Principles of Faith
People who respond to the Gospel and cultivate Christian Faith gradually or sooner learn that God exists. They “see” this in spite of ALL the atheistic talk to the contrary. He also speaks to us in various ways – especially the written WORD. And this amounts to a personal relationship. With “eyes” of Faith we know we have that personal relationship. We know God can hear & answer even silent prayer. And we can “see” the absence of faith in ourselves & others – that natural worldly rhythm around us. Listed below are some Principles of Faith that may be helpful:
P – Exercising Faith causes it to grow. Listening to the Gospel is crucial. Romans 10:17
P - Faith will be rewarded by God. And our giving to the cause will return to us. See link 30.
P - People who discover the WORD will learn that it is the MOTHER LODE of Faith & divine truth.
P – Little Faith will be honored. It’s no excuse to say, “I don’t have faith like that . . .”
P - Prayer in the name of Jesus is a wonderful privilege, and close to being "magic". Sadly, too many never discover it. See link 37 "What is Prayer?"
P – Faith can be squashed by unbelief. Some folks accumulate arguments why they don’t believe, then when they should pray about a need or crisis they back away. They can lose their soul too.
P – Faith & organized religion are not necessarily the same. Many denominations have procedures & traditions that contradict Scripture & squash Faith. Especially liberal denominations.
P - Some religious/church people have no Faith or are blinded to it by unbelief (& or) hypocrisy.
P - Faith is most useful outside church because that is where the real world is. See “Which Church is Right?” link 49.
P – Faith and Christian values will incur censure from lost people.
-- 2 Timothy 3:12-13 “Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived.” Persecution from the worldly spirit is truly a negative principal of faith. It is probably the #1 reason why new believers often re-think their decision & commitments to God.
-- Hebrews 11:1-3, & 6 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear. . . And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” All of this chapter is the finest review of Faith in the Bible. The author is unknown, but most think Paul or Apollos wrote it – by Divine inspiration.
Without Faith we are all pirates in God’s eyes, destined to gravitate away from Him. And of course, that crowd will go out of its way to assassinate Christian Faith – especially today. However, that is only to be expected since the purest Man of Faith – Jesus Christ was executed for His perfect Faith walk. We are fortunate because we can now receive Christ’s Spirit & Faith through the Gospel and be shielded from some of the persecution that has buffeted believers before us. (See Psalms 91, Proverbs 30:5-6, Ephesians 6:16). And being aware of the principles & elements of Christian Faith can make living “in Christ” a little easier (or a lot). Choose Jesus, He is Alive. “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 See also “Faith” link 75.
Many other titles: www.gospelnotes.org * * F. J. Stone * *
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