May 2015

Posted on 7May CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Fabulous Faith!

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also through Him, we have obtained

access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of

the glory of God. And, not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions,

because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces

proven character, and proven character produces hope.” Romans 5:1-4, HCSB

Oftentimes, when we think about faith, we think of Jesus’ parable about the mustard seed. If we would have just that tiny, miniscule amount of faith, we can release tremendous power – power to move mountains. But, I’d like us to just take a minute to think about the power of hope and faith’s central role in giving the kind of life-changing hope that God offers through salvation.

Paul didn’t waste too much ink on the topic, getting right to the point, as was his usual approach. In his letter to the church in Rome, he explained how faith is the root of very good thing. Look at the passage above to see all that little faith can do: first, it can declare us righteous. It can give us “right-standing” before God. This is a gift from Jesus to us at the moment we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Without this righteousness, we cannot approach God’s throne. We’re lost, without hope. But, since the end goal is hope, we press on, through faith, which opened us to righteousness.

Second, and since we have obtained the righteousness of Christ through faith, we have peace. And, not just any kind of peace. We have the peace that surpasses all comprehension – peace with God through Christ. By faith, we have the kind of peace that those without Christ can only dream of, and hope for. There’s that word again – hope. But, let’s keep going. Third, by faith we have righteousness, and by righteousness we have peace, and, by faith, we have access to grace – that all-consuming, never ending, grace that gives our new lives meaning and purpose, and enables us to live freely a life of service in the name of Christ. Grace is freely given to us, and it should be freely shared by us to those who need it – it’s what drives us to love, and serve and reach.

Fourth, faith produces joy. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God – that God is exactly who He says He is, and that our worship, service, and very lives bring Him honor and glory. It’s the joy that cannot be created, or replicated, by the human mind or heart. It can only come from the overflowing reserves of a loving God. It also means that we can continue to have joy in the tough times as well – Paul calls these times “our afflictions.” It’s the power behind the lyrics, “I will praise You in this storm, and I will raise my hands’ that You are who You are, no matter where I am.” The true test of the maturity of our faith is the degree to which we can praise God when our circumstances call for us to retreat into doubt and darkness.

And, we have to endure afflictions, because they open up a whole new world of experiences: endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. Finally, we get to hope. How? Because it all began with faith – tiny little faith that defines the character of the believer. And, how does the faith come about? Well, Paul tells us that, too, a few pages over in Romans 10:8-10, “On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.” Allbecause of faith. Try it out for yourself!

In His Love, Bro. Heath