A faith that knows, a faith that shows, and a faith that grows

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Many of you that are so faithful in attendance have heard me say many times that your salvation is a gift from God.

It is God who makes salvation possible. If left up to you and me, the decision to come to Jesus would never be made, but God draws us to His salvation.

The New Testament is consistent in its teaching regarding salvation, and consistently, the NT teaches that salvation is a gift of God’s grace that is linked to your faith, the faith to say yes to God’s grace.

The NT is so consistent that I want you to pay attention to what Paul says.

Galatians 1:8–12“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Paul says that if anyone preaches that salvation is possible by any other means other than what he preached to let that person be cursed. Salvation is possible by God’s grace through faith in God’s grace.

Notice the grammar of Ephesians 2:8.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

(1) For by grace are you saved

(2) Through faith, and that not of yourselves

(3) It is the gift of God.

Have you ever noticed the grammatical structure of verse 8?

What is the gift of God? The faith required to believe in God’s grace.

What? I know!!!! Let’s look closely at faith and see what we can discover.

1. A faith that knows.

Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Every human being has been given enough faith by God to come to the saving knowledge of His grace.

Paul says that God’s grace was given to him and to every man.

What is Paul saying? Ephesians 1:4-6

Paul is saying what he wrote in the letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:4–6 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

God’s grace was made available to all men, and Paul says in Romans 12 that we should not think too highly of ourselves because not only was salvation made possible by God’s grace, but God also gave every man a measure faith, enough faith, to come to a knowledge of that saving grace.

I hope you are starting to understand that salvation comes totally from God. Yes, your free will is involved, but the point is that if God did not do it all for you including giving you a measure of faith, in your free will, you would never come to a saving knowledge of His grace. What did John write?

John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

This verse really tells the story.

Jesus Christ, as the ultimate sign of God’s mercy, died in my place. In His grace, God offers His death as the payment for my sins, and God draws me to what He has offered, and He gives me the faith to accept what He has offered.

Dear friend, that is why the Bible says you have no excuse for rejecting Christ. Rom. 1:20-21

Romans 1:20–21 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Literally, God provided salvation through Jesus Christ. It was the ultimate act of grace and mercy, but God went a step further.

Romans 2:15 “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”

He wrote on your heart all that you need to know, and He gave you enough faith to know what He has offered you in mercy and grace is the truth. I do not know what else God could do. When you understand that one fact, the fact that God gives you the faith to accept His mercy and grace, then you will understand this passage in the Bible.

Romans 3:10–12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Linking verses, what did Paul say?

He said grace was given to every man. A measure of faith was given to every man. Man should not think too highly of themselves because grace was offered to all, and the faith to accept what was offered was given by God, and because of that, no one would ever seek God on their own. No one is good.

I am telling you what I just shared is very important. You some idiots who say that doctrine does not matter, but they are idiots for a reason. Did you know that God wants you to have knowledge of what He has done for you?

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: And their honourable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.”

If you do not know the truth, you will fall prey to Satan and enslaved by him and this world. We are to have a faith that knows.

2. A faith that grows.

The faith required for salvation is like a seed that is planted. How does a seed grow?

Johnnie, Marty Goff, Jessica, Terry, Marge

So, what you guys are telling me is that there are some things you can do to help that seed grow.

Did you know that you are responsible for your faith growing? Did you know that God cannot give you anymore faith than the measure He has already given you? If you pray to God for more faith, you are praying a prayer that He will not answer. Why?

God’s Word tells us how to grow our faith. Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith grows as a result of reading, studying, and meditating over and in God’s Word.

That is the only way faith grows. You can pray for understanding. You can pray for wisdom. You cannot pray for your faith to grow because God has said that faith grows from hearing God’s Word. I am about to make as true of a statement about faith that I can make.

You are limiting what God can do for you because you do not have strong faith because your faith has not grown since the measure of faith God gave you because you will not study His word.

I am not talking about podcasts, blogs, or devotionals. I am talking about God’s Word. Look at what Jesus said.

John 14:12–14 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

Did Jesus mean what He said? If He did, and He did, we have a real shortage of faith in Christianity, don’t we? Why?

Because we do not study God’s Word enough for it to be a reality in our lives. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Jesus says if you ask anything in His name, it will be given unto you.

How do we get to the point in our lives where we are putting to practice the words of Christ?

We get to that point by studying God’s Word.

Literally, every time you read God’s Word, God speaks to you. If you will meditate on it and study it, God will speak to you, and your faith will start growing, and so will God’s power in your life.

Ephesians 3:20–21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

You might not believe me or God’s Word, but there are no limits to what God can do for you in your life as your faith grows. With a growing faith, comes growing expectations, expectations that God can easily meet.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

I am telling you that you can give lip service to that verse, or you can act in that verse if your faith grows to the point where Philippians 4:13 becomes a reality in your life, but it never will unless your faith grows by hearing the word of God.

A faith that knows God, and a faith that grows in God will lead to a faith that shows God to the world.

3. A faith that shows.

Bible critics try to say that Paul and James contradict each other regarding salvation. Let me show you.

Romans 3:23–26 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Paul clearly says that I am justified by Jesus Christ.

James 2:14–17 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them,

Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

James seems to be saying that I am justified by works.

What in the Wide World of Sports is going on?

James and Paul are both talking about justification.

Paul is talking about my justification before God, and James is talking about my justification before man.

James says that I have been saved through faith in God’s grace because Paul clearly said that if anyone preached anything other than that message they should be cursed. James is saying that if someone is saved by faith in God’s grace that their behavior before man will verify that to man. Notice what James says.

James 2:15–16 “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”

James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

James is saying a faith that knows is a faith that shows.

You can know all the facts of salvation. You can know the plan of salvation, and you can claim a knowledge of Jesus Christ, but if that knowledge does not produce a faith that shows, you are no different than the demons in hell who believe the same thing.

Mark 5:1–2 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,”

Mark 5:7 “And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”

This unclean spirit knew who Jesus was, but he definitely was not saved. This is a critical doctrinal truth. A faith that knows, and a faith that grows is going to lead to a faith that shows.

I am justified before God by Jesus Christ. I am justified before man by a faith that shows. The two are inseparable. We are new creatures when we get saved, and we get saved, our faith should produce works that justifies us before man.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

I want to show you two verses that are misquoted so many times.

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

The word is not fruits. The word is fruit. A faith that shows will exhibit the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit, and if you look at Paul’s list, those things will justify you before man. One of my favorite phrases in the NT is found in verse 23. A faith that shows will violate no laws.

There is no law against love, a love that sees a brother needing a meal and providing for the need. There is no law against being joyful or gentle. There is no law against temperance. Those are the fruit of the spirit that is produced by faith that shows.

A faith that shows makes it possible for a Christian to love his or her enemies. A faith that shows has no trouble obeying the Golden Rule. A faith that shows has no trouble obeying the Great Commission. A faith that shows comforts and edifies the body of Christ.

A faith that knows, a faith that grows, and a faith that shows. AMEN!!!!!!!