It’s funny and at the same time amazing at how God answers our prayers, and gives us what we need when we need it, isn’t it? I began this week praying and asking the Lord what I should talk about this month in Discovering Grace, and today my prayer was answered.
A few weeks ago I commented on a video by a fellow former Mormon. He was interviewing two Mormons, who were attending General Conference on the subject of grace. There’s a link to the video at the bottom of this article in case you’d like to see it, but the main thing I’d want to address is the reply I received to my comment.
After I watched the video in my comment I spoke of my sadness that these two women don’t truly understand what Jesus did for them, and what it means to their salvation.
“Ryan” then felt the need to reply to comment asking me questions about faith. He said:
“So if someone tells you that you are saved by grace through faith, you’re very first question should probably be, “Well, how much faith?” How do you measure faith? How do you increase it?”
I have to disagree with Mr. Ryan. “How much faith?” shouldn’t be the question someone who has come to Christ should ask when they hear the good news of the gospel. In fact I highly doubt anyone who is on the verge of coming to know Jesus Christ, as their own personal savoir would even think of that type of question. The only people who seem to ask the type of questions Ryan asked are those who’ve rejected Jesus, or who are locked in a works based legalistic system of righteousness.
As anyone who has walked with the Lord for a while will tell you, faith isn’t something you can quantify or measure. Faith is a supernatural gift from God, it’s not a personal power we possess. It’s trusting in God to guard our futures, and a trusting in Him to fulfill His promises to us.
God has defined faith for us in Hebrews 11:1, it reads:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
If you have to ask those questions Ryan posed to me you don’t have faith. You have doubt, unbelief, and even a rejection of God and His promises, but not anything that resembles faith.
Faith is a characteristic of a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. We are called to “live by faith”. Hebrews 10:38 tells us:
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”(Emphasis mine)
This command is echoed from Habakkuk 2:4 where we read:
“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” (Emphasis mine)
Hebrews 11:3 tells us:
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Through faith we know God created all that we see, we know that He spoke things into existence and that we didn’t evolve from a puddle of goo as some in the secular world would like us to believe.
Furthermore, we know that He is working in our lives. Even though we may not see an answer to our prayers immediately, because of our faith we know He has heard us and will answer them.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 reads:
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (17 ) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”(Emphasis mine)
We are going to face many trials in our lives, our faith will be tested and we will be tempted. Yet, because of our faith in God we can see past our momentary hardships.
It’s our faith that urging us on as we look forward to what God has promised us. Others will see our faith in action, and we will be a testament of what a life in Christ looks like.
In Christ,
Melissa Grimes (melissa@lifeafter.org)
References:
YouTube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90EaKxUH4N4
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