Faith
Chapter 7

I am amazed time and time again when I read the Truth that is written and expressed by others and I realize that the Lord teaches His Truth to His own. It is such a blessing to read and to be edified in what we believe. That is certainly what this book has meant to me, to be strengthened in the Truth, something that we will never have fully satisfied in this life, it is a life long journey and one that we rejoice in.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God.”– Ephesians 2:8

Here again we have the wonder of Grace, the wonder that God has given His elect faith, this glorious gift that we have so that we might believe. HH then asks ‘what is this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what does it mean to believe in Him” and proceeds in this chapter to expound a bit on this subject.

“This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” – John 6:29

It is God’s work you see, His work in us and with this gift of faith we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are saved (Acts 16:31), we confess Him with our mouth and believe in our heart that God hath raised Him from the dead and we are saved (Romans 10:9) we believe in Him and shall never perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:15), “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11: 25, 26)

Believest thou this………..Oh yes we do, by the gift of faith that He has given us. We believe in all that God has revealed to us in His Son, Christ Jesus and HH calls this faith “a true spiritual knowledge and the wonderful spiritual power whereby the soul strikes its roots into Christ, to cling to Him, appropriate Him, and draw out of Him all the glorious blessings of salvation which are in Him – the forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and life…………..it is through faith that the whole soul fastens itself upon Christ”

As with all Truth, this truth of faith can be distorted and often is in the ‘religious’ world. Often the impression is left that someone can, in their own power, believe in Christ or even reject Him whenever they please and it becomes a work of man. Then there is the impression also that God is willing to save us on condition that we believe or have faith by our own will or choice and we know that there are no conditions to our salvation. The only ground of our salvation is Christ crucified and raised for our justification. “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” – Romans 9:16

“But faith is the means, and that too, God’s means, whereby we cling to the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord, our righteousness and perfect redemption forever” -HH

I wonder how often we stop and truly think about this gift, this gift that God gives to us so that we can know Him, so that we can see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears. It is by this gift that we believe His promises for faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen and Christ alone is the author and finisher of it. I am surrounded by many that don’t have this gift of faith and stumble along in the dark (as appointed) and I am struck in awe by this wondrous gift.

"Let this be the sum of the matter. When even the smallest drop of faith is instilled into our minds, we begin at once to contemplate the face of God as peaceable, serene and kind toward us, and that, indeed, far off and removed from us, but nevertheless by so certain an intuition that we know that we are not at all mistaken." –John Calvin