THE
BOOK OF GOD'S PROMISES
Living
in Faith
By
J. Stephen Lang
CBN.com
-- Martin Luther defined faith as "a living, daring confidence in God's
grace." It is such an important element in the good life that we refer to our
walk with God as "the life of faith" and we refer to our beliefs as "the faith."
Faith goes well beyond mental beliefs and ideas. After all, as Luther said, it
is "living, daring." More than a "head thing," it is a "heart thing" and "will
thing." One of the greatest promises made in the Bible is Jesus' assurance
that we do not need to be "giants of the faith" to please God. Even a little faith
is a good thing, and powerful, too. Small faith can always grow: "I assure
you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain,
`Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew
17:20 Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about
what they think is right or wrong. Romans 14:1 There are three things that
will endure -- faith, hope, and love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 We live by believing
and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7 I myself no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 I pray that Christ
will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots
go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power
to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how
deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so
great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness
of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:17-19 Just as you accepted
Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. Let
your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow
in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow
with thanksgiving for all he has done. Colossians 2:6 Every child of God
defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who
win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son
of God. 1 John 5:4 Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you
have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save
anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you
say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well" -- but then you
don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you
see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good
deeds is no faith at all -- it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue,
"Some people have faith; others have good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith
if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds."
Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is
useless? James 2:14-20
The Book of God's Promises -- Copyright, 1999 by J.
Stephen Lang. All rights reserved, used with permission.
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