Friday, May 24, 2024
Faith Alone
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22 NLT)
Sometimes we make faith a little bit too mystical when it is, in fact, something we apply wherever we go.
For instance, when you go into a restaurant, you apply faith that the restaurant employees are following health standards and preparing your food properly. When you board a plane, you apply faith that the plane will take off, fly to its destination, and land.
The same is true when you go to the doctor’s office. You have faith they’ve been trained properly and know what they’re doing. And when you have a prescription filled, you have faith that the pharmacist is giving you the correct medication and dosage.
We apply faith every day.
Jesus said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22 NLT). Yet some people balk at that. They say, “Faith in God? Why, that is outrageous!” However, they apply faith in many other things. But they have a hard time putting their faith in God.
There is no safer place to put your faith than in God.
The Bible defines faith this way: “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). The very existence of your faith despite your circumstances is a proof of God.
Faith is like a muscle. It gets stronger through use. Muscles build up when we break them down through use. And if we don’t use our muscles, they will atrophy.
The same principle is true of faith. It’s something that we need to apply. It’s something that we need to use. Faith cannot be inoperative. We must use it.
It is by this faith that we are saved as Christians. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (NLT).
What saves is faith alone. But the faith that saves is never alone. In other words, if you have real faith, there will be evidence in your life.
People can tell that you have faith, but it isn’t because you say you have it. Rather, it’s because they can see your actions. They can’t see your heart, but they can see the things that you do.
We are to live by faith as followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “The just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11 NKJV). It doesn’t say the just shall live by feelings or circumstances.
God is the one who works, but He chooses to work primarily through human means. And faith can make the difference between something happening and not happening. We know that Jesus could do no mighty work in His hometown of Nazareth because of unbelief (see Matthew 13:58).
The writer of Hebrews tells us, “It is impossible to please God without faith” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT). We want to make sure we are using the faith that God has given us.
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