God’s best-seller tells of various kinds of faith
Published on Thu, Jul 8, 2010 by Rita BennettRead More Worship
Last week we reviewed those famous individuals in the Torah whom the Book of Hebrews calls Heroes of the Faith.
The subject that we are continuing is faith. “Pistis is the Greek word for faith which also means persuasion, credence, conviction, Gospel truth itself, assurance, fidelity” (Strong’s #4102).
In the Bible, God’s best-seller, there is not just one kind of faith, there are many kinds of faith.
“Natural Human Faith” is first on our list. All of us have this faith.
When I flew on a small jet to San Francisco in June I had to have a lot of natural faith. I needed faith in the pilots whom I had never met. I needed to trust the air traffic controllers that they would give the pilots all the right information for a safe takeoff and flight from Sea/Tac Airport. I had to have faith that the plane was not too heavily loaded with luggage.
Near our destination we had to fly over and through a dense deck of popcorn clouds for a bumpy descent but a safe landing.
I always pray before and during take off and landing so my spiritual faith also came into play. When I talked to Ben, the soldier who was my seatmate on furlough from Iraq and encouraged his spiritual life, that was beyond natural faith.
“Saving Faith” is second. The Bible warns us, “But without faith it is impossible to please God . . .” (Hebrews 11:6a). Then it encourages us with, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that is not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
He tells us we must have faith and then lets us know that He has provided a “measure of faith” so that we can, if we choose, respond to Him. (Romans 12:3) This saving faith is a gift and not something we create. We learn about saving faith by the proclamation of God’s Word (Romans 10:17). “Believe [have faith in] the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved . . .” (Acts 16:31).
Once we have received the Lord as Savior, that “measure of faith” is activated and begins to grow. We all start out with an equal measure, yet some continue to grow and some do not, but the choice is ours.
“Faith as a Fruit of the Spirit” is third. Faith is one of the nine fruit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).
When Dennis and I moved into our house in Edmonds, we ordered some fruit trees from a catalogue. They eventually came in the mail, and when we opened them they looked like old, dead, sticks.
But, we planted, nourished, and watered them and within five to seven years we had: yellow, Transparent Apples, and red, Jonathan Apples, red and yellow, Bing Cherries, and purple, Plumbs.
The point I want to make here is the fruit of our faith was not immediate. It took a number of years to produce.
This is true of the fruit of one’s spiritual faith. Your “faith the fruit” will grow when it is fed, nurtured, watered, pruned, harvested, and shared with others. This takes time. May the buds on your spiritual tree continue to develop into beautiful, savory fruit.
This fruit of faith comes from our union with Christ who says, “I am the Vine, and you are the branches. He that abides in Me, and I in Him, the same brings forth much fruit” (John 15:5).
“The Holy Spirit supplies the faith as we go along in the Christian life. Our part is to respond to Him. Faith in Jesus, both initial faith and continuing faith is the basis of all other fruit and gifts of the Spirit” (Bennett, 2005, Bridge-Logos).
Think about “Saving Faith” and “Fruit of Faith” and see if you have activated your faith and grown in it.
Next week, “The Supernatural Gift of Faith” and “The Weapon of Faith”.
On this Fourth of July weekend 2010, with love, I honor these Reed family patriots: my dad Bill, Army WWI France; brother Bill, Navy; brother Bob, Air Force pilot – B-29. And, Dennis Bennett’s patriotic sons: Steve, Army Korea; and Conrad, Army chaplaincy.
The subject that we are continuing is faith. “Pistis is the Greek word for faith which also means persuasion, credence, conviction, Gospel truth itself, assurance, fidelity” (Strong’s #4102).
In the Bible, God’s best-seller, there is not just one kind of faith, there are many kinds of faith.
“Natural Human Faith” is first on our list. All of us have this faith.
When I flew on a small jet to San Francisco in June I had to have a lot of natural faith. I needed faith in the pilots whom I had never met. I needed to trust the air traffic controllers that they would give the pilots all the right information for a safe takeoff and flight from Sea/Tac Airport. I had to have faith that the plane was not too heavily loaded with luggage.
Near our destination we had to fly over and through a dense deck of popcorn clouds for a bumpy descent but a safe landing.
I always pray before and during take off and landing so my spiritual faith also came into play. When I talked to Ben, the soldier who was my seatmate on furlough from Iraq and encouraged his spiritual life, that was beyond natural faith.
“Saving Faith” is second. The Bible warns us, “But without faith it is impossible to please God . . .” (Hebrews 11:6a). Then it encourages us with, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that is not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
He tells us we must have faith and then lets us know that He has provided a “measure of faith” so that we can, if we choose, respond to Him. (Romans 12:3) This saving faith is a gift and not something we create. We learn about saving faith by the proclamation of God’s Word (Romans 10:17). “Believe [have faith in] the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved . . .” (Acts 16:31).
Once we have received the Lord as Savior, that “measure of faith” is activated and begins to grow. We all start out with an equal measure, yet some continue to grow and some do not, but the choice is ours.
“Faith as a Fruit of the Spirit” is third. Faith is one of the nine fruit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).
When Dennis and I moved into our house in Edmonds, we ordered some fruit trees from a catalogue. They eventually came in the mail, and when we opened them they looked like old, dead, sticks.
But, we planted, nourished, and watered them and within five to seven years we had: yellow, Transparent Apples, and red, Jonathan Apples, red and yellow, Bing Cherries, and purple, Plumbs.
The point I want to make here is the fruit of our faith was not immediate. It took a number of years to produce.
This is true of the fruit of one’s spiritual faith. Your “faith the fruit” will grow when it is fed, nurtured, watered, pruned, harvested, and shared with others. This takes time. May the buds on your spiritual tree continue to develop into beautiful, savory fruit.
This fruit of faith comes from our union with Christ who says, “I am the Vine, and you are the branches. He that abides in Me, and I in Him, the same brings forth much fruit” (John 15:5).
“The Holy Spirit supplies the faith as we go along in the Christian life. Our part is to respond to Him. Faith in Jesus, both initial faith and continuing faith is the basis of all other fruit and gifts of the Spirit” (Bennett, 2005, Bridge-Logos).
Think about “Saving Faith” and “Fruit of Faith” and see if you have activated your faith and grown in it.
Next week, “The Supernatural Gift of Faith” and “The Weapon of Faith”.
On this Fourth of July weekend 2010, with love, I honor these Reed family patriots: my dad Bill, Army WWI France; brother Bill, Navy; brother Bob, Air Force pilot – B-29. And, Dennis Bennett’s patriotic sons: Steve, Army Korea; and Conrad, Army chaplaincy.