Our Responsibility of Faith

In order to love, we must have faith.

Our Responsibility of Faith

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:16-21

 

 

 

 

 

            Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6). He explicitly says that only He is the way for eternal life. This claim by Jesus is rejected by many religions and worldviews in the world either claiming that Jesus is not the Son of God, you need something more than Jesus Christ, or He never existed. Immediately, people go to the Bible to see if it is what it say it is. They attack it’s inerrancy, but they never succeed. This is not an apologetics book, so I am not going to refute or defend the claims of Scripture, but I will mention a couple of verses from what the Bible says about itself. 2 Timothy 3:15 says, “ . . . you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Jesus talks to the Pharisees in John 5:39 and says, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” The Bible are the actual Words of God, they are truth and actual truth and we can trust Him because God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2).

            We are sinners. Your father, mother, grandma, and grandpa sin or have sinned. Even the baby that have or will be born to you will sin. This curse also applies to you because you sin also. By no means are we proud of this shame, for we have missed the mark of God (Rom. 3:23). We have all “fallen short of the glory of God” by not only making a mark passively, but also, making a mark actively (Ex. 20:20; Prov. 8:36; 19:2). We all have freely chosen the sinful path, loved sin more than God, and desired to take the ‘other’ way. We proudly made a statement, but we are utterly ashamed. Why? Because when we compare evil with good and experience the consequence, we know that evil is not as good as good as evil said it would be. The wrong decision is not an embarrassment to us (though it is), but knowing that God has to judge sin, this is what embarrasses us (Rom. 6:23). We are the enemy God is the benefactor. In this paper, you will learn the origin of sin, sin in the lives of believers and unbelievers, and how sin is a threat to a holy God. Although sin interests the heart of all sinful men, God must judge sin for the wickedness it truly is.

This problem all happened in the Garden of Eden, when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit

of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Because we sinned God has to judge our sin that lies within us. However, God made promises in the Scripture: a deliverer. This deliverer came to save us from our sin.
            Jesus came on the scene in 4 B.C. We believe that He was the Christ to come not only in what he did but because what God said. Jesus received recommendation from God on two occasions from which one I shall only make reference of. God said of Jesus in Matthew 3:17, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Since Jesus received His mark from God the Father, we believe who Jesus was. Continually, Jesus made claims of himself of being the Christ and the one that saves. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of the world (Jn. 8:12).” “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me�"just as the Father knows me and I know the Father �" and I lay down my life for the sheep (Jn. 10:14-15).” “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty (Jn. 6:35).” Jesus’ claims say that He was the one to come to save the world of their sins (Isa. 53). If He was the one to save the world of their sins, than He had to do the job at some point in time.

            The Scriptures claim that Jesus was captured and betrayed by Judas and his hired men from the Pharisees at the Garden of Gethsemane. He was captured and was shipped to Annas than to Herod than to Pilot. All  His disciples left Him. During this time, the Pharisees falsely accused Him and beat him up. When he was with Pilate, the Pharisees bribed the Jews to call out to Pilot to “Crucify Him!” Pilot made a bargain to either pick Jesus or Barabbas, a zealot. However, Barabbas was picked instead of Jesus, so Jesus was whipped and beaten than marched out to be crucified. Jesus was led out carrying a cross; however, he was too weak so Simeon from Cyrene carried it for him. When Jesus arrived to Golgotha, called the place of the skull, they gambled for his clothing. There they crucified him upon a cross and mocked him. That day he died for the souls of men and from that crucifixion. The Old Testament is gone and the New Testament come when he said, “It is finished!”

            After Jesus died for our sins, he resurrected. We stress the importance of the death of Christ and rightly so. We stress how much he suffered for our place, but it does not matter as to how much we stress his death, if we do not stress his resurrection it is of no avail.1 Corinthians 15:13-14 says, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Jesus death, in a matter of fact, is no thing to rejoice about. Jesus even said, “It was a time of mourning for them.” The thing to rejoice about is his resurrection. It is because of Jesus’ resurrection that we can rejoice that His death conquered death itself. It is because of Jesus death that we can say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

            We consider this event to be true because not only did the event happen and because God is faithful and true but because of the historical significance of it. 1 Corinthians 15:3-6 states, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time . . . .” Since there was witnesses, this a valid non-biblical support that states that the Bible is true. (Book of Josephus)

            Jesus’ life on earth is called the Gospel. The Gospel in Greek means evangelion or the good news. Before Jesus people would be saved by looking forward to the Savior to come. Now we look back to Christ to get saved. Since God brought all these situations and acts to occur, he has granted a new responsibility to us or a new dispensation. With this dispensation comes new rules for us to follow and that is either to accept God’s grace or to reject it. Follow our way or follow God’s way. As John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

            The passage I just used says that believing is required to not be condemned or to believe is to be saved. My father made a quote which still sticks in my mind, “If I have faith than I am required to believe and if I am required to believe than I am required to act.” This quote is so true. Our first duty in order to perform to God is to have faith. Hebrews 11:1 gives a perfect definition as to what faith is, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith relies that God is the true God who dwelled all of eternity and acted by making us and saving us from our sins. Not only that but it has hope that we will be with him forever and ever. Webster’s New World Thesaurus defines faith as confidence, trust, assurance, dependence, conviction, allegiance, and certainty. In order to be saved, one must have faith in God. But this rises a question: faith in God concerning what?

            When one has faith in God he casts himself into the arms of God for dependence. Now this is contrary to man’s innate nature for he puts himself upon God. Man is a natural humanist and a person who thinks himself as God. However, when a man comes to the end of himself like the prodigal son, God turns the man from his wicked ways and shows him how beautiful and glorious He is. When a man comes to God, he confesses that he himself is sinful. According to what standard? God’s standard. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Without God, there would be nothing to measure as to what it is morally acceptable: good or bad. However, since we are naturally evil, we know we are evil because we have experienced the good and have seen the good. As a result, we see our true situation. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  However, we do not naturally see our true spiritual condition unless someone or something opens our eyes. You see if everyone in the world was born in darkness since they were born and have never seen light before. They would think that knowing nothing but black would be normal. 1 John 2:11 says, “But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”  However, when they see the light, they see it by someone’s help. Likewise, someone can only discern what sin is or what good is by the person who reveals it. The mind does not discern it by itself. Who gave you ability for you to discern good from evil? Colossians 1:21-22 says, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight . . . .” Although God delivers us from sin and from this evil present age (Gal. 1:4), the decision to believe God is ours, since we have a free will. Psalm 95:8 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah . . . .” The decision is ours either to put our faith in God or not to. However, we need the Son and the Father to help us in our step to faith for salvation (Lk. 18:27; Jn. 15:4). We have the Son and the Father’s help by not trusting in ourselves but trusting in them.

            I can hear someone saying, “But I am not that bad of a person” or “I have never sinned” or “God is a God of love; He will not judge my sin.” But the truth of the matter is all we are evil people who have sinned and God must judge us for our sin.

            Have you ever lied? Have you ever withheld the truth from someone just a little bit? If so, you are a liar. That’s a sin. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilt of breaking all of it.” This does not just apply to lying, but murder, adultery, covetousness, and more. Every word, action, or deed that does not come from love is sin. We are all called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love others as ourselves and the moment we stop doing that, we sin. It is not the outward actions that are sin only, but also the inwards thoughts of a man. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22 says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,’ and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” When evil resides the heart, that is when we are sinning.

            Sin is a big deal for God because it is a threat to his glory. He must judge sin. Sin is so evil that even God had to forsake Jesus Christ when he bore the sin of the world (Mat. 27:46). It is the same If Sin is not a big deal for God than how is it you had to offer His Son for our sins? God must preserve Himself. Even though God is a God of love; He also is a God who is Just. To let evil go unpunished is to allow evil. Evil and good cannot be with each other as much as darkness and light can be with each other. God is holy and separated from all that is evil in this world. It is very sobering when one reads Isaiah 6 and see that God is “Holy, holy, holy.”

            Now it is possible for people to have “faith” in God yet not be saved. James 2:19 reads, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that �" and shudder.” Believe here is the Greek word pisteno, which means, commit, put in trust with, to have faith says Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. The only difference between the two words faith and believe is the time span in which a person is in with their walk with God. Whereas faith puts its confidence in someone or something, to believe is to already accept, hold, think, or consider in something or someone. You see there will be people who know God yet blatantly reject him. Romans 1:18 testifies, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

            The time when somebody puts their faith in God to the time when somebody confesses God as their Savior is the time of salvation.  But the person who chooses not to confess Jesus as their Savior skips to the believing process and remains there until he goes back and receives the saving faith which is found only in Christ Jesus. When somebody confesses Christ as their own personal Savior that is when they go onto the believing process as well as the acting process. One gets saving faith simply by this as Acts 16:31 states, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved �" you and your household.” Romans 10:9-10 states, “That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” When one confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He saved you from your sins that is how you are saved. However, if it is just said from your mouth out of duty or because someone forced you to it, that does not guarantee that you are saved one bit. Saving faith must come from the heart. If it does not come from the heart than you are not saved. Suppose there was a girl who was driving and was going to an accident and yelled out, “Help me, God!” Her calling out to God does not guarantee her that she indeed is a child of God.

            When one believes in the Lord, he or she is saved forever.  I will give Scriptural verses that prove this point, John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” When be believe in Christ, we are actually crucified with him and baptized with him. As a result, God when he sees us only sees Jesus Christ. It is an act that has been done in the past and cannot be taken back. We cannot get saved again for we are being saved (Phil. 2:12). It is impossible for Jesus Christ to be crucified again and again. He cannot die again for He died once and for all. Plus, if Jesus had to die again, God would not be showing true agape love because agape love is unconditional. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned . . . . “ Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Jesus is the good shepherd. He never lets a sheep loose from his hand (Jn. 10:18).

            When we have saving faith in God, we are in the constant process of believing in God and acting upon what we believe. When a Christian trusts God for His salvation, it is his duty to walk with God. He not only continually believes but he acts upon what he reads in the Word of God or from what the Spirit of God convicts the man. A Christian should be able to make some sort of evidence that he is a Christian. James 2:17 says, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Our faith is useless unless we act upon it. Luke 11:28 says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” For instance, a father and a mother have a child. It would be a disaster if you saw the child be a child for the rest of his life. The child should mature and over time, be a help for the family. Likewise, when we grow up and mature, we should help out God and others. We should be able to produce fruit for God.

            If there is no evidence of fruit in your life than you might probably not be saved. Every Christian should be able to produce fruit and persevere till the end. It is the attribute of every Christian. He who falls away from grace, has probably not been saved for the Holy Spirit strives with man.

Sanctifying Faith

            It is impossible for anyone to love others if they will not love God. A person grows as much as his faith. Faith measures the man. Whatsoever a man does: prayer, reading the Word of God, fellowship with others measures his faith. Once faith is cut through circumstances or whatnot, he is in a growth halt. This book is not a counseling book, so I will not be able to cover every detail what man undergoes, but what I will cover is the sovereignty of God in light of man’s responsibility to put his faith in Him.

            Sanctifying faith is not much different than saving faith. Whereas saving faith is salvation in passed tense, I am being saved by the power of Christ. My favorite Bible passage, Colossians 2:6-7 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Just as I was saved by Jesus Christ, I continue to live by him in faith. Nothing changes. The first part of sanctification is to God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. We need the Trinity’s help through our sanctification. I may have been saved, but my call remains the same, like Paul I should say, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Phil. 3:7-8).” Knowing Christ becomes more of a delight when I spend time with him. The same applies with God. Relationships are not drudgery but pure and sweet. I find myself farther in sanctification when I remind myself of Christ. Although God is the one who receives all glory, if we only focus on God and giving Him glory as He so deserves, we will faint along the way because we are doing it in our own strength. We need help from Christ. Christ is the one that helps us to glorify God. When Christ dwells in us, as was His job in the first place, we can glorify God also. John 17:1 says, “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” The Son’s job is to glorify the Father and he does this by indwelling us. Jesus said that we would do greater works than Him since we have Him in our hearts (Jn. 14:12). We will find ourselves loving others more when we are sanctified more.

Sanctification through the Trinity

            Sanctification is the process of becoming more like God. It is like gold going under refinement when it is going under refinement the dross rise to the surface while the purities of the gold are seen after the dross is wiped off clean. God is the purifier. Either you are purified either here on earth or up in the judgment sea of God (Mal. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:7; Job 23:10). We are all going to be purified sooner or later. Unbelievers are purified eternally in hell’s fires for sin can never be refined, but Christians are purified here on earth. Isaiah 48:10-11 says of Isaiah 48:10-11, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” In the end, the Trinity works for our good (Rom. 8:28).

 

            During the experience of sanctification, the Trinity works out to make us more like God the Father. The Trinity is always there for our spiritual progress: redemption and sanctification. Through this next section, I will explain what parts the Trinity does in bringing us to sanctification.

            Firstly, God the Father assists us through our need of sanctification in two ways.  He assists us first by giving us hard trials to overcome. We can undergo these circumstances in two ways: 1) Our strength or 2) God’s ways (Isa. 48:10-11; Js. 1:2-6). Fortunately, God does not make these trials overwhelming but He gives us a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). Even when the times are hard and it seems like nothing good is going to happen, God works through us by showing us our need: patience, love, etc.  By showing us our need, he heals us from our sickness and makes us healthy and more into His image. God helps us in our need of sanctification through trials by giving us grace. As you live, you will find that the harder life is the more grace is given to you. As 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “For when I am weak that is when I am strong.” In order to preserver through refinement, we need to have God’s grace through trials. We can do this by our relationship with Jesus Christ.

            Secondly, God the Son assists us through our need of sanctification. By Jesus Christ dying for us, He not only saved us, but He also produced in us desires in wanting to serve God and others. Jesus has given us love. 1 John 4:18 says, “We love because He first loved us.” Love can be regarded a part of sanctification because the only reason why people persevere through anything is love.  As 1 Corinthians 13 says, “Love endures forever.” As I said earlier, love is the end of the means in all things. By loving others, both in good and bad times, we further our sanctification ever more. This is so for we are not loving in our own strength, but rather in Christ’s strength. When we love in Christ’s strength we take another step in drawing closer to Him.

            Thirdly and lastly, we may have God the Father and God the Son, but we also need the Holy Spirit’s help. Christ is the one that bears our sins, and is the one that gives us His love in order to love others, but it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to convict us of sin and righteousness (Jn. 16:8) . It is the Spirit that enlightens us to our true spiritual condition. The Holy Spirit is like a still small whisper that you can sense in the back of your mind: what you should do or what you should not do. By Him telling us what to do and what not to do, we can take the right path and be more like God. Not only will the Holy Spirit tell us what to do, but he will also give us guidance through His Word. The Holy Spirit speaks to us by the Word (2 Pet. 1:21). The Holy Spirit speaks to us through His Word every time, it is whether we wish to respond or not. When we do respond we see the power of the Holy Scriptures in transforming our lives (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16).

            Once we lose sight of one of the jobs of the Trinity, we immediately lose that aspect of sanctification. As a result, we do not gain the full aspect of sanctification and we walk in our own strength. We usually fail either one of two ways: 1) We either forget God or 2) We do not trust God.

Seeing the Problem

            An anonymous person once said, “The greatest enemy of faith  is forgetfulness.” When we forget God, we are actually having God separate from our lives and are actually having an idol in place.  Israel had the problem of forgetfulness quite prevalent in their lives. They would go off into war and win or see a wondrous miracle, but just a few days would pass and they would forget God and serve others gods (Deut. 4:23). God even warns us about our forgetfulness in 2 Kings 7:38, “And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.” I find on my life that I often forget God when I find Him not so appealing. What I mean is, I start memorizing all these Bible verses and have high standards (can be low too) but after a while I do not enjoy them as I once did. Slowly, I forget God by losing my zeal that I once had for Him. When we forget the greatness of God that is when problems start occurring (Ps. 78:7; 106:13; 103:2; 106:7; Heb. 12:5; Js. 1:25; Ps. 119:53; Ps. 119:176; Jdg. 8:34; Ps. 78:42). Complacency will lead to forgetfulness. When we are comfortable and have no problems that is when we are in the most danger because we rely on ourselves than on God because we believe that we have  it all together (Deut. 8:12-14; Hosea 13:6). The only way to battle against the enemy of forgetfulness is to strive for God. How do we have zeal for God when sin weighs us down? We can have zeal by coming back to the cross and remembering that Christ died for our forgetfulness and gave us zeal for God the Father.

            Forgetfulness is a short topic to talk about, but trust the Lord is quite extensive. Volumes of books have been written about trusting God or the sovereignty of God. Ultimately, if you have a problem in trusting God, you have a problem with the sovereignty of God. If you accept God’s sovereignty,  you understand life. If you want to read more about the sovereignty of God, I suggest you turn to chapter five, but for now, I will discuss our duty in trusting God.

            We are told from Scripture that God does not lie (Rom. 3:4). If He cannot lie, that presumes that God is truth (Jn. 4:24).  Knowing that God is truthful and believing it is very important. We often know that God is truthful but actually believing it comes hard for us to grasp. I say this for we cling to our way more onto God because God’s ways are painful and unpleasant. Because of this, we view God almost as evil and against us. We want no part of Him. As a result, we actually do not trust God, but trust ourselves. I will now make a list as to why we have a hard time in trusting God.

            First, we do not trust God because we do not see that God loves us. We as humans cannot grasp the way God loves. It is mysterious in the times we are experiencing evil. When you think about it, God’s love was displayed in sacrificing His Son (Jn. 3:16).  But when we think about it, God’s love was displayed to us by sending His Son to die for us. Does this mean that God did not love His Son? No, because He called Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” One day I was working at a ski resort and I was managing the tubing hill and making sure that everything was running and going properly as it was supposed to. Well, I was wearing a hoodie and the hook that was running the pulley system caught onto my hoodie and dragged me for some fifty feet. I was devastated and honestly, was scrambling to my feet and hands so I could breathe and not get chocked to death. After the incident, I immediately viewed myself as a replaceable by God because I thought of myself of no value to God. What happened was, I doubted God’s true love for me because I focused more on how I felt at the time. God only promises to do good things to me (Rom. 8:28).  He also wants me to prosper. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God loves us unconditionally, because even in the face of our sin, He still supplies breath to us and keeps us alive. Every second that we live is an act of God’s love toward us. By looking at what I had and have right now all I can do and should do is praise God like Job did in Job 1:21, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

            Second, we do not see trust God because we do not see that God is inherently good, for we see Him as evil. We do not trust God usually because we are hurt. When we are hurt, we equate hurt with evil. As a result, we see God as evil. If you have been with logic, you will know that the conclusion is only as strong as the premise. However, since we established that God is truth, we already see that the premise is false. God is good. I am not a man who can help everyone with their hurt, but one thing I would say to everyone is this: give it all to God. No one can escape that God is behind it all. God is the one being blamed for the evil, but we are only looking through the situation through our human lens. I can hear someone saying, “Well, how on earth do you suppose that this can be a good situation?” To this I cannot say anything because I am not God. But the song Day by Day can teach us a valuable lesson wherever you are at in life,

           
            “Day by day, and with each passing moment,
            Strength I find to meet my trials here;
            Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
            I've no cause for worry or for! fear.
            He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
            Gives unto each day what He deems best,
            Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
            Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

Now one might say, “If God really loved you, He would be good to you.” The truth is, God does love you. We may not see it at first or we may not see it at all during this life time, but God only does in what He does to draw us closer to Him. He made Adam to have fellowship with Him; He does the same thing to us. Every action God does is a call to us to draw nigh to Him. As Romans 3:11 states, “No one seeks after God.” Everything that God does is for Him to show us what is the greatest good to live for: Him. Everything works out for good. Joseph found this out after His trial. He spoke to his brothers as said, “As for you, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” If you are a Christian, you have prayed at least once to be made in the image of Christ. Well, God is doing just that through trials. We can trust God is good by trusting that He is using the trials for our greater good. This should give us joy because we know that God is developing our faith through this circumstance (Js. 1:2-5). Suffering is one of the aspects that God uses us to mold us into His image. That is not a bad thing.  God never gives us an answer to the circumstances we go through, Job never received an answer from God as to the question why. The only answer he received from God was, “Will you contend with the Almighty?” (Job. 40:2) When we believe that God is good, we know that everything is working out for good. Habakkuk learned this even when his people were going to be slaughtered by the Babylonian army, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” In the end, we should be like Job and be willing to take both the good times and the bad  times.

            Third, we do not trust God because we see God as selfish. When bad times happen to us, we might see God as a tyrannical ruler who only cares about Himself. We may also see Him as not loving and evil. Even when they do see Him as loving and good, they may still think that God is only in it for Himself.  But shouldn’t He? I mean, after all, He is God, right? A God can do whatever He wishes to do because He is the Supreme Being. It is funny how we call out on God and tell Him what not to do or what to do when we cannot predict what will happen ten seconds from now. God must look to Himself as the Highest Being because He is the greatest good. Even when He created man, He could be considered as selfish but in reality it was for our good because we saw the goodness of God. God is the highest good. A demonstration of this can be seen in God giving Abraham a vow that He would fulfill His promise to Him by swearing upon Himself. There was no one else greater than Him.

            Fourthly, we do not trust God because we do not believe that God wants to use us. This sounds strange, but sometimes we do not trust God because we do not think we are good enough. We feel inadequate because we think how or why would God use me? We do not measure up to our own expectations or goals and so we do not progress in our sanctification be cause we do not trust God that He does want to use us. The truth is God wants to use everyone. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Everyone has a talent and God has given each one of us something to edify one another. Whether we have a big gift or a small gift, the church cannot survive without it. This is no competition with others to see who has the greater gift, but rather how we can serve one another in love and how we can be faithful to the God who granted to us these gifts. If God was not planning to use us than we would not be here, but we are here so God is going to use us.

            Fifthly and lastly, we do not trust God because simply do not believe in Him. We may know all our problems and lacks of faith, but knowing our problems is not good enough. We must act upon  it. We have to delight in God more than ourselves. If we cannot we simply do not trust God because we trust in ourselves and love ourselves more than Him. Proverbs 3:5-7 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” At times, we simply have to have faith and as the Nike logo says, “Just do it.”

             Sanctification requires a constant walk with God. We are not going on that walk with Him if we are not trusting Him. Trust is the biggest keys in a relationship and it all starts with having faith in God. As Hebrews says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord.”We may fail and fall and it may be hard to trust the Lord, but we can do it by trusting in the Lord’s strength.

Conclusion

            It does not matter where you are in life. You need faith to be a successful Christian. Although love defines the man, without faith it will all go in vain. This chapter can teach you a lot if you make it teach it a lot. Can you do better to trust God? Are you really giving God your whole life? If you truly had faith in God, would you be as radical in Jesus? Faith makes itself known by crazy stuff  done and  it all comes down to loving Christ more than this world. When we love God we will find the world passing away. So as you read this book, I challenge you that you will go on this adventure with me to live a radical Christian life that is centered on Christ.

Author's Note

This chapter is not yet completed.

Reviews

[tinker2sweet]

I really loved this Chapter Ethan...it is something I know I could work on! Miss you honey...and keep up the good work!