Basic HTML Version
The Faith That Works, March 25
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
.
Faith is not certainty of knowledge, it is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is trusting in God—believing that He loves us, and knows what
is for our best good. Thus, instead of our own way, it leads us to choose
His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of
our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness.
Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership,
and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, are pointed out as
secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these.
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from
God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.
When we speak of faith, there is a distinction that should be borne
in mind. There is a kind of belief that is wholly distinct from faith.
The existence and power of God, the truth of His Word, are facts that
even Satan and his hosts cannot at heart deny. The Bible says that “the
devils also believe, and tremble”; but this is not faith. Where there is
not only a belief in God’s Word, but a submission of the will to Him;
where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there
is faith—faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Through this
faith the heart is renewed in the image of God. And the heart that in its
unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,
now delights in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the psalmist, “O how
love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”
Psalm 119:97
. And the
righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, “who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1
.
Faith earns nothing for us; it is the gift of God, which we may receive
and cherish by making Christ our personal Saviour.
[91]
92