And since we have
the same spirit
of faith,
according to what
is written, 'I believed
and therefore I spoke,'
we also believe and
therefore we speak.
2Corinthians 4:13
All those who have come to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ have been given the gift of faith: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). To make a decision for Christ is not done be any necessity except it be only a decision for whatever reason, i.e., a crisis, a desire to belong, the words have some ring of truth, a group euphoria or a titilating of the emotions or senses, but is not necessarily caused by the engrafting of the Holy Spirit who gives the faith needed for true conversion. Yet there may be some of the above experience when a person has been given the faith from God and exercises that faith and believes upon our Savior. Unless a person come to the point where he has come to know and understand that he is totally depraved, then he will not just decide to follow and believe the gospel, but will become devoted to Christ for it is a fact that he is sinful, and that there is nothing good in him so that he would turn to God; then knowing the God has saved you causes a emotion that is not definable; yet some try to express this emotion outward, when it is an inward change, a change caused by God: "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Ephesians 2:4-5). Who is Paul speaking of as being saved? The world? NO! It is to the saints who are in Ephesus: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1). Don't miss the point of Paul; it is to the saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus, who by means of this faith grow in sanctification and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach him, guide him as this is a true saint of God, to whom Paul is writing and to whom has been given the gift faith by the grace of God. Some Churches speak and teach that man by some goodness can choose God for themselves; No! The Bible speaks of the elect, and to be an elect means that someone outside of yourself elected you, in this case it is God. We should be shouting Hallelujah for God in His mercy chose us, a choosing of us for eternal life with Him and not to destruction as the Holiness of God in His justice requires; for we are seen through the intercession of our Savior Jesus Christ. This should cause praise to come forth from our lips and a change in our life.
Now all believers have faith, but God gives a special gift of faith and this He does at His good pleasure. An example of such faith is George Muller of Bristol, England, a man who cared for thousands of orphans, traveled thousands of miles, sent thousands of Bible and tracts and all by prayer and a special faith to believe that God would tend to all his needs and the needs of those under his care; all this by faith and not by asking for money; God provided in a special way, not for the praise of George Muller, rather a praise to God who give George Muller this faith in order to accomplish this task assigned to him. We can think of missionaries who by faith, a special faith given to them by God so that they could minister in ares of strife, facing death, hardship, etc. and this with a joy that can only come from God in order that the gospel would be preached in all the earth. Remember, the gifts of the Spirit are for the benefit of the Church, for individuals and the Church at large. The gifts of the Spirit are not just for us to feel holy, and acceptable to God, they are not just for an individual, but for the edification of the Church, the ekklesia, the called out ones; who has been called, the ones God chooses? Then some are given this special gift of faith so that they could exercise that gift in order to spread the gospel and to give aid to those in need in ways that most people could never do without this gift. Any decision to follow Christ and be devoted to Him is not by the will of man, but man must choose and this he does by the faith of grace given to him by God, therefore salvation comes by the gift of faith.
Are you harboring this special gift of faith in fear, or distrust? Go to the pastor and speak of such things and get advice as the pastor is there for the Church, for individuals, and pray, then go about in faith and do the work that the Holy Spirit assigns to you. For the rest of us, we have faith and are to exercise that faith in many ways that the Holy Spirit will allow us to be confronted with, i.e., speaking to others about Christ, as they ask, by ready, study, pray, or in other ways that are a benefit for your family, and church. You may have more that one gift of the Holy Spirit and these other gifts will be addressed in the next blog.
And you He made alive,
who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in
which you once walked
according to the course of
this world, according to
the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit who
now works in the sons of
disobedience.
Ephesians 2:1-2
May the grace of our Lord be with your spirit
Richard L. Crumb
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