Faith's Product

I have an important confession to make. I really don't know any other way to say this but I feel as though I must let this out. Some of you may be surprised by this statement, however, as a loyal blog reader you need to know the truth. There has been something going on in my life over the past few months that has to be shared.

I became a believer in Christ when I was a senior in high school. My walk with Christ has went through a lot of changes over the last 18 years. I answered the call the preach the week of my 19th birthday. So I have been trying to live out my faith for some time now. Here's my confession: Never have I felt as free in my faith as I do today! I mean that. God has been doing a work in my heart and life over the past few months that has been nothing short of liberating. I thought I was free before but today I know that I am free.

What I am discovering in this walk of mine is the power of faith. Rarely do we talk about faith in the way that I'm going to share it with you today. We often look at faith in the simple terms of what we believe God for. We are praying for an expected end - we must pray in faith. We are believing God to perform something - we must believe in faith. But what I want to share with you today is a little different. I don't want you to view faith as the end of things but the beginning.

Let me explain.

Whether we realize it or not, we place a lot of emphasis upon obedience. We must obey God in this matter or that. If I want to grow in my faith I must obey God's teachings, I must be obedient in the area of prayer, Bible reading, & sharing the Gospel. But what if we changed our outlook just a little bit. What if (instead of looking at obedience as the key) we looked at faith as they key to achieving all these things?

I'm finding out more and more that faith is the key to being who God wants me to be. To be quite honest I don't think we can go any further in our walk with God that what we are able to do by faith. Faith saves us, sustains us, and strengthens us to be the man/woman of God that He purposes. It is our faith in what God has done that brings eternal life. It is our faith in what God can do that sustains us when the journey gets difficult. And it is our faith in what God says about us that strengthens us. Ask yourself this question: Do I believe that I am who God says that I am?

Can you imagine a church body that lives in the grace of God, is empowered by the Spirit of God, and is built upon the promises of God? That my friends would be an awesome fellowship. I wonder how many fellow believers live this way. We might understand God's grace, and we may be empowered by the Spirit of God for all service, but do we really believe that we are who God says we are? If we truly believed that then we would stop trying living up to something and simply learn to live in it!

Romans 3:31, "Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law." NLT

The hard thing for us to grasp is that it is through our faith that the law of God is fulfilled. Faith in what God has said, done, and can do actually produces obedience in our life. It's not what we DO but what we BELIEVE! Are we righteous because we live out the commands of God? Or are we righteous because we believe what God has already accomplished? I think the latter is more appropriate. You have been made righteous because of your faith in Jesus Christ. And as you continue to live in that faith - continue to believe what God has already pronounced you to be - then you will be all that God wants.

Romans 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free form the law of sin & death."

There is a new law at work in us. It still fulfills God's law but it works totally different from the old one. The old law said you must (or must not) do... The new law says that you are... One law emphasizes my actions while the other law emphasizes my faith. One requires me to do something while the other law requires me to believe something.

What you and I must realize is that God has already pronounced us righteous. It's not something to be achieved but received. And when we understand that His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (according to 2 Peter 1:3) a lot of striving will cease. What we must learn is to live out what God has place in us!

I hope that you can find freedom in your relationship with Christ. I hope that you can learn to live in what He has already done and what He has already said. Allow the chains of religious bondage to fall from your life. Then you can begin to enjoy your faith.