Visible Faith Part 1 Series

Visible Faith Part 1

(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)

NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to the March Bible Study. We were unable to record a lesson in February due to the passing of Rodney’s mother-in-law and some things I had going on. However, we are blessed to be back and sharing this lesson with you. Today we are going to look at a very familiar topic – Faith. The title we have given this study is “Visible Faith” and this will be a two-part lesson.

There are four passages in the Bible that are nearly identical that speak to how we are to live as Christians. The first reference is found in the Old Testament in the book of Habakkuk. In Habakkuk 2:4 we see the following: "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” The next three references are in the New Testament and the first one is Romans 10:17 which say, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The second reference is in Galatians 3:11. It says, “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." The last New Testament reference is found in Hebrews 10:38: “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

In these passages, the Bible is clear: we are required to walk by faith and the only way we can do that is to have faith which comes through the Word of God. And this is critical because of what we read in Hebrews 11:6. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” In this lesson, we will be building on this thought as we talk about how our faith, real faith, is visible to others. Faith requires something of us and that something is action. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” As we go through these lessons, we want you to think about that word “walk.” Walk implies action – moving forward. It is the opposite of standing still. Our faith is not dormant – it is always in action and because of that others can see it and the Amplified Bible’s rendering of this verse emphasizes this. “For we walk by faith [regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.”

Do you remember how Hebrews chapter eleven verse one defines faith? We are going to read this verse from the Amplified Bible because it will further support what we are going to be reading in the book of James. It says, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality, faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” (Hebrews 11:1)

As we consider the necessity of our faith being visible to others, the writer of Hebrews explains how this happens. He says faith is our assurance of things we hope to receive. The writer further states that faith is the evidence of things not yet seen but we have the conviction that they do exist. Do you see the connection here? Our faith becomes visible when we believe God when He says something exists that has yet to be physically manifested and we act as if we already possess it. This is what others see in us when we believe God for something before we receive it. They witness our faith in action. The Bible says, once we believe something our actions gives proof to our faith. And our faith becomes more visible when we believe God for something that others do not understand. There are many times when others do not understand why we can believe God for the impossible versus just accepting what is. That is the foundation for our faith being visible. People see something in how we act and respond to situations that they do not see within themselves so they question it.