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“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
Hebrews 13:7
You’ve Got to Have Faith – But Is That It?
Many people say they believe in God or Jesus, or that they have faith in some “higher power”. They like the idea of having faith or believing in something greater than themselves. It makes people feel good` like they’re part of something bigger. But as nice as that seems, do they really know what they believe in? Do their actions match up?
We can talk about believing in God and Jesus, but we’ve got to make sure our faith is grounded in knowledge of God’s word, and that we act according to God’s word. Let’s find out how…
Knowing is a Part of the Battle
Faith is important for our life as a believer. As Christians, we read our Bibles daily, which is a great thing, but do we really understand things like the parables and prophecies? If we claim to know God’s word, but only know part of it, then how does that look to God’s eyes? We should remind ourselves that God wants us to know Him, and that happens by reading all of His Word. If we don’t, what does that say about us?
In Proverbs 30:2-3, it says,
“Surely, I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.”
The writer says he’s “not a man” and “has no knowledge of the Holy One”. What does this mean? We must understand this from God’s perspective. Here, it’s not talking about a physical man, or man’s own understanding, but in God’s eyes a “man” is one who knows Him – meaning understanding God’s Word. Who gives this understanding? We certainly cannot understand the Bible on our own (Prov. 3:5), but it’s God who gives us this understanding (Prov. 2:6). The apostle Paul also tells us this in 1 Corinthians.
“These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
1 Cor. 2:10-13.
We must know God’s Word and pray to God for wisdom and understanding. As we read in this passage, it’s God’s spirit that gives us true understanding. What is it we must understand? The Bible has four main topics: history, instruction, prophecy, and fulfillment. The first two are easy enough to understand, but the latter two are what we must truly learn and have faith in. God’s spirit helps us understand those parables and prophecies, so that when they are fulfilled, we can recognize the fulfillment and truly believe.
So, before we can truly say we believe or have faith, we must know and understand God’s Word – most importantly the prophecies – so we can recognize their fulfillment and fully understand God’s Word. When we do that, then we can build true faith on that knowledge. We can make it strong like a house built on the rock.
Faith Built on a Rock
In Matthew 7:24, Jesus says,
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
The following verses (verses 25-27) tell of two kinds of houses: one built on a rock, and the other built on sand. The winds come and rain falls; one house stands and the other falls. When someone builds a house, they need to build a strong foundation first. If the foundation isn’t stable, if it has cracks, if it isn’t hard enough, the house will fall when something like an earthquake occurs. When Jesus is talking about a house built on a rock and a house built on sand, which one stood up to the rain and winds?
This story isn’t talking about physical houses, of course, but about the type of faith believers have. In the Bible, we see that living a life of faith according to God’s Word isn’t easy. Jesus promises persecution, of how people – even your own family members – will turn against you for following Christ’s words. If the foundation of our faith isn’t in God’s Word alone, then will our house, our hearts (1 Cor. 3:9, 16), remain strong when those difficulties come?
Just as the builders make sure their foundation is strong before building on it, we, too, just make sure our spiritual foundation is strong before building our faith on it. How can we do that? We must learn and understand God’s word rightly. All kinds of people say this and that about God’s word, or what they think it means, but if those things aren’t from scripture, then the foundation won’t be strong. When we read the Bible more closely, we see that God desires faith based on knowledge of Him – and more importantly – in His promises and their fulfillment. In John 14:29, Jesus says he tells us things beforehand, so when they happen, we can believe. It’s not just blind faith, but faith based on prophecy and fulfillment. We must know what those are for us to truly believe and build faith.
So, what’s the next step? It’s action.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Knowledge and faith help us understand and believe in God and His word. Now that we have the knowledge (understanding) of God’s Word and believe it, now it’s time to act. Just as the subheading says, actions speak louder than words. We can talk about having faith or knowledge, but what good are those if we don’t act? Jesus says this to a woman who wants to bless his mother, Mary.
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” – Luke 11:28
In James 2, it says that faith without works is dead. This means we should do what God and Jesus tell us in the Bible. James talks about how Abraham acted on his faith in God as he left his home to go where God told him. He knew the promise God made to him, had faith in that promise (that it would be kept), and acted on his faith. That’s meant to be a lesson for us today.
Our faith should not just be lip service, but true faith based on knowledge and actions. How should faith affect our life? We should change how we live after knowing the truth of God’s word. The actions we should do aren’t merely good works like giving to charity or attending service on Sundays. Those activities are great ways to show love to others, that we want to be a good citizen and show non-believers that we want to practice our faith peacefully, but from God’s perspective, the actions we must do are believing in the prophecies and then believing again when they are fulfilled. Jesus told us these things:
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” – John 6:29
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” – John 13:20
He told us parables, prophecies, about his second coming, and also that he would send someone to give his testimony. We must know what Jesus said and understand his words, have faith in them, and then act on our faith by receiving the one Jesus sends.
We must come to the one God and Jesus have sent when he appears, learn the true meaning of the Bible, and grow in faith, knowledge, and action. Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 4.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.Ephesians 4:11-15
I hope and pray we all can have the knowledge and true understanding of God’s word, faith in God’s promises, and then act by believing when they are fulfilled. God and Jesus want all believers to grow to become mature believers as they’ve said in the Bible.
Written by Kenny
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