We've seen in chapter 11 the author's immense attempt to show that salvation comes by faith and faith alone, and that those who belong to God walk by faith as well. It is both the faith of the sinner that initiates salvation and the faith of the saint that marks his ongoing sanctification.
After looking at What Faith Is, we turned to What Faith Does. The author used 16 people from the past to attempt to show that it has always been faith, not works, that is the basis of our salvation and sanctification. Through the lives of these people we've seen that true faith is "...the conviction of things not seen." True faith believes God without having to see proof.
An often quoted verse in Romans 8:28 says: "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Paul used two very defining words in this verse: "know" and "all". This is the kind of faith we must have; a faith that knows and believes all that God has said.
This past Sunday we looked at Abraham and Sarah - (vs. 8-19)
The Jews took all of their lineage back to Abraham. The author establishes that Abraham lived by faith and therefore all Jews must also live by faith.
Abraham has been used often as an illustration of faith: Acts 7 - Stephen uses Abraham as an illustration of faith; Romans 4 & Galatians 3 - Paul uses Abraham as an illustration of faith.
5 Standards (features) of Faith
1. The Pilgrimage of Faith - separation from the world.
(v. 8) “By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after received for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing where he went [where he was going].”
2. The Patience of Faith - waiting for God to work while focused on Heaven.
(v. 9) “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;” (v. 10) “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
3. The Power of Faith - doing the impossible.
(v. 11) “Through faith [not Sarah’s faith] also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.” (12) “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”
4. The Positivism of Faith - focusing on God's eternal promise and believing that it's guaranteed.
(v. 13) “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (16) “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
5. The Proof of Faith - obedience and sacrifice
(vs. 17-19) By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. (see Genesis 22:1-18)
Test of Faithfulness
It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son. (December 18 - My Utmost for His Highest)
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son. (December 18 - My Utmost for His Highest)
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