Faith plays a very important role in
man's relationship with God Almighty —
his Creator—and his Savior Jesus
Christ. Understanding how faith comes to
a man is vital in acquiring and maintaining this
relationship.
02C.1 How does faith come
to a
man? Or
"How can I have faith" a seeker may
ask?
In Romans 10:17, the words of Apostle Paul is clear:
So faith {comes} from
hearing, and hearing by the
word of Christ.
(NAS)
The same verse in the other versions of the Bible:
So faith comes from
what is heard, and what
is heard comes by the
preaching of Christ. (RSV)
Consequently, faith
comes from listening,
and listening comes
through the word of
Christ. (ISV)
Faith
comes to a man after hearing the
words of Christ — the Gospel of
Christ.
02C.2
How does faith "set in"
(begin to happen)
to a man
as he continue to hear the words of
Christ?
In Romans 10:14, this is written:
How then will they call on
Him in whom they have not
believed? How will they
believe in Him whom they
have not heard? And
how will they hear without a
preacher? (Romans 10:14,
NAS)
Faith
will "set in" (begin to happen)
to a man, as he will come to believe
what he heard, and will start to
"call on Him" whom he had come to
believe.
02C.3
How then, does
faith "take root"
(become
established) in a man?
In
I Timothy 1:19, this is written:
holding faith and a good
conscience. By rejecting
conscience, certain persons have
made shipwreck of their faith,
(RSV)
If
genuine faith or true faith has
already grown out of hearing Gods
word's, by then good conscience will
have taken roots. These are the
virtues God expect a believer to
cultivate.
02C.4
What
will happen to people's faith when
they
deliberately violate their consciences?
In
1 Timothy 1:19-20, Apostle Paul gave
this advise:
Cling tightly to your faith in
Christ, and always keep your
conscience clear. For some
people have deliberately
violated their consciences; as a
result, their faith has been
shipwrecked. Hymenaeus and Alexander are
two examples of this. I
turned them over to Satan so
they would learn not to
blaspheme God. (NLT)
Without good conscience,
man's faith becomes shipwrecked,
as
some people had proven to
themselves to be when they
deliberately violated their
consciences.
02C.5
How does faith "grow"
(become deeply rooted) to become
a strong faith in God and Christ?
In
the following verses these are
written:
And you will
seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:13, NKJV)
I love those who
love me, and those who seek me
diligently will find me.
(Proverbs 8:17, NKJV)
Then you will understand what it
means to fear the Lord, and
you will gain knowledge of God.
(Proverbs 2:5, NKT)
We want you to live as if you
were worthy of the Lord . Please
him in every way. Produce the
fruit of good deeds. Grow in
your knowledge of God.
(Colossians 1:10, IEB)
Do you see that faith was
working together with his works,
and by works faith was made
perfect? (James 2:22, NKJV)
Man's
faith will continue to grow as he continually seek God diligently
with all his heart. Man's faith will
become stronger, as he gain and grow in his knowledge of God,
thus making him do the works that
are required of
him to make his faith perfect.
-
He must strive to "take in"
(to understand)
the Gospel as the only means
of saving his soul, but
"taking in"
(understanding) is not as easy
as believing the Gospel.
He must accept
the Gospel and "believe in"
(have a
firm conviction)
with all his heart, and do
the works that is required of
him, only
then his faith will start to
grow.
As a man come to
fully understand the truth about salvation.
The
Gospel of Christ will become clear and meaningful to
him.
Thus, a man endowed with a strong faith, will always
follow the will of God for the rest
of his life. And he will always
be hopeful
that he will ultimately receive his
reward, the crown of life—the
eternal life in heaven.
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