Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What is Faith Anyway? (1)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the root and saving grace we need from God. Genuine faith focuses on the finished work of Jesus Christ, not on human merit at all. Faith is the accepting of what God gives freely. Faith is believing what Gods says. Faith is the trusting to what Jesus has done. Faith is believing the promise of God, taking God at His word, and acting upon His words by believing and obeying Him. Faith is the gift of God, it cannot be earned by your works. Faith is the hand that takes everything from God. Faith thanks God for everything. The act of simple faith, looking out of self, and looking alone to Christ and His finished work for all your salvation, is the genesis of eternal life. Your faith must be fixed wholly on what Jesus did for you, not on what you can do. Place all your confidence in the Crucified God that pardons sin through His precious blood. Never depend on your own graces and self-attainment. Faith is the hand that grasps eternal things.

The natural man must have a righteousness of one kind or another, and if he doesn't take God's Righteousness (Jesus Christ Himself), the natural lost man seeks to have one of his own making. As a spider spins her web out of our her own body, so sinful self-righteous men try to manufacture an acceptable righteousness out of that which is within them, but this they can never do. The ONLY righteousness which will stand the test of the White Throne Judgment is the Righteousness which God freely gives to believers in His Son Jesus Christ. You must be willing to reject and renounce your own self-righteousness and submit completely to the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Christ makes every sinner who trusts in Him completely Righteous. The simple act of faith in Christ Jesus accomplishes what all your good works can never accomplish. Man's religion says, "Do and live." But the message of the Cross is "Live, and then do." Man's religion says, "Work to obtain eternal life." The Gospel says, "You have life freely given to you in Christ Jesus, and then you work because you live in Him, and want to glorify Him." God's divine plan of salvation is simple - Trust only in the all-sufficient living Savior.

According to your faith be it unto you. Your sins, which are many, are forgiven freely by faith in Jesus' precious blood shed for you. Bible Faith denies self and relies only on Christ. The object of real faith is the naked promise of God. Place your faith solely in the infinite merit of Christ's Atonement for sinners. Faith is the only passport into the Better Country. Being christened, confirmed, or baptized can never 'help' take away your sins. You can work your fingers to the bone, and you will never work out a righteousness that shall cover your naked soul before Almighty God. Your only hope is to come directly to Christ and trust your immortal soul to what He has already done, depending wholly upon His agonies, sufferings, bleeding, death, and resurrection. Christ is your only escape from the wrath of God, not your works. Faith in God's Blood is the only remedy for your sinfulness. Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, He gave His life willfully and sacrificially to save you from the Hell you rightfully deserve. Don't keep putting off coming to Christ and receiving the free gift of eternal salvation. Jesus gave His sinless life in your place to purchase a free pardon for your soul. You can change your eternal destiny right now by trusting only in Jesus Christ did for you.

Faith is the simplest thing - Merely to depend upon the Blood and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is to be nothing, and to let Jesus be everything - to be still, and to let Jesus work for me. We must cast away all our own righteousnesses and every human confidence and carnal dependence, and rest entirely upon the Person, the Righteousness, the Name, the Blood, the Resurrection, the Intercession, and the infinite merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your feelings are as fickle as the wind and weather. Have faith in God's promises and blood. Faith is the opposite of doubt. Jesus is God and man; He came down to earth on purpose to save ungodly sinners - Jesus is willing to save you. Jesus lived on earth a life of labor, grief, and sorrow; He died on the Cross to make Atonement for your sins. The source of faith is sincerely meditating, studying thoughtfully, looking with continued attention, considering thoroughly, beholding heartily the suffering, agonizing, bleeding, and risen God - Jesus Christ Himself. Trust what Jesus is, what He has done, and what He is doing for sinners now. Take Jesus to be your own Savior now.

The just lives by faith in his study, closet, home, market, shop, work-bench, church. The just cannot live by doings, feelings, or past experiences. Faith is the heart's obedience to Jesus. Faith lays hold on the Scriptures and the Person of Christ. Faith brings down life from Christ who is our life. Faith is the connecting link between our souls and the living Christ. Trust God in the dark. Faith is trusting in Christ alone to save my soul from the Hell I deserve. Faith in Jesus' blood is the surest of sin-killers. Faith is the telescope through which we see Christ clearly. Faith is learning the doctrines of Christ, believing whatsoever the Bible teaches about Christ, leaning and relying upon Christ for salvation, following in His footsteps, obeying His commandments, drinking in His Spirit, and serving His cause. Faith is the free ticket we use to get our souls out of pawn. The Holy Scriptures is the birthplace of saving faith. Faith is the empty hand of the soul that lays hold at once upon the finished work of Christ. Faith is the opposite of sight. Faith is the gauze that holds the ointment of Christ's blood atonement to the sores of our sins.

Childlike faith is the royal road to Christ, no works are demanded from you at all. Faith is when we look to Jesus dying and bleeding as our Substitute. Rest your soul humbly, simply, and confidently upon the promise of God. If any of your confidence lies in what you have done or will do, you are making a fatal mistake, and your soul is in imminent peril. The crutches of your self-righteousness and religious effort will soon give way, and you will be damned eternally. Cast your poor soul upon the power, merits, grace, and promise of Christ. Christ's promise to save sinners still stands good. Believe only in Jesus Christ Himself. Faith takes Christ to be his All-in-All, and takes the Cross to be the only thing to which he hides. Believe the promise of God, because it is His promise. Trust the Savior, because He is God and mighty to save. Your evil nature is all sinfulness and rottenness through and through. Ye must be born again. Hang all your soul's hope on the Cross of Christ, depend on Jesus wholly. Faith says, "Christ is all my salvation, I depend alone on Him. I throw all my good works and bad works overboard, and rely upon Christ Jesus alone." Faith is the root and foundation of all true fear of God. Learn to do well - trust only in Christ's blood and merits. Faith is the cup, Christ is the fountain of life. Faith is the hand that touches the hem of the Savior's garment. Faith is the grasping, appropriating, and receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ into one's soul. Faith is the only channel by which we can draw grace and life from Jesus. Faith saves, but it only boasts in the Savior, never in self-effort.

Faith is the only way to receive anything from God. Faith is the only way to obtain God's blessing. Faith is the empty hand knocking at the gate of mercy. Faith is trust and belief in Christ's sin-atoning Sacrifice. Faith believes Christ will do what He has promised. Faith is the only way to come to Jesus, faith gives speedy relief to the weary soul, and honors the Lord. Blood-soaked faith saves the soul. God's blessing is what we need most. Faith is the eye of the soul with which the sin-bitten sinner looks to Serpent of Calvary. Have done with trusting your works, and depending upon your merits. Take Christ's works, His merits, rest alone upon Him. Faith is the mainspring of the soul. Jesus is the real sinner's only hope. If you are under sin's duress, put your faith in Christ's bloody death. Trust in the Lord, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Faith is pleasing God, thinking about God, and caring about what God thinks. Faith is trusting in Christ, and not in yourself at all. Faith is the heaving of the spiritual lung and the beating of the spiritual heart.

Your good works are useless without faith in Christ first. Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me. Faith is confidence in God, not human ability. Faith is the soil where the fruit of the Spirit grows. Faith is the eye of the soul looking to Jesus always. Faith is the hidden strength which sustains the Christian under trials, difficulties, sufferings, and labors. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is coming to Christ, simply believing in His blood atonement for ungodly self-condemned sinners. Have done once and for all with all your reliance upon your own feelings and doings, and simply trust in Jesus Christ and in what He did for your salvation. Real faith makes the believer hate, depart from, and avoid sin; the sincere saint cannot love the things that made His Savior bleed.