“For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Dwight L. Moody said “A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul.” Charles Spurgeon said “Faith obliterates time, annihilates distance, and brings future things at once into its possession.”
Faith is an important word in the Bible. The single most important thing in a person's life is faith in God. Our God is a God of faith, and “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible “(Hebrews 11:3) so It takes faith to please God. “ Walking by Faith is simply being where God is and doing what God is doing.”
When we become Christians, we are saved by faith alone, and God intends to continually live by faith. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,” (Colossians 2:6) Faith is indispensable in the living of the Christian life. This is why Bible says “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. (Hebrews 11:6) Hence Faith is vitally important in the life of the Christian. It is by faith that you are saved; you are justified; cleansed, and look forward to the return of Jesus. Faith is where you please God, admit your dependence upon Him, and continually seek to rely upon Him and His grace. Consider the following scripture references to comprehend the significance of Faith in Christian life.
A. Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by faith.
B. Romans 1:17, we live by faith.
C. Romans 4:13, We Receive righteousness by faith.
D. Romans 5:1, We are justified in Christ by faith
E. Romans 5:2, we have access to God's grace by faith.
F. 2 Corinthians 1:24, we stand firm by faith.
G. Galatians 3:14, we receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
H. 1Timothy 1:4, we do God's work by faith.
I. Galatians 5:5, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
BIBLICAL FAITH IS ACTION BASED ON BELIEF AND TRUST IN GOD.
Elisabeth Elliot said “God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.” The Bible clearly states that God acts in behalf of those who wait on Him (Isa. 64:4). The only way we can learn to do this is to trust in God and believe that He is always working in our best interests. When we wait, we acknowledge His lordship in our lives, and our trusting faith itself becomes an act of genuine worship. The bible is filled with promises for believers. Nothing is more encouraging or nurturing to our faith than reading and meditating the promises of God “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”(Romans 10:17) Faith is where the Promises and Work of God are made real to His redeemed. It is acting on the promise of God. The apostle Paul reminds his readers that Believers must not build their lives around things that have no eternal significance. Rather than pursuing the same things the world pursues, a Christian should focus on the Eternal and unseen realities. The best choice we can make is to fix our hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a living hope who never disappoints.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," (Heb 11:1). Martin Luther said: "Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible. Then, it accepts the impossible, does without the indispensable and bears the intolerable." Hebrews 10:38 says “the just shall live by faith;" The "just" is referring to believers; who are justified by Faith “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) We as believers are to live by faith. In other words “We walk by faith, not by sight."
The word walk in the bible often symbolizes the way we live, the way we act, and the way we conduct ourselves in a certain way. And it has reference to the fact that life is a journey, life is a pilgrimage and that the Christian is a person who is traveling to another country. And so to walk by faith is to live in the confident expectation of things that are to come. The people of this world are influenced by the things that are seen. They live for wealth, power, and possessions; for the things, which this world can give. But the Christian looks beyond this world with a conviction that believes there is a better place. Ignorance of Faith is ignorance of God.
So Believers regulate all their judgments concerning good and evil, not with reference to visible and temporal things, but to things invisible and eternal. They think visible things to be of small value, because they pass away like a dream; but, on the contrary, they account invisible things to be of high value, because they will never pass away. So the Apostle said: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) Therefore, they that "walk by faith" do not desire the "things which are seen;" neither are they the object of their pursuit. They "set their affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Paul made it very clear in the book of Colossians “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand." (Colossians 3:1NLT) so Christians regulate all their tempers and passions, all their desires, joys, and fears, by this standard. They regulate all their thoughts and designs, all their words and actions, so as to prepare them for that invisible and eternal world to which they are shortly going. They do not dwell, but only sojourn here; not looking upon earth as their home, but only passing through, to a better world on high.
Therefore to walk by faith is to fear God more than man; to obey the Bible even when it conflicts with man’s commands; to choose righteousness over sin, no matter what the cost; to trust God in every circumstance; and to believe God rewards those who seek Him, regardless of who says otherwise. Walking by faith means living life in light of eternal realities and consequences, it is living by the promises of God. To walk by faith requires that we tune our hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His Word. (John 16:13) When we base our lives on the truth of God’s Word, rather than on the popular philosophy of our day, we are going against our natural inclinations. We choose to live according to what God reveals to us, rather than trust our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5–6)
George Mueller said “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” The Lord does not disappoint those who seek His will. When the storms of life tear your world apart, only God can put the pieces back together again and He will give you a vision of the grand pattern of wholeness he has designed for your life. When one door closes, there is another about to open with something better behind it. We can't even wish ourselves as better as God has in store. The best choice we can make is to fix our hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is a healthy attitude. Anticipating good brings comfort to the mind and heart. Welcome whatever fits His will for your life, and turn away from all that does not. Circumstances may shift and change, but Jesus never does. He is a living hope who never disappoints. He provides strength for weary bodies, peace for anxious minds, and comfort for grieving hearts. Pure Faith is all about God’s Omniscient truth, not our limited Knowledge. As you can see, the Christian faith is not an emotion or a feeling. It is believing in a God who is above every circumstance or trial that we may encounter. Our faith is not in faith but it is in a living and vibrant personal relationship with our risen Savior and Lord.
Faith is always steadfast and stable in times of Storms and Purified by Tests. Our faith is only as strong as the tests it survives. It is easy to say, “God is good” when things are going well, but what about the bad times? God allows our faith to be tested so we can see how strong we are. His purpose is to help you grow, because He knows that untested faith is not valid faith and never amounts to much. Satan accused Job of following God only because God had blessed him, so God allowed Job to be tested. He wanted to reveal the motive behind Job’s faith, to reveal whether or not Job would continue to follow God even after he lost everything. The testing of your faith occurs through circumstances, which provide an opportunity for you to validate your belief in the Promise of God, Provision of God, Presence of God, Protection of God and the Power of God.
The testing of our faith serves not only to show the strength of our faith but also to reveal the motive behind our faith. Why did the people consider Jesus’ words a “hard teaching?” Because they realized He was calling them to follow Him with no guarantees of temporary and visible things of the material world; but calling them to be satisfied with Him and Him alone; calling them to follow Him without knowing outcomes in advance, content to leave the future in His hands. That’s Biblical faith: faith that trusts God whether He blesses or not, whether He delivers or not, whether He heals or not. Faith trusts Christ no matter what because it knows that He has the “words of eternal life,” and has reaffirmed the same truth expressed by Apostle Paul who wrote, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).
