265. WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE FAITH

(The Information & Edification Series – Batch 7)

If you believe:

on Jesus Christ,
the testimony given of him in the scriptures,
that he is the Son of God and as part of the Godhead, God the Son,
that he came to earth to redeem mankind to God,
lived a perfectly sinless life,
offered himself up to be crucified by men as a sacrifice for the sins of the world,
died but rose up again on the third day, just as he said he would do,
appeared to some people and then after at least 40 days, went back to heaven but will come again to judge the world of sin

and if having believed from your heart that he died and rose again, you have confessed with your mouth that he Jesus is Lord, meaning Lord over your life and all creation and therefore have completely surrendered your life to his Lordship, THEN YOU HAVE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

That is, having no righteousness of your own that can profit, you have submitted yourself unto THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. For, he commands all men everywhere to repent and to believe on his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 17:30-31 for example, states of God that he:

“…now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

Psalm 2:12 states, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

Romans 10 speaks of Israel, the people with whom God had the Old Covenant and of their zeal to God which was useless because instead of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore, having faith in him unto salvation, they were focused on trying to keep the Old Testament law, which could not save them. For, God had already declared the whole world guilty under the law, not because the law was not good but because no man could keep it.

Galatians 3:21-22 states:

“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.But the scripture hath concluded ALL under sin, that the promise by FAITH of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

In Romans 3:19-26, it states:

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. THEREFORE by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

BUT NOW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH IS BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in HIS blood, to declare HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time: HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

John 3:14-19 states of Jesus Christ, who is referred to as “the Son of man” because when he left heaven, he came into the world through the passage of a woman:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

In light of this truth, that the righteousness of God alone can save and this righteousness comes only through having faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Paul stated of Israel in Romans 10:1-17, who did not believe that Jesus Christ was Lord, that he was alive after having died and therefore were still in their sins and condemned to a lost eternity:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of FAITH speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, THE WORD OF FAITH, which we preach; That if thou shalt CONFESS with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto RIGHTEOUSNESS; and with the mouth confession is made unto SALVATION.For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved…So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

WHAT EVERY PERSON WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST RECEIVES

Galatians 3 outlines some of the blessings which we access because we have faith in Jesus Christ. If we have genuine faith in him, we can therefore boldly say because it is true, that, as a result of our having faith in Jesus Christ:

1. We have RECEIVED THE SPIRIT of God (Gal 3:2,14). This is a done deal. It is irreversible. The world, the devil and our own flesh may try to make us feel afraid of life, of people, of situations and of our future, to make us feel that we are powerless, weak and can make no meaningful difference, to make us bitter and hateful of others, like those who provoke us and try to fill our minds with doubt, worry, anxiety, depression and convince us that we have mental issues. However, having received the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us the truth about what we are and what is in us. It tells us, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” No matter how we feel therefore or what people say or think about us, we have within us, power, love and soundness of mind, which comes from God.”

2. We have been MADE RIGHTEOUS in the sight of God, having attained unto HIS righteousness through faith in his Son (Gal. 3:6-7, 21-22). This is clear in Romans 4:5-16.

3. We have been MADE PERFECT because Jesus is perfect and his perfect righteousness (which is the righteousness of God) was imputed on us through our faith in him. (Gal 3:3). Hebrews 10:14 also states of what Jesus did and of how those that have faith with him benefit, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

4. We are BENEFICIARIES OF MIRACLES which the Lord works (Gal. 3:5). We get to witness in our own lives and that of others, the miracle working power of God. He operates supernaturally to do things for us and in our lives, that are thought to be humanely impossible. In Romans 19:26, Jesus told his disciples who thought of something as being too difficult to be done, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” In Genesis 18:14, God told Abram of the miracle he was purposed to do in the life of Sarah his wife by allowing her to conceive and bear a child in her old age, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

5. We have been redeemed or delivered from and therefore have ESCAPED THE CURSE OF THE LAW (Gal. 3:10,13). This is why Romans 6:14 states of those who have faith in Jesus Christ, “For sin shall NOT have dominion over you: for ye are NOT under the law, but under grace.” Galatians 3:23-26 tells us, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

6. We have been BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST AND HAVE PUT ON CHRIST (Gal. 3:27).

7. We are CHILDREN OF GOD (Gal. 3:26).

8. We are PARTAKERS OF THE INHERITANCE AND BLESSINGS PROMISED TO FAITHFUL ABRAHAM (Gal.3: 7-9,14,29).

CONCLUSION

In a world rife with accusations, put-downs, insults, attacks, doubts, discouragement and that loves to make us feel worthless and insignificant, it is important that those who have faith in Jesus Christ, remember these truths. We must remember what our faith in Jesus Christ means for us, in terms of the blessings that we access as a result.

When I read Galatians 3 recently, these blessings stood out to me for the first time, although I had read that portion on many occasions before. I found these truths to be quite refreshing and comforting, hence the reason why I set about to extract them from the Word and type them up, for my own benefit. As has happened on many other occasions, while in the process of doing that, it expanded into an Article and I realized that it was also to be shared with other Christians.

If you have faith in Jesus Christ, here’s to hoping that these truths benefit you, as they have me. When dealing with your problems, issues and turbulences in life, don’t look to people to bring you comfort. Look to God’s Word and use these truths of who you are in Jesus Christ and what you have already accessed through faith in him, to silence every sound of discord from the enemy, the world and your own flesh.

(Written on 05th December, 2022)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, beneficial or edifying, you may also be interested in reading the following:

Note 150 – ‘Faith – Do You Have It?’
Note 36 -‘ Faith In God vs Faith In Circumstances, People’s Opinions And Our Own Feelings’

Under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ page:

Note 178 – ‘Are You Truly Saved? Eight (8) Biblical Indicators To Examine Whether You Are In The Faith’
Note 167 – ‘Do You Have Imitation Faith Or Enduring Faith?’

Also, under the ‘BROKEN Daughters’ page: