We Live By Faith

And Jesus said to them,

'I am the bread of life. 

He who come to Me 

shall never hunger, 

and he who believes

in Me

shall never thirst...

All that the Father

gives Me

will come to Me,

and the one who 

comes to Me

I will no means cast out.'

John 6:35;37

      There are those who reduce faith as the only condition of the Spirit's dwelling in us as the source of spiritual life, but we do live by faith. That may seem circular but it is not, it is by the exercise of faith continuing in the believer's life where can be found spiritual life. We live by exercising faith in God, in His attributes, in His providence, in His promises, and in all the truths which He has revealed. All spiritual lives are sustained by the exercise of faith when faith has as it's object, Jesus Christ. It is His divine, even though mysterious constituted person as God manifested in the flesh, that has provided finished work for our redemption. Jesus Christ being God, has provided intercession which is infinite, there is no end as there is no end to Him. This intimate relation as our High Priest, our Prophet, and King, our living head in whom are our lives hid in God, and from whom flows all that He is into our souls. We are sanctified by faith. It is through faith whereby all the activities of spiritual life are called into exercise, our affections and our deepest love. 

     Hebrews chapter eleven verse one, a most famous passage states: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Our sanctification is by faith the very thing hoped for, the very evidence of things not seen. What are those "things?" It is all that God has revealed concerning the spiritual and eternal world. This is necessary for us while we exist in this world as the objects of our faith. It is not by the natural eye we see, faith is to the soul what the eye is to the body. By faith we are able to see things unseen and eternal. It is this faith that gives them substance, reality, power in some measure in proportion to their value. Here then is the good news: those things seen lose their power and domination over His children, over their souls. These temporal and secular things are not worthy to be compared to those things seen by faith, things which God has prepared for us before the beginning of the world. Reading the Scriptures elevates a person, the actual believer to be above the things of time and sense, he overcomes the world and becomes heavenly minded: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). God's children reside in heaven, we breathe the living air and are pervaded with His Spirit and we have a foretaste of its joys. 

     The true believer is rendered pure, spiritual, humble, self-denying, laborious, meek, gentle, forgiving, as well as firm and courageous: (Galatians 5:22-25). There is power in this faith as well demonstrated in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Think, peruse, meditate upon those men who in faith had the mouths of lions stopped, built an ark even when there had been no rain, placed his son on the altar in sacrifice by command of the Lord, the altar flooded with water only to be consumed upon prayer to the Living and True God. History records those who died, violent deaths without renouncing their faith. All these and more are for us examples, example of a good report. 

     We are admonished to: "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6). Let this be said of you: "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works," Show me your faith without your woks, and I will show you my faith by my works....but do you want to now, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?...You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only....for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:18;20;24;26). Works does not give us faith, it is faith, giving freely to those elected by God, and by faith works becomes the result. We are commanded (Matthew 28:19-20) to work, become disciple makers, and to love as John so commanded us in his epistles. Yes, we are sanctified, but that does not mean that we are timid, we are not lazy, we work for our God and Lord, and that is a privilege that brings eternal rewards, now and infinitely. 

I will bless the LORD at all

     times;

His praise shall continually be

     in my mouth.

My sou shall make its boast

     in the LOrD;

The humble shall hear of it

     and be glad.

                          Psalm 34:1-2

God Bless You as You Exercise Your Faith

Richard L. Crumb