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Belief in Christ’s redemption and obedience to the Word of God is the way back to God through faith in His word. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. (Romans 10:17)

b) Believe the word of God

The word of God must be heard before it can be believed and every believer who has heard the word of God, and believed it and has trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, has the responsibility to share it. God’s word, when it is believed, is safely kept in the heart and has the power to transform a person for “out of the heart are the issues of life”. (Pr. 4:23)

c) Obey the word of God

The word of God is spirit and life. God wants the believer to have life and to have it more abundantly and this is only possible when believers obey the word of God. Many believers, however, want to choose which part of the Word to believe and obey. They accept and obey the word of God for specific areas in their lives and reject and deny it in other areas.

Illustration:

Abram, before he was called Abraham, stepped out in faith when God called him to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees. Abram was an idol worshipper when God called him to leave everything and everyone and go to a place that He, God, would show him. There God told him “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” (Gen. 12:20). Abram did not know where he was going but believed God and stepped out in faith in obedience to God’s Word. The call of God will always require a separation. In Abram’s case, it was a separation from his family and past life of idol worship. Abram obeyed but not completely. He took his father, Terah and his nephew Lot with him. It was only after the death of his father Terah, and separation from his nephew Lot that Abram was able to enter into the promised blessings. Abraham grew in faith and obedience till he yielded every area of his life to God. At this time, he was ready to obey God and offer up his long awaited and beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.

Application:

God is love and reveals His love in everything He says and does. His call to faith is a call of love to bless us and make us a blessing.

Step Two: Salvation by grace through faith

a) The forgiveness of sin

Our salvation is proof of God’s love. It does not depend on anything we have done but on what Christ has done for “By grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Eph. 2:8) Christ shed His blood to pay the wages of sin for the forgiveness of sin. He endued the full judgement of God on sin for our sakes.