Understanding Faith

Introduction

Join me in a word of prayer for this message...

If you would allow me to abide in a tradition of mine. I would like to read Curt Brincefield’s disclaimer, which I was directed to prior to my first sermon. I do not read this before each of my sermons, but just to my new audiences. My disclaimer is 1st Corinthians, charter 2, verses 1 thru 5.

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 AV

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

I hope you hear my confession in Paul’s words to the Corinthians. Let’s begin.

FAITH....

Wow, I picked a monster for this one. <smile>

But, hey… My job in putting together a sermon was,

To finish, without being “tared and feathered” between this stage and that front door. <point>

To teach you something that you never knew before. Holy smokes, we have some smart looking people in here today. This will be tough.

To give you something that you will remember tomorrow. Has anyone ever asked you on Monday morning, what was the sermon about. <smile>

To move you, in a way that you will apply God’s Word into your life from this hour forward.

And last, To finish, without being “tared and feathered” between this stage and that front door. <point>

What do I want to talk about?

Justification by Faith alone.

Jesus’ words on Faith, “ye of little Faith”. He was disappointed all the time. Roman soldier’s Faith

Paul’s words on Faith (1 Cor 13) Faith, Hope, and Love

The Confusion about Faith (Mustard Seed fiasco)

Hebrew’s Faith chapter 11, The list that were justified by Faith alone.

Applying Hope and Love into your life is nothing new, but focusing on your Faith might be.

History

A long time ago, someone put four little words together and changed the world. Those words were and are, “Justification by Faith Alone.” Actually, they were put together long before Martin Luther emphasized them. Luther’s point was, it’s not what you do, but who you know… In other words, you cannot get to Heaven by doing good deeds. God’s plan for mankind was always and will always be, the path to salvation is through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It can’t be through something you performed; otherwise, you can say, I did it myself, see I am better than you. NOT!… Don’t you see, it must be a heart-thing, between you and God. Oooo-weee! This is getting deep now. <smile>

Don’t you just hate those fancy $12 words that the church sprinkles around just to make the new-comers feel stupid? Sanctification, Justification, Exegesis, Expository, Eschatology, Ecumenical, Eucharist, Ecclesiastic. Wow! How am I supposed to know Christ, if I don’t speak the language???

Don’t worry, the word of the day is Faith. Just little ole Faith. However, I did slip the word Justification in on you there, and that’s not very fair. Just think of it as, Justification is the act of God forgiving all of your sins.

An American Dictionary of the English Language JUSTIFICATION

In theology, remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, on account of the atonement of Christ.

What Luther was saying was, Faith is the only way God will forgive your sins. That Faith, that Saving Faith, is your faith in God’s Plan to save the world through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That Faith, if you sit down and think about it, comes in pieces. I don’t mean that you get it in pieces, but that there are many parts to it and that’s what can get confusing for some. It’s not just a matter of believing that Jesus lived on earth, like I believe Julias Caesar lived on earth. No, no, no.

To believe Jesus’ blood caused God to forgive you of all of your sins, you must first understand the full depth of your need for forgiveness. I am not going to talk about sin, at this point. Your understanding of this need, is between you and God. From a non-believer to a believer understanding, this is a heart-thing. God gave us a little test, so we might understand. He said, here are ten simple truths. Ten rules... Commandments. Also, known as the Law… But, break one, you break them all. Are you in? Ready, get set, go! <smile>

How’d you do? Not so good!?! But, the point is, now you feel like you need to be forgiven for your sins. That’s the first piece!!! And, you realize that you can’t be so good, do enough good things, say, I’m sorry enough times, that you can earn your way into the throne room, to come face to face, with the absolute sinless God of the universe… Guess what? That’s the second piece!!! The fact that you honestly feel like you need to be forgiven and that you can’t earn the forgiveness is a true heart-thing. In fact, if that feeling is so strong that, in your quite moments, it makes you want to cry, you may have been born again. Ooo-wee!!! Am I allowed to say that??? Does that meet all of your criteria? The fact that you are going to ask Jesus into your heart… or, ask Jesus to be your savior; to me, that is a given. Just a matter of time... <smile>

I love to study from multiple translations of the Bible. Over the years, I have learned that having many translations is like having a full tool box. I love having the right tool for the right job. Let me know if you ever want to talk Bible translations? I have done a lot of studying and some of the stuff out there will scare you to death. For those of you who would like to do your own scary investigation, I will give you two names. Westcott & Hort. My opinion, those two have done more damage to Christianity than any other people in all of history.

To support the phrase, Justification by Faith alone, I chose Galatians chapter 3 from the Contemporary English Version. The CEV has grown to be one of my top five Bible translations, because when reading it aloud to people, it gets the point across. Take a look at your Bible, and the beginning of Galatians Chapter 3. Does it say, Oh, you foolish Galatians… You know, Paul was more upset than that, if you go back and read his point. The CEV tells it like it is… <smile>

The Contemporary English Version Faith is the Only Way

You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? 2 I want to know only one thing. How were you given God’s Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? 3 How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God’s Spirit started in you? 4 Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? 5 God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?

6 The Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith. 7 And so, you should understand that everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham. 8 Long ago the Scriptures said that God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. That’s why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him. 9 This means that everyone who has faith will share in the blessings that were given to Abraham because of his faith.

10 Anyone who tries to please God by obeying the Law is under a curse. The Scriptures say, “Everyone who doesn’t obey everything in the Law is under a curse.” 11 No one can please God by obeying the Law. The Scriptures also say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”

12 The Law isn’t based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands. 13 But Christ rescued us from the Law’s curse, when he became a curse in our place. This is because the Scriptures say that anyone who is nailed to a tree is under a curse. 14 And because of what Jesus Christ has done, the blessing that was promised to Abraham was taken to the Gentiles. This happened so that by faith we would be given the promised Holy Spirit.