Living by Faith

For in it (E)the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “(F)BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” (Romans 1:17)

In Scripture, we read that strong faith is essential for facing life’s uncertainties. It prompts us to look beyond our trials to the One who’s promised to guide and sustain us.

As trust in the Lord increases, obedience becomes a higher priority than pleasure or profit. Moses’ life illustrates this—he chose to forsake the advantage of Egyptian royalty in order to be identified with God’s people. Placing his future in the Almighty’s hands, he became the Israelites’ leader and gave precedence to the Lord’s interests over his own.

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The Sufficiency of God’s Grace

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The Lord pledges to give us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). It’s a promise He always keeps. Yet when life hits us hard, we may be tempted to doubt and give up. If our faith starts to waiver, we need to think about what He’s already given us and then look for evidence of Him at work.

We should remember that our Father has freed us from sin’s penalty. Because Jesus died in our place, we owe nothing for our wrongdoing. He paid the entire price, so we now have righteous standing in God’s sight. At salvation, we each became a new creation and were given Christ’s righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). Originally, we were headed toward permanent separation from the Lord, but now our eternal destiny has been changed to a heavenly home with Him. And God’s Holy Spirit lives within us as our constant companion and source of strength.

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Grace on Display

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

Paul described himself as the worst of sinners, and yet someone to whom the Lord had expressed His favor and love (1 Tim. 1:16 NIV). Because of divine grace, the apostle became spiritually alive and a member of God’s family. He had a new purpose for living—one that would glorify his heavenly Father and help build His kingdom. From that day forward, Paul’s attitudes and behavior were dramatically different.

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Responding to God’s Grace

Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)

The more we understand the contrast between God’s holiness and our sinfulness, the clearer the magnitude and depth of His grace will become. This knowledge will cause us to turn to Him in . . .

Confession of our sins. The prophet Isaiah, upon seeing God’s holiness, clearly grasped his own uncleanness. In a similar way, recognizing the Lord’s perfection will lead us to realize our own unrighteousness. We may think we’re doing okay until it becomes clear that God’s standard for us is to be holy—without sin. Only through faith in Christ can we meet that standard. The first step is admitting we are not the good person we thought ourselves to be. Rather, we are sinners in need of divine help. Confession is also to be a regular practice of all believers.

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Faithfulness in Prayer

Now there was one, Anna, …a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:36-37)

Your faithfulness allows God to reveal greater insight to you than to the less faithful. Faithfulness brings opportunities to you that are not given to the unfaithful. God takes pleasure in answering prayers that come from a faithful heart.

Anna had been a widow for many years. In her day, a widow had little status in society and was virtually helpless on her own. Anna spent her time, day and night, in prayer and fasting in the temple. As she prayed, she yearned to see the Messiah. God chose few people to encounter the Savior when He was born, revealing His Son only to those whose hearts were faithful and pure. Anna was one of those few. Jesus would later say to His followers, “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . . it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the_kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matt. 13:16, 11).

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Weariness

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

If you find that Christianity exhausts you, draining you of your energy, then you are practicing religion rather than enjoying a relationship. Jesus said that a relationship with Him would bring rest to your soul. Your walk with the Lord will not make you weary; it will invigorate you, restore your strength, and energize your life.

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Crouching at the Door

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. (Genesis 4:7)

When temptation enters our hearts and minds, we either deal with it and gain mastery over it, or it eventually leads us to sinful actions. The time between the initial temptation and the chosen response is critical. Much hangs in the balance.

Cain knew that God was displeased with him but pleased with Abel. Feelings of jealous anger crept into Cain’s heart, and thoughts of murder pervaded his mind. As Cain considered what to do, God’s word came to him. God warned him that sin was waiting at the door of his life, looking for an opportunity to enter. Now was not the time to treat temptation lightly, not the time to assume sin would never cause any harm. Now was the time to master the sin and renounce it before it overcame him. Tragically, Cain did not master his sin; instead, sin overtook him and destroyed his life.

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Judge Not

Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)

There is a significant difference between judgment and discernment. God sees people’s hearts and knows their motives (Prov. 16:2). Only God can accurately judge those who deserve punishment. Ultimately, Christ will sit in judgment upon us all in the day of judgment (2 Cor. 5:10). Our problem is that we like to sit in the judgment seat and pronounce condemnation upon those whom we think have sinned! Scripture commands us not to judge or condemn others, for we cannot be judgmental and redemptive at the same time. It is difficult to pray sincerely for someone while we are judging them. At times our judgmental attitude can seem to provide us an excuse not to become involved in God’s redemptive work in someone’s life. Scripture reminds us that God will treat us with the same grace or severity with which we treat others (Luke 6:38).

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New Strength

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

At times you may feel so worn out and stressed that you are not sure you can take another step. You may seem to spend all your time running from crisis to crisis and to be constantly giving your time and energy to others. Your Lord wants to renew your strength and enable you to enjoy the abundant life He intends for you. The key is to wait upon Him to do so.

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Have You Done What You Know to Do?

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

It is never a minor thing to know God’s will and not do it. God calls this sin. We can make excuses for our lack of obedience: “I’m just not ready yet” or “I’ll do it later!” or “I don’t think it will make a difference” or “I can’t afford to!” We rationalize, we procrastinatate; yet, in God’s eyes, rationalization and procrastination are nothing more than disobedience. At times we deceive ourselves into thinking that good intentions equal obedient actions. They do not. A good intention without corresponding activity is disobedience. When we encounter God and He gives us a direction, it is not enough to write down the date in our spiritual journal, or even to tell our friends and church of our “decision.” God’s call is not to “make a decision” but to obey! Deciding to obey is not equal to obeying! (Matt. 21:28–31). Loudly affirming the necessity of obedience is not the same as obeying (Luke 6:46). Making commitments, even publicly, is not the same as obeying our Lord. Substituting our own good works is not the same as obeying.

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