Faith that Stands fast
Galatians 5:1-6
Introduction: What is faith? Within the church those who know their Bible will often quote Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Then walk away thinking they have answered the question. You may have given a verse of scripture that answers the question, but do you know the answer. Often we believe faith is throwing a problem over in God’s court and waiting to see what happens. Most of the time it is going to be failure. Why? because God expects us to be vessels for faith to work through. Yea, faith requires something from you and I. God does not do for us what He has prepared us to do for ourselves. Hardship, disappointment, discouragement, challenges and even defeat are nothing more than valleys that provide opportunities for you and I to arrive at mountains which are greater hardship, disappointment, discouragement, challenge and even defeat which must be climbed or overcome before we ever reach the summit or victory. All of this requires you and I to be active. It is faith that keeps us going. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:1 again. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for we hope for victory, the substance of that victory is our effort required to get there. Next we have the evidence of things not seen very few times do people see the effort it takes for you get through the events of life, most of the time only you and God know the tears, heartbreak, sacrifice and endurance it took but victory is the evidence of the faith that took you through. Do you understand Hebrews 11:1 a little better, I hope so because Faith can take us far or lack of it can cause us to come up short. Faith do not come to you and I, instead it comes through you and I. Today lets look at faith through three things. First look with me at…
If
you are born again you know what it was like to be in bondage. Remember the life
you had before you put faith in Jesus Christ, before you trusted Him, before
you confessed you sin and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you. Remember
Romans 10:9-10 9That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Before salvation can be received a man or
woman must believe (believe/believeth). This is FAITH, faith that everything
Jesus said was true and that He has the authority and power to see it through.
You may be thinking “I know this its old
news” well this message is for you.
You may be thinking “I don’t really know
about this salvation stuff” well this message is for you.
You may be thinking “faith will do us no good,
we are too far gone” well this message is for you.
Paul speaks of liberty, liberty is freedom,
freedom from guilt, judgment, hell, condemnation and freedom to serve the only
Holy and righteous God.
Free from the bondage of sin: Paul tells us not to again take on a yoke of bondage. A yoke is a piece of equipment that couples two horses, mules, oxen or similar animals that are trained to work as a team. As an illustration before I was saved I was yoked to sin and therefore in bondage to it. Since I have been saved I still have a yoke, however it’s not with sin it is with the Lord. Many Christians today have decided to yoke themselves to sin, removing the yoke of God and taking upon themselves again the bondage of sin.
Free from the bondage of legalism: Paul uses the comparison of circumcision in order to get the Jewish Christians attention. The Jew understood the only way to be recognized as a child of God was to be circumcised. In other words it was adherence to an outward appearance or some sort of tradition. Paul warns the Christian not to get entangled in this type of religion, a religion of outward appearance. As a child of God you should have had a change of heart, a heart that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit, a heart that loves God, a heart that wants to see Gods work done.
Free to obtain a
relationship with God: Our faith should keep us leaning on God. Our faith
should keep us serving God. Our faith should keep guiding us by the word of God.
Our faith should keep us away from the world as Paul says in Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.”
It was God’s love that gave us Jesus Christ. It was God’s
love that gave us Jesus sacrifice. It was God’s love that gave us Jesus
resurrection. It was God’s love that provided for us Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
Through faith we
can love God and walk with Him as He wants.
Through faith we
can love each other as Paul told the Philippians in 2:2 “Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
That doesn’t mean we are not going to robotic, we are individual people and God
wants us to enjoy that. It does mean as the things of God are concerned we are
going to be on the same page.
Through love that
is imparted through faith we can serve the Lord the way He wants. Which is
seeing folks saved, bringing in new members, investing Gods blessings into this
community and watching it bring many returns back to Him.
Faith and love are linked through the words of Jesus in John 15:12 “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” Jesus love for you and I was a sacrificial love. Do you love as Jesus loved? Do you love the Lord, the church, the lost, the unchurched, the missionaries, the work of God, the call of God. If so is it a sacrificial love? What has it cost you? How much of it have you entered into by faith?
Conclusion: Where is your faith today? Faith is not a wish that we give to God and then walk away waiting to see what He does with it. Faith knows God will move in a mighty and powerful way according to our relationship with Him. That’s right, according to our relationship with Him. According to Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Does your attitude and life please God today? It cannot unless you are living by faith, real faith, not some of this nonsense that is being spread today. Are you saved by faith? Are you kept free by faith? Do you love by faith? Do you have more faith in things of the world than you do in the Lord? Do you make yourself available for God to use as an instrument of faith? Faith is not always fun and it is not always easy but it is always rewarding. Maybe not financially, but the satisfaction you get knowing God has worked through you to achieve His will is an awesome reward.