Music of Life: Faith (Part 3)

When we choose to walk by faith, we not only impact our own lives but also the lives of those around us. Living a life of faith in Christ is choosing to walk in the power of the gospel.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH" (Romans 1:16-17, NASB).

It is through walking in faith that God works out His righteousness in us. We are restructured and shaped to resemble His righteousness through the pressure and trials of walking in faith. We become evidence of His righteousness as we move down the road of life through stepping out trusting that where our feet land will be solid ground, even if it does not appear to be or is not yet. Remember, God is the One who makes things out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3). That being said, what is the gospel? Well, in a nutshell, it is the good news of what Christ did through His life, death, and resurrection. The gospel is how we communicate verbally, what Christ wants to do internally for all who come to Him in faith. Here is the real question: Why would anyone want to come to Christ in faith? If the greatest motivating factor were simply words depicting the gospel, gospel tracts being left in various places would end up being the #1 reason why people become Christians. The truth is that most people do not just find a gospel tract, read it, and decide to become Christians. Now, it does happen, but if you think for one second that you are being an effective witness by leaving a tract on the table for the server after you finish dining out, you have missed what Christ is calling all Christians to do. The verse above hits the nail on the head for what it takes to be an effective witness in the gospel of Christ. The gospel is "the power of God for salvation" according to Romans 1:16, but it isn't until you get to verse 17 that you find the most effective vehicle to deliver the gospel. You find the key element of witnessing in the very beginning of the verse, "For in it..." It is the gospel, of course. "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," the verse continues. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, and for those of you who are not Greek scholars, as most of us are not, the question may be raised what is the big deal about that. You see, righteousness is basically what makes God different from a everyone and thing else in the world. It's His character, nature, qualities, and personality. It's His distinct signature that says,"I am," and the reason He is holy. If you want something tangible, let's start with a look at the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23a, NASB). These qualities are produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer who invites and submits to the Spirit's rule in their lives. It's a fitting display of what awaits someone with the attitude and focus found in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (NASB, emphasis added). This brings us to the next part of Romans 1:17, "...revealed from faith to faith..." We already discussed that the gospel reveals God's righteousness, or character, but how is it done? The answer is faith. God cultivates faith in us, not only for our own growth and development, but also for the benefit of those around us. God prefers to use our faith to begin and strengthen faith in others. The biggest and best way to preach the validity of the gospel is to walk in faith. God desires to show the world who He is through every step of faith we take. We never truly know who is watching or how what they see will affect them, but we can trust that God does. The author of Hebrews extends this challenge to those are watching: "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7, NASB emphasis added). Paul did not exclude himself from such challenges, and speaking of himself says, "Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness" (Titus 1:1, NASB emphasis added). Paul believed that he was called, even chosen, of God to teach and preach the gospel, not only through words, but also through a life of faith. We should follow his example. God used him to write most of what we now call the New Testament, and I and sure that is only the tip of the iceberg in regard to impact of his life and faith. I pray that we will walk by faith, and not because other people are watching but because He is watching and desiring to strengthen our faith and many other that we do not realize. It's probably going to require some tough stands at the hand of persecution and mockery, but who ever saw great opposition when there was not great achievement and progress at stake. Paul was encouraged by the faith he saw in the church at Thessalonika and so stated, "therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure" (2 Thessalonians 1:4, NASB). Peter also knew and taught of the great opposition that we are called to stand against and why we should. He said,

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you (1 Peter 5:8-10, NASB emphasis added).

There is great achievement and glory which God desires to bring forth through us, but it is not discovered without great opposition and against fierce odds. It is worth every bit of it though. One last verse of encouragement before closing, Ephesians 6:16 states, "in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (NASB). Faith is the element that makes every movie hero amirable, and we are given by God the opportunity to be the hero of our movie of real life. Pick up the shield and the full armor with sword in hand and walk forth not relying on sight but on faith in the God of creation.

Music of Life: Faith (Part 2)

Now that we have determined that everyone has some amount of faith, and the amount of faith needed to do the impossible is a small amount. It may be a good idea the explore the idea of what faith is.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:1-3, NASB).

This ever famous and foundational depiction of faith gives us the most direct definition of faith that can be found in the Bible. There is a balance of action and words that reinforce each other and solidify the validity of our faith. Standing in this balance places us in a position which God has prepared for us when all His pieces fall into place and create a firm foundation for our feet to land on. Paul's words challenge us in this manner as well; "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, NASB). Faith is defined, in the passage from Hebrews, as having a confidence or belief that something that cannot be seen or maybe even proven is coming or will happen. This confidence or belief is viewed by the owner of the faith as being a present reality, even though it will be seen later. The possessor of the faith may not even be able to explain it any better than they "just know." To that individual though, it is real and concrete because God is the One who makes things out of nothing. His supplies need not be inherently visible nor actual, yet they are boundless and more than sufficient for any task. God is the only one who can truly create. We simply rearrange at best. We can take the supplies we have and make new arrangements of those supplies that have never been seen before, but we do not make the supplies. God truly creates because He makes things out of nothing. This Creator is the one whom our faith should always reside in. For it is by faith that we truly live and find ourselves: "And 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 seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, NASB). We can be pleasing to him by coming to Him in faith. If we seek Him, we are expressing to Him that we believe that He has more for us than what we currently have. He rewards us because He desires to give us deeper and meaningful lives than we could imagine for ourselves or currently have. In movies, the hero always persists because he believes there is more and where he wants to be is not where he currently is. The author of Hebrews makes this same claim about the heroes of the faith that he wrote about in chapter 11: "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:16, NASB). He had already prepared a city for them. They believed that He had a place for them that was better that what they had and believed it to the end of their lives: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Their faith in God was strong enough to carry them to the end of their lives. They were probably told they were crazy by others who did not share the same vision, but they remained persistent. They arrived at their promised "better country" because they did not give up and did not stand still. No one achieves a great finish without leaving the starting line. There are no guarantees that marathon runners will finish the race if they start, but they do it anyway. When they arrive and have conquered the course, they have reached the place they believed existed but had not seen until they got there: the finish line. They did this despite all the thoughts that the finish line never seemed like it was coming. The heroes of the faith finished their marathons of life that God had set before them. The Apostle Paul, as he near the end of his time on earth, joined them in saying, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NASB). Our faith is our mode of transportation. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, NASB). Their is not a good adventure movie out their that does not have a high degree of faith involved in it. The character must act in faith to accomplish the goal. We are no different.