Grace operates through Faith - Faith Defined

Note: This is the 4th post in a series on Grace that should be read in the following order:

1 Purpose of this Blog
2 Grace Defined - Part One
3 Grace Defined - Part Two
4 Grace operates through Faith - Faith Defined
5 Faith comes by hearing
6 Faith comes by hearing - Time alone with God
7 ...and hearing by the Word of God - Part One
8 ...and hearing by the Word of God - Part Two

"For by grace are ye saved through faith..."
Eph 2:8a

"For we walk by faith, not by sight:"
2 Cor 5:7

There is so much to say about grace operating through faith. Indeed, most of this study is aimed at giving you the basic scriptural understanding of how to walk by faith that grace might operate in your daily lives that you might be "more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom 8:37b)

When most believers think of Faith, they think of Hebrews Chapter 11. I will not quote the whole chapter here, but recommend that you read it when you have a few minutes. For now I will just quote verses 1 and 6.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...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. "
Heb 11:1,6

Here we see that Godly faith not only believes that God exists, but that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If I believe that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him, then I WILL DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM!

Are you diligently seeking him today?

If the weather man tells me that a large hurricane is heading towards my home town and I truly believe he is correct, I will board up my windows, pack up my family and get out of town. That is faith. Believing the weather man enough to heed his warning. If I do not have faith, then I will not take action based upon that information.

Well, you say, the weather man told you it was coming, so of course you would leave. But it is still by faith. I have not seen the storm yet. I only know what he has told me. If I think he is a liar, or that he never gets the weather right, then I will not go to the trouble to uproot my whole family to heed his warning.

I can tell you, my neighbor in this example, that the weather man said a bad hurricane is coming. You might think, "well I have no TV nor radio, so if Marc packs up his family and leaves, then I will know he really believes this guy. But if he stays home and does nothing different, then I know he is just playing a bad joke on me."

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:17-20, 26)

A living faith in God allows grace to have its saving and sanctifying work in our lives. People we are close to will KNOW we are different by our changed lives, habits, manner of speach, patience etc. They will recoginze our faith by the works that they see God's grace doing in our lives.

True faith does not cause us to do good works. It allows the Spirit of God to do His good works in us and through us. Remember Jesus said, " for without me ye can do nothing" (Jn 15:5b) and Paul wrote, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:13) In John 1:12 we saw that it was to those that believed and received that were given POWER to become the sons of God. So we see that Faith is belief resulting in action.

I want to look at an instance in the life of Jesus that brings clarity to the understanding of faith.

"And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. "
(Matthew 8:5-10 ASV - emphisis mine)

Jesus marvelled at this soldier's faith. Somehow, this commander of 100 men got it. He understood the essence of faith so much so that Jesus said, "I have not found so great faith." What was it that the centurion understood?

He said, "I also am a man under authority." Please note two things of interest. This centurion answered to his captian (commander of 1,000 men) who answered to a general who answered to Ceasar. Because he was obedient to the chain of command, he could command his soldiers and servants and they would obey him. If he disobeyed his captain, then he would be stripped of rank and thrown in jail and he would no longer have the authority to tell anybody to do anything.

He also recognized that Jesus was "under authority".

"Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. For whatever things He does, these also the Son does likewise. "
(John 5:19 MKJV)

"I can do nothing of My own self. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me. "
(John 5:30 MKJV)

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The Words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself, but the Father who dwells in Me, He does the works. "
(John 14:10 MKJV)

So we see that the centurion understood that Jesus was in perfect submission to the Father. That He did nothing except the Father directed him. Jesus operated in perfect grace because He had perfect faith.

Because Jesus was completly under the Father's authority, he could command the demons, the sickness, the wind and the waves and they would obey Him.

Again, Jesus said, "I have not found so great faith."

Paul tells us in Romans 7:18 that in our flesh there dwells no good thing. How then can we have faith if we can not obey the Father as Jesus did?

For a better understanding let's look at Romans 6. We will spend much time here in a later lesson dealing with Grace giving us victory over our sin nature, but for now I just want to look at a few versus to better understand Faith.

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. "
(Romans 6:16-17 emphasis mine)

"You have obeyed from the heart."

And right there is the key to understanding Grace and Faith. To serve God acceptably, we must have Grace (Heb 10:28), the power of God, given to us by the Spirit of God to do the will of God. For Grace to operate, we must have Faith. That is, we must obey from our hearts.

So then, we can define Faith as follows:

Faith is believing God enough to obey Him from our hearts.

To come back to the beginning, Grace works through Faith. That is, when I believe God enough to obey Him from my heart, then the power of God, given to me by the Spirit of God, supernaturally enables me to do the will of God.

We will be spending much time on the practical application of this very real principle in the future as it relates to:

• Our growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (relationship)
• Dwelling in unity with the brethren (love)
  
• Getting victory over sin in our lives (holiness)
• Being prepared for the call of God upon our lives (sanctification)
• Walking in the work God has prepared for us (ministry)
• and much more...
  

Next we shall see how to obtain and grow in Faith. Until then...

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
(Hebrews 4:16)

"And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. "
(Hebrews 11:32-34 ASV)

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"
(Hebrews 12:28)