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.
b) The justification of the believer
Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and raised from the dead on the third day for the justification of every believer. Justified means just-as-if we had never sinned and without a sin nature the believer becomes a partaker of God’s divine nature.
c) The renewal of the mind
Man is a spirit; he possesses a soul and lives in a body. When a person believes in Christ he is justified and receives a new spirit where the Holy Spirit comes to live. His soul, his thinking, emotions and his will need to be renewed to enable the believer think and act in accordance with the word of God and bring the flesh under God’s control.
Illustration:
Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, came to see Jesus at night and acknowledged Him to be a teacher from God. He came to the Teacher to get answers to questions that he could not understand. Jesus answered him before he even asked the question saying “unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Nicodemus had been trying to keep the Law the best way he could only to be told that it was not enough to get him into heaven and that the only way into heaven was to be born of the spirit. Jesus further said that, apart from Him, no one had seen heaven and that He came from heaven. Jesus here clearly established that keeping the Law has not saved and could not save anyone because of the sin nature. The only way to be saved was belief in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross which dealt with the sin nature. He explained to him that just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, and those Israelites bitten by poisonous snakes, were healed by looking at it, so Christ must be lifted up on the cross so that those who looked to Him would be healed and delivered from sin and the sin nature by faith in Christ Jesus.
Application:
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) We can all make the choice to belong to the whosoever and inherit eternal life because Jesus Christ was made sin and endured God’s full judgement on the cross for our forgiveness.
Step Three: The Christlike life
a) Depending on God and His Word
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit empowers the believer to live like Christ by depending on God and his Word.
b) Giving God the first and the best
The evidence of the Christlike life is giving God the first and the best. Jesus Christ confirms this by saying “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added to it”. (Matt. 6:33) Giving Christ first place in our lives is to honour Him and acknowledge that He is our Lord and Saviour.
c) Loving God and your neighbour
The Christlike life is one of love, loving God and loving your neighbour. It is doing His will on earth as it is done in heaven. As believers we are to forgive as God, in Christ has forgiven us. We are to love as Christ loved us and gave His life for us. We are to bless others as God has blessed us.
Illustration:
The grace of God has made available all that we need to lead a Christlike life. As believers we take hold of the provisions of His grace by faith. By faith we believe and know that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. By faith we believe and know that we are God’s children and joint heirs with Christ. By faith we believe and know that God has called us out of the world to become citizens of heaven. By faith we believe and know that as His representatives on earth we have at our disposal all that we need to do the will of God.
Application:
“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (Jn. 3:17) As representatives of Christ we have the responsibility to share the gospel to save those who are perishing.
Conclusion:
The just shall live by faith and every person who has led a successful fulfilling life has lived a life of faith. This is the only life that honours and pleases God. This was the life of Adam and Eve before Satan deceived them. Christ has defeated the enemy on our behalf so that by faith in Him and His crucifixion we can live a life of righteousness.
Personal Response:
“We have been crucified with Christ and the life we now live in the flesh is by faith in Christ”. (Gal. 2:20) Let us step out in faith and lay hold of the provisions of God’s grace to make an impact on the world to the praise and glory of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
