Visible Faith Part 2 Series

Visible Faith – 2

(Rev. Rodney Johnson and Rev. Barry 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 our Bible study for the month of April. Today’s lesson is a continuation of our look at what it means to have “Visible Faith.” Before we get into the lesson, please join us in a word of prayer. We began this two part study on “Visible Faith” with four passages in the Bible that speak to how we are to live as Christians and they are nearly identical. 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.”

There is something very important in this first scripture that we want you to see and to use a term familiar to many of us, it is a “deal breaker.” The verse says that the person who is proud, who does not humbly yield himself to God’s divine authority, cannot live by faith because he has rejected God (His soul is not upright) and will spend an eternity in hell unless he repents. This is a prophetic warning to everyone who claims the name of Jesus but is choosing their own path. They are slowly walking away from an eternity with Jesus.

The next three references are found in the New Testament. 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."

Hebrews 10:38 and Habakkuk 2:4 are the same, just stated in differently, and both are warnings to the Church. The person who “draws back” no longer has faith in God and this could happen for any number of reasons. Whatever the reason, First Timothy 1:19 describe the person this way: “having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.”

The Bible is clear. Christians are required to walk by faith which means we must humble ourselves and trust God to keep His promises to us, 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 the context of Hebrews 11, faith is simply being humble enough to believe what God says and then taking Him at His Word.

In part one of this study, we looked at the connection that faith has with works that’s found in the book of James. James 2:14 & 26 says, “(14) What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?.... (26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James points to Abraham and Rahab as examples of individuals whose works were evidence of their faith. They two are also mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven for their faith. James says that when we have faith good works will follow and those good works will bring glory to Christ because whenever we do something in our walk for Christ, He gets the glory. But the opposite can also be true when Christians do not act accordingly – when what we do draws attention to ourselves and not to Jesus.