Faith: The Heart of Life and Living

Today’s Reading from God’s Word

Luke 9:40–42 CSB

40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.” 41 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

Introduction

Last week we spent our time in Luke 9:37-43 talking about the power of faith. Last week’s lesson and todays are essentially the foundation for where we are going during the rest of June, as well as the rest of the summer.

If we wish to understand the power of faith, we need to believe that God will do precisely what He has said he will do.

It is not that we have to believe hard enough that something will happen…

It is that when God makes a promise, we can access it by faith.

He has made so many promises in the New Testament.

He has promised:

power, forgiveness, grace, mercy.

answered prayer, hope, joy, peace.

he will never leave us.

wisdom.

James 1.6-8 establishes a principle using wisdom … but it would apply to all His promises.

God will give you whatever you need and hold back nothing unless you doubt.

The one who doubts will not receive anything.

God will not honor doubt…. but He will honor faith.

Faith is at the heart of our life and living.

Whatever we need from the Lord …

wisdom, peace, forgiveness, mercy, grace, hope, joy, understanding — is available if we trust Him.

It is basic to salvation. We can’t be saved apart from faith — and we can’t be transformed without faith.

You were saved because you believed what God said in the gospel and you responded to that truth in faith.

You are being sanctified because you believe in the Word of God and respond to it by faith in obedience to what God has prescribed.

The key to understanding the point of this story is found in Luke 9:41

Luke 9:41 CSB

41 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

Jesus was living among people who refused to believe. It had to be frustrating.

Not only did he live among (generally speaking) an unbelieving people..

unbelieving and perverse religious leaders

unbelieving crowds who followed him

But even his disciples often demonstrated a faulty belief.

They couldn’t cast the demon out of the man because they didn’t think they had the power.

They didn’t believe what Jesus had said.

Luke 9:1 CSB

1 Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

Everything comes down to what you believe concerning what the Lord has said.

You will be saved when you believe the gospel.

You will be sanctified when you believe what the Lord says regarding holy living.

Will we believe the word of God?

The power of faith consists in believing what God has said is true and allowing that to shape and conform you life accordingly.

That’s what we said last week. Faith is a conviction that operates on our character and will.

It has implications in how we behave and the attitudes we possess.

It is not just believing something and stopping there —- it involves action.

Today, we’ll answer these questions:

What is Faith?

What Does Faith Do?

What is Faith?

As we’ve said, faith is believe what God says is true just because He says it.

And because it is true, being willing to act upon it — trusting your entire life and eternity on what He has said.

Your belief is to become the dominating reality of your life.

Faith is at the heart of everything you do as a Christian.

It becomes your conviction and you live your life as an expression of those convictions.

It shapes your worldview — so that you begin to view this world through a spiritual lens.

We take the word of God at face value and act upon it because it is the word of God.

Let’s look at Hebrews 11:1.

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB 2020)

1 Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.

Faith is the certainty of things hoped for.

Faith brings the promise of God for the future into the present tense.

Faith takes God at His word.

For example, what did you do in salvation?

You totally committed your life to Jesus Christ because you believe in something you haven’t seen but trust that you will see.

We’ve never seen Christ. Heaven.

We’ve never been beyond the grave.

So, faith is the certainty of things hoped for.

Why would we hope for this? Why would we take a chance on this?

We have the ability to live any way we want.

We can, if we choose, to live just like the world. We could chase every human lust and desire.

But instead, we resist our natural human longings and try to restrain our flesh.

Why do we do that? Why have we chosen to live this way?

Because we believe that God wants us to be faithful to Him and live a life of righteousness so that one day we’ll be with him in eternal life in heaven.

We’ve never been there. We’ve never seen it. But we hope for it.

And what’s our basis for hope? We are relying on the promises of God found in His word.

For us, it is certain, because God said it.

Trusting Without Experience is Not Natural

At first this may sound contradictory … because we know every person believes in something. Everybody has faith. And that is true.

We have faith that the water we drink is good. We trust in the water works people to have purified it the creek or river water we drink.

We have faith that the food we eat in the local restaurant is good. We trust that the food has come from reliable sources where the appropriate measures have been taken to maintain cleanliness in its preparation.

We have faith in the pilot who flies the airplane. We trust that he has received the appropriate training.

We have faith in the doctor who performs surgery on us.

We have faith in the pharmacist to place the correct medication in our bottle.

This is faith based on experience.

You drink your tap water and don’t get sick.

You enjoy the food you eat at a restaurant.

You get on the plane and fly … trusting that the pilot is qualified … and you land safely.

You go to the hospital to have a health condition remedied … trusting that there are controls behind the scene that make the process effective.

In all these things, your experience tells you what you can trust.

Biblical faith is different. This is trust without experience.

You haven’t been to heaven.

You haven’t seen Jesus.

You haven’t been on the other side of death.

This is believing what you cannot experience simply because God said it. So, how critical is our faith in the word of God?

The Assent of Faith

Let’s go back to Hebrews 11:1 and focus on the word “certainty.”

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB 2020)

1 Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.

translated “assurance” in some translations.

Comes from a word that means “substance” or “content.”

Actual being or reality. Absolute certainty or conviction that something is true.

This is an exercise of our mind — where we judge that an idea or statement is true. In theological terms it is called an “assent.”

Spiritual faith is a god-wrought conviction that the promises and truths of Scripture are true.

Ephesians 2:20 (CSB)

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

This serves as our support and allows us to move steadily with confidence and conviction.

It is emotional - making an impact on our heart.

The word “certainty” in our text can even mean a “foundation” or the ground upon which something is built.

Christianity is not wishful thinking.

It is strong and something of substance — even if it is in something that we can only hope for.

It is a firm conviction in what we cannot see.

Spiritual faith says Scripture provides sufficient evidence.

And the more we’re in the Word the more we know it comes from a supernatural source, breathed out by the Holy Spirit.

Assent alone does not equal salvation.

Assent is the first step in faith that must be followed by a decision to surrender to the mercy and Lordship of Jesus.

knowledge about the facts of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection is not enough — because people can know facts but rebel against them or ignore them.

Romans 1:32 (NASB 2020)

32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

James 2:19 (CSB)

19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.

no one would say the demons are saved because of their faith.

a person can know the facts of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, understand this was all to pay for sin, but the knowledge of that alone does not equal faith.

Nicodemus:

John 3:2 CSB

2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

He had evaluated the facts concerning Jesus: his teaching, miracles, etc., and drawn the correct conclusion.

But he didn’t yet believe…

Jesus says so:

John 3:12 (CSB)

12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

At this point, Nicodemus has failed to believe “in” Jesus.

Trusting Faith

This is the next step after we have gained knowledge of the facts of the gospel and approved or assented to them … where we

Decide to depend on Jesus to save us.

A decision of the will to surrender everything:

Time; possessions; abilities; life itself; eternal destiny; everything into the hands of Christ.

Paul describes it here:

2 Timothy 1:12 (CSB)

12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.

“Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God.”

It is a very personal decision where we ask Jesus to save “me.”

Let’s look at John 3:16

John 3:16 (CSB)

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus does not say “whoever believes him.”

i.e., believes what he says is true and able to be trusted.

But, “whoever believes in Him.”

You could easily translation this as “believes into Him.”

Which conveys the sense of trust or confidence that goes into and rests in Jesus as a person.

This critical element must not be left out of our teaching.

The actual source of our salvation lies in a work that has been done by someone else — Jesus.

The act of relying on him and his work - instead of ourselves and our works - is the very essence of faith.

Remember … salvation does not come by law keeping … it comes by the promise of God.

Romans 4:13–14 (CSB)

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

14 If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified,

Romans 4:16 CSB

16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.

Romans 4:18–24 CSB

18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Faith is not a work accomplished in response to the Creator’s law.

It is a submissive and receptive disposition of the heart in response to the Redeemer’s promise of grace, and thus is a natural condition for receiving it.

What Does Faith Do?

How does it act? Let’s go back to Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11:4 - Faith worships the way God says He wants to be worshipped.

Hebrews 11:4 (CSB)

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

Abel didn’t question God.

He heard God’s word concerning what it meant to bring an acceptable sacrifice and he did what God said.

He did all this only to be murdered by his brother.

You act in faith … doing what’s right … and it may lead to your death.

Everything you might expect because you act in faith … may not turn out like you think it will.

Hebrews 11:5 - Faith walks with God.

Hebrews 11:5 NASB 2020

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for before he was taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God.

Enoch didn’t question God.

He believed what God said and separated himself from the world.

He walked with God because this is what God wanted him to do.

Hebrews 11:7 - Faith works with God.

Hebrews 11:7 (CSB)

7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Noah didn’t question God.

He was told to do the most ridiculous thing ever told.

Build a boat in the desert for the purpose of surviving a flood when there had never been any rain before.

All of his contemporaries would have thought he had gone crazy.

Were there any signs and wonders in advance to prove God’s claim ?

No. God said it would rain, he believed it would rain, it rained.

Hebrews 11:8 - Faith obeys God.

Hebrews 11:8 CSB

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.

Look at v. 9:

Hebrews 11:9 CSB

9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.

Leaves a settled life to become a nomad…. simply because God told him to go.

He has no details.

No real picture of the future.

But never questions.

And the stories go on and on throughout Hebrews 11.

They accepted God’s word without question and they all died in faith without the realization of what they had been promised.

They represent what it is to live by faith when you can’t see the outcome.

What if Abel had been able to see his own death? Could that be something he would be able to bear?

What if Enoch had seen the outcome of his faithfulness? Would that have led to pride?

What if Noah had seen what was to come? Would fear and panic engulfed him?

These people are all mentioned as heroes of faith because they simply took what God said … nothing more and nothing less … and obeyed God.

That’s what faith is.

It may be difficult or strange.

It may be against human reason.

It may bring suffering, persecution, hostility, separation from the world, or family.

It may cost your your ambition or personal goals.

It may cost you your life.

But you obey. You follow through.

As We Close…

Faith is based upon your attitude toward God.

Let’s go back and reread Jesus words in Luke 19:41

Luke 9:41 CSB

41 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

This is why an unbelieving and perverse generation was so distressing.

They had a perverted or twisted view of God.

They did not trust God enough to believe that He is able to do what He said he would do.

If you don’t believe in God’s power — he will not fulfill the pledges and promises he’s made.

Every hero of faith — those in Hebrews 11 — or every servant of God who has ever lived — knows God to be:

all mighty

loving

all-wise

covenant-keeping

faithful …

No matter what he said

and no matter how against the grain of conventional wisdom and human intuition it might be.

Faith does what it says … all obstacles aside.

Do you believe?