The Law of Faith
Mark 2:1-12
Salespeople understand that very few people will buy an item "sight unseen." As human beings we sometimes find it very difficult to visualize something we cannot see. When we buy a car, for the most part we want to kick the tires, see the shiny new paint, and smell the new upholstery before we’ll sign on the dotted line.
Yet biblical faith demands that we do just the opposite - it demands that we commit even when we do not see, that we submit even when we do not understand, that we possess even what we do not yet have.
Is it not true that the need to see before we commit is sometimes simply an expression of the limitations of the physical realm. Biblical faith introduces us to a new dimension - a dimension where seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing, where reality is not defined by popular science or common understanding but by revelation, and where life is not limited by perception but empowered by potential. Now the key to unlocking that potential, to redefining reality, to embracing a new dimension of seeing is what Paul, in the book of Romans, calls The Law of Faith.
In Romans 3:27 "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith."
Please open your Bibles with me to the Gospel written by Mark, and the second chapter, and I want to read verses 1-12 to you.
While you are turning there I want to show you this morning how you can literally turn your life completely around simply by choosing to live by The Law of Faith. Now you do not have to understand or embrace the Law of Faith to live, but without it you will continually find yourself running into your limitations, frustrated by your lack of ability and always ending short of what you need.
But the Law of Faith will change all that. You see my friend, it is through faith, and only through faith, that we can engage life with God’s perspective, that we overcome obstacles with God’s strength and that we live life to accomplish God’s purpose. Without faith none of these things are possible. That is why the Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God - the only place you will learn about The Law of Faith is from The Book of Faith.
So what is the Law of Faith? It is the perspective of life that refuses to be limited by the facts, to be defined by the popular vote or set about by the parameters of parochial thinking. Rather, it says, "I will allow the One Who made reality to define it, Who gave my life to show me how to live it, and Who gave me faith to empower it."
I want to read to you the story of five man who understood something of that.
Mark 2:1-12 - Read - Pray
The Law of Faith . . .
1. Will Give a New Purity
Jesus said, "Be holy as your Father in heaven is holy." (Matthew 5:48)
Hebrews 12:14 "strive after holiness without which no man shall see God."
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify" (Romans 3v21).
Because the power of salvation is in the cross of Christ alone, man has no cause for self-congratulation or self-satisfaction-much less for the self-exaltation.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith," Paul declared to the church at Ephesus; "and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9).
The greatest lie in the world, and the lie common to all false religions and cults, is that, by certain good works, men are able to make themselves acceptable to God.
But watch this precious believer - the Law of Faith says that by God’s grace, faith is the receptacle of a righteousness that is complete, that is sufficient and that renders you perfect. My Bible says that Jesus Christ became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
The Law of Faith . . .
Will Give You a New Purity
2. Will Give You a New Perspective
Scientists tell us that the earth is spinning on its axis at a speed of over 1000 miles per hour at this very moment. Yet we have no sensation of motion. At the same time, the earth is rotating around the sun at a speed of 66,000 miles per hour. Do you feel anything? The earth is moving at an incredible speed but we do not perceive it. Einstein made this point by striking two consecutive blows with his fist and saying, "Between those two strokes, we traveled thirty miles." Incredible motion with no perception!
There are people who go through life and have no faith and completely miss the reality that only faith can see.
"Faith sees things that are out of sight."
Voltaire said that "faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe."
A great example of this is found in the sixth chapter of Joshua. The Israelites were overwhelmed by the city of Jericho on their quest for the promised land.
Joshua 2:1 "The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors."
Faith allowed Joshua to see in the spiritual dimension what his human eyes could not see, "See, I have given Jericho unto your hands . . ." God won a mighty victory as God’s people responded in obedience to what they could not see.
The believer walks not by sight but by faith. To walk by faith means to sees things the way God sees them.
The Law of Faith . . .
Will Give You a New Purity
Will Give You a New Perspective
By faith, I have seen the sick healed, I have seen the cripple walk, I have seen the deaf hear, I have seen the blind receive back there sight.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nigo - their faith unleashed power.
In out Mark 2 account, Jesus saw their faith - and it unleashed power.
On a number of occasions in the New Testament Jesus ‘saw’ their faith.
You see, our failures as churches and as individuals generally lie not so much in our obstacles and problems as they do in our lack of faith.
The Lord’s work has not always been accomplished by talented people or intelligent people or strong people. But it has always been done by people who believed in the power of God, who did what they could, relying on God to supply the rest.
James said, "Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." (James 2:18).
The Law of Faith . . .
Will Give You a New Purity
Will Give You a New Perspective
Will Give You a New Power
4. Will Give You a New Promise
Eph. 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Did I tell you that this faith will save you?
There is only pone way to be saved, and that is by faith.
Morality will not save you (doing the right stuff)
Charity will not save you (giving the right stuff)
Philosophy will not save you (thinking the right stuff)
Orthodoxy will not save you (believing the right stuff)
These things are absolutely futile when it comes to salvation. What counts is simply this - to put your faith in Jesus Christ, to surrender your life to Him.
Paul Harvey once said, "If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it."
So the question I must ask you as we close is this - are you ready to live by The Law of Faith?
Let Us pray!
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