By Faith

 

by Mihran Kulhanjian

 

 Dear Friends,

A Christian lives by faith. Jesus is the blessed hope.  It is faith in God and what He has done.  To believe we must have faith.  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” [Hebrews 11].  This description of faith is poetic, as it should be because it is “the evidence of things not seen.”  Without faith, fellowship with God does not exist; and salvation is hopeless. The word faith is mentioned 391 times in the Bible—304 times in the New Testament.  How important is faith to the believer?  God said believe in my Son and you shall have everlasting life [John 3:16].  Belief is faith. Without belief, without faith, we cannot see the truth that God reveals to the faithful, to those who belong to Him.  Faith is a gift from God.  We cannot work for faith and it is something we cannot learn. We must trust God. Our conscious tells us there is a God. But nonbelievers suppress this knowledge because they do not want to be accountable for their sin; they want to make their own rules, and do not want to admit that God is the Creator of all living.  Faith in Him opens the door of wisdom and truth.  “But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”  [Hebrews 11:6].  A Christian submits to God. Unbelievers, by pride, want God to submit to them.

 

When Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace’ [Luke 7:50] to the woman, it was her faith that set her free and saved her.  What is this faith?  It was having faith in Jesus—faith enough to humbly come to Jesus, accept Jesus, to ask forgiveness and to be forgiven of her sins by Jesus. Faith in the power of Christ and what He has done. Believe and have faith.

 

How do we come to have faith?  Paul said in Romans 10:17:  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God [Jesus].”  Faith comes by hearing.  We do not get faith by reading the Bible and trying to be good. We get faith only by hearing the gospel message, the “good news” of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion and ascension and His reason for it. The truth is revealed to our mind [we hear it] and we are transformed. The “word of God” is the Bible. When we read the Bible, let's read aloud.  Hear the word of God.  When I read my Bible I read it out loud to myself and I listen to God’s word.  Faith comes by what?  Yes, faith comes by hearing.  And hearing comes by what?  That’s right, by the word of God. It is by using your ears that faith comes. So, if you need faith, listen to the pastor and read your Bible out loud. 

 

Jesus was victorious over death for us. He did it for us. He was tortured, mocked, and crucified for us. Do you believe this?  It’s true.  Jesus lived as man, a human being, for 33 years, that through Him we could know God, the Father, to come to Him and have once again fellowship with Him.  Only by His Son, Jesus, could we know God intimately.

 

Faith is not a simple act of believing in God, it also believes what God has done for us and it is trust in the entire Bible, every word and obeying the Word of God. He has given us a chance for fellowship with Him and a full and complete salvation. We accept His offer or we don’t. Even demons [evil angels who followed Satan against God] believe in the existence of God, but they do not obey Him [James 2:19].  If you do not obey God, that means you really do not trust Him nor do you have faith in Him and what He has done for the world, for you. Only a fool says “There is no God” [Psalm 14].

 

God wants us to be faithful to Him. God wants us to love Him. Yes, He wants our love.  Did you know that the meaning of life has nothing to do with you and your wants?  God created us for Him.  Yes, we were created for God. We were created by Him and for Him.  And we must recognize this truth, give Him the glory, worship Him and put all of our faith in Him.  We make God number one in our life. This is the First Commandment. When you do this you will see the purpose of your life and what it means to be a human being created in the image of the all-powerful, Almighty, and the ever loveliness of Jesus Christ. God is our Creator and He owns us, we are His property; but He gave us free will and all who believe in Him are set free from condemnation.  Similar to the type of ownership a man has with his wife. His wife belongs to him.  And a husband belongs to his wife. God is a jealous God [Exodus 20].  It is a righteous jealously.  Because we are God’s property, the devil or any other type of worship of anything or anybody that is not God of the Bible is idolatry and does not have a claim on us.  But many follow false gods and false religions that snub the true and only God. There is only one God, the God of the Bible. There is only one way to see the kingdom of God. Only through Jesus will we get to the kingdom.  Do not fool with false religions. Christ is the only way. He is truth [Ephesians 2:8-9].

 

The Christian life is based on faith in Him; that we believe and trust Jesus because He is God and all truth. It is by our faith alone; by God’s grace alone that we are saved.  That is, believers [the faithful] are saved from eternal death in hell.  Read the Bible and let God’s Word permeate your heart and your mind, and let the truth reveal itself through the Holy Spirit.

 

“Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls” [1 Peter 1:8-9].  

 

The Great Examples of Faith

In Hebrews 11: 1-40 we review from the Old Testament the faithful and the acts of faithfulness to God. They did not receive all the promises of God, yet they all had great faith and believed and were rewarded.

 

By Faith We Understand
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
 
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
 
Faith at the Dawn of History
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
 
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 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.
 
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
 
Faithful Abraham
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
 
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
 
The Heavenly Hope
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
 
The Faith of the Patriarchs
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
 
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
 
22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
 
The Faith of Moses
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
 
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
 
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
 
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
 
By Faith They Overcame
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
 
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

 

 

 

How do we get faith?  The Apostle Paul says: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Romans 10:17].  The Word of God is God’s grace. This is the Word of Christ; it is the gospel message of true salvation. We must hear God’s Word from reading or from preaching the gospel, which proclaims God’s grace through His Word. This faith is a supernatural faith. It is not a faith in man; but a faith in Christ’s Word. There is no salvation without faith and there is no salvation without the gospel. We must believe in it and believe in Him who gave it.

 

By faith we are justified.  “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” [Romans 5:1].  We are justified by faith alone not by doing any good works or following oaths or performing in anyway so that God will accept us.   In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul continues “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” [Romans 5:2].  The scripture says, to receive God’s grace we must have faith.  Our access to God’s grace is faith alone; that is, it is God’s grace alone by our faith alone that we have salvation and communion with God.

 

It is by faith many have seen the Kingdom of God. But by persevering in faith till the end do we receive the glorification.  A Christian must have faith. Yes, it is faith alone by God’s grace alone that will save us from the torments of hell.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” [Ephesians 2:8-10]. It is not good works that saves, it is by faith.  Faith leads us to do good works by the instruction of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.  True Christians want to do good works because their faith [the Holy Spirit] compels them to act in a holy way.  It is by love that good works are achieved through our faith and belief in Him.