Faith to Hold Onto

Scripture Reading

Psalm 103 ESV

Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

What is faith?

Christianity is full of words and phrases that we use consitently.

I feel led, I feel called

The Spirit is moving

that is complete grace

give it up to the Lord

But there are also words that are both biblical and essential to Christianity.

Righteousness

Sin

Justification

Grace

Faith

Propitiation

Perhaps the most essential of those words to us is Faith.

What comes to mind when you hear the word faith?

How would you define faith?

Amazingly we see a clear definition of faith in

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 11

Instead, faith is a settled confidence that something in the future—something that is not yet seen but has been promised by God—will actually come to pass because God will bring it about.

“In other words, faith is a staking of our hearts and minds on a reality that is beyond us, both in time and comprehension. It is ahead of us (“hoped for”) and above us (“not seen”)

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 11

Instead, faith is a settled confidence that something in the future—something that is not yet seen but has been promised by God—will actually come to pass because God will bring it about.

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 11

Instead, faith is a settled confidence that something in the future—something that is not yet seen but has been promised by God—will actually come to pass because God will bring it about.

Faith is not a blind trust in the face of contrary evidence, not a “leap in the dark”, instead biblical faith is a confident trust in the eternal God who is all-powerful, infinitely wise, eternally trustworthy.

The author of Hebrews gives examples of what this faith looks like when lived out.

True faith cannot exist as only thoughts or feelings. Instead, it affects all of life, giving birth to works of obedience and endurance.

The author of Hebrews gives examples of what this faith looks like when lived out.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable offering.

and he was commended as righteous

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death

By faith Enoch pleased God. “And without faith it is impossible to please God” why? “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

The only way we can pursue God is to believe in Him, and look at this promise. God rewards those who seek him.

By faith Noah constructed an ark to save his household

Noah listened and believed in the word of the Lord warning of the coming destruction and the way of salvation. Noah was obedient to God through faith, and God saved him and his family.

By faith Abraham obeyed God and went to the place of promise

By faith Sarah believed God and had a child

Since she believed in God’s promise, she was given a son even when she was too old to have children

Commended by faith not by works

Looking at these men and women from the Old Testament we see how each one was commended by God. They were seen as righteous, but the source of their righteousness was not from their actions. It was

How do we gain faith?

Our faith is not unfounded. We don’t say have faith in nothing, but God himself. The question is how do we gain faith?

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

“There is a permanent relationship between faith and the Word. He could not separate one from the other any more than we could separate the rays from the sun from which they come. … The same Word is the basis whereby faith is supported and sustained; if it turns away from the Word, it falls. Therefore, take away the Word and no faith will then remain.” Calvin, Institutes, 3.2.6

Think of the Sun. The Sun gives off light, and by that light we see and are warmed by its rays. In the same way, God gives us His word that opens our eyes to the truth of who He is, and through that truth (the Word of God), we believe.