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Before we can talk about living by faith, for the just shall live by
faith (Rm1:17, Gal3:11, Heb10:38, Hab2::4), we must be justified.
That is to say, “Having been justified by faith we have peace with
God.” (Rm5:1) To have peace with God, the enmity, the sin, has to
be dealt with. We must be born again and washed in the
blood. It makes no sense to the unbeliever to talk about living
by faith if they have not come into justification. To tell an
unbeliever to live by faith is quizzical at best. So to be
justified by faith we must ask Jesus to live in our heart and we must
receive the forgiveness of sin. We realize that asking those to
live by faith without the born again faith experience sets them up for
failure because without faith it is impossible to please God. The
unbeliever must hear in order to believe and to hear he must have the
word preached to him or witnessed to him. Without that initial
faith experience living by faith is impossible and clearly
misunderstood. So how do we live by faith? We live by faith by getting into the word of God, making positive confessions of scripture and by exercising our faith when circumstances, trials, and difficulties test our faith. That is how it is done. Our faith grows through trials, circumstances, and situations that prove to be a test to our beliefs. Faith is an activity. Faith is a presence. Faith is the breath of God. Faith is the nature of God. Faith is living out the scriptures in our everyday life. Once we are born again our faith will be tried. Some turn back due to trials and persecution. Some have the word choked by being overly concerned about the things of the world. But some persevere and bear fruit. Our faith is much more precious than gold that perishes and living by faith takes courage and boldness. Be people of faith and having been justified, live by faith. Then you will be a blessing to God and to the community at large. Amen |