First, we must recognize that sinning is a choice that we make. We are not born sinners, but when we choose, because of being deceived in some way, to break the law of God, we become sinners. We sin because we are drawn by our own desires and we take the bait, so to speak. This is what happened in the beginning and it has continued even now as each of us has chosen to sin.
GEN 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
GEN 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
GEN 3:3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said,' You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.' "
GEN 3:4 And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die!
GEN 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
GEN 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
JAM 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
JAM 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
JAM 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
But, when we become Christians, we make another choice, to submit to God and turn from our sins. When we become a Christian, if we are sincere, we express a desire to leave sin and follow righteousness. When we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, repent of our sins and are baptized in water, we begin a new life brought about by a new relationship. This relationship begins when God forgives us of our sins as we arise from baptism.
ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?
ROM 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,
ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Although our relationship changes, we must learn how to live the righteous life and continue to make the effort to abstain from those things we have learned to do, sins. This is a process that continues for the rest of our lives. We must grow by applying the knowledge we gain from the word of God to our lives. As we are growing, at times we do sin. But, the mercy of God is freely extended to us as we turn from our sins and confess them to God and to others.
EPH 4:17 ¶ This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
EPH 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
EPH 4:19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
EPH 4:20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,
EPH 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
EPH 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
EPH 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
EPH 4:25 ¶ Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
EPH 4:26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
EPH 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
EPH 4:28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.
EPH 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
EPH 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
EPH 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
EPH 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
1JO 1:5 ¶ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1JO 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1JO 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1JO 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1JO 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1JO 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1JO 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
1JO 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What is Faith ( 1st part )
Faith is a “spiritual substance” on the inside of you that can either grow or wane. Here is the main verse from our Bible which will tell us exactly what faith is: “Now faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
I believe this verse may be telling us that faith is literally a “spiritual substance” that operates on the inside of us and that it is capable of growing or waning.
However, other Bible Scholars do not believe that faith is an actual substance. Their argument is based off the Greek word for the word “substance.” This Greek word is “hypostasis” and it means: “A setting under or support (foundation), assurance, confidence, confident expectation, an assured impression and a mental realizing.”
Other good definitions on what faith is from some of the different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries are the following: “The assurance of things hoped for, a belief or confident attitude toward God, conviction, trust, belief, reliance, and a trustworthiness towards God.”
But whether faith is a spiritual substance and/or more of a mental quality – it can still be actually increased or decreased as you will see in the following verses. And we are also given a certain measure of it by the Lord.
The Bible tells us that we have all been given a certain “measure of faith” by God in which to work with. Here is the verse that will give us this specific revelation: “… as God has dealt to each one a MEASURE OF FAITH …” (Romans 12:3)
The best way to understand faith and how it operates on the inside of you is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most amount of faith you can have and 1 being the lowest amount of faith you can have.
Most people start out in their own personal walk with the Lord at the lower end of that range – in the 1-3 category. And that is just fine with God! One of the most amazing insights that I feel God has given me on this subject is the following analogy:
I felt like this really came from the Holy Spirit. He said to me: “If the Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, what do you think faith the size of a golf ball could do? Or faith the size of a baseball? Or faith the size of a basketball?” This means that your faith is capable of growing.
The mustard seed is supposed to be one of the smallest of all seeds. The above analogy tells us two things:
One – that your faith can literally grow in the Lord over time – from a mustard seed size – to a golf ball size – to a baseball size – to a basketball size, etc. Here is the verse that will specifically tell us that our faith levels are capable of actually growing in the Lord: “… because your FAITH GROWS EXCEEDINGLY …” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
Two – look very closely at the above analogy. The Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains! This means that we do not have to have our faith levels up in the 5-8 category to get God to become very active in our lives. All we need is a very small amount of faith to get the show going with God.
In other words, on a scale of 1-10, all you need is a 1 amount of faith to get God to start moving in your life – and everyone has at least a 1 amount of faith when they get saved because the above verse tells us that God has given each one of us a certain “measure of faith.” God has to give each person a certain measure of faith, otherwise we would not be able to get saved, as the Bible specifically tells us that we are saved by grace through “faith.”
So when you witness to others, explain this analogy to them. Explain to them that they do not need to have great or large amounts of faith in God to get Him to become very active in their lives when they first enter into the real walk with the Lord. God will take whatever amount of faith you have to start off with and He will then start the building process with your life with just that small amount of faith!
Next: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR FAITH
I believe this verse may be telling us that faith is literally a “spiritual substance” that operates on the inside of us and that it is capable of growing or waning.
However, other Bible Scholars do not believe that faith is an actual substance. Their argument is based off the Greek word for the word “substance.” This Greek word is “hypostasis” and it means: “A setting under or support (foundation), assurance, confidence, confident expectation, an assured impression and a mental realizing.”
Other good definitions on what faith is from some of the different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries are the following: “The assurance of things hoped for, a belief or confident attitude toward God, conviction, trust, belief, reliance, and a trustworthiness towards God.”
But whether faith is a spiritual substance and/or more of a mental quality – it can still be actually increased or decreased as you will see in the following verses. And we are also given a certain measure of it by the Lord.
The Bible tells us that we have all been given a certain “measure of faith” by God in which to work with. Here is the verse that will give us this specific revelation: “… as God has dealt to each one a MEASURE OF FAITH …” (Romans 12:3)
The best way to understand faith and how it operates on the inside of you is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most amount of faith you can have and 1 being the lowest amount of faith you can have.
Most people start out in their own personal walk with the Lord at the lower end of that range – in the 1-3 category. And that is just fine with God! One of the most amazing insights that I feel God has given me on this subject is the following analogy:
I felt like this really came from the Holy Spirit. He said to me: “If the Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, what do you think faith the size of a golf ball could do? Or faith the size of a baseball? Or faith the size of a basketball?” This means that your faith is capable of growing.
The mustard seed is supposed to be one of the smallest of all seeds. The above analogy tells us two things:
One – that your faith can literally grow in the Lord over time – from a mustard seed size – to a golf ball size – to a baseball size – to a basketball size, etc. Here is the verse that will specifically tell us that our faith levels are capable of actually growing in the Lord: “… because your FAITH GROWS EXCEEDINGLY …” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
Two – look very closely at the above analogy. The Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains! This means that we do not have to have our faith levels up in the 5-8 category to get God to become very active in our lives. All we need is a very small amount of faith to get the show going with God.
In other words, on a scale of 1-10, all you need is a 1 amount of faith to get God to start moving in your life – and everyone has at least a 1 amount of faith when they get saved because the above verse tells us that God has given each one of us a certain “measure of faith.” God has to give each person a certain measure of faith, otherwise we would not be able to get saved, as the Bible specifically tells us that we are saved by grace through “faith.”
So when you witness to others, explain this analogy to them. Explain to them that they do not need to have great or large amounts of faith in God to get Him to become very active in their lives when they first enter into the real walk with the Lord. God will take whatever amount of faith you have to start off with and He will then start the building process with your life with just that small amount of faith!
Next: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR FAITH
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Bible teaches us that genuine faith is "more precious than gold that perishes" (1 Peter 1:7). Indeed such faith is going to be "tested by fire". You can expect difficulties and persecutions in your life of faith, as well as blessings. Therefore to encourage you to hold onto and develop your faith, we will consider some of the benefits of faith.
1. Faith brings salvation. (Ephesians 2:8,9). Whosever believes in Him has eternal life. (John 3:16), and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24). The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)
2. Faith brings answers to prayer. "And whatever things you ask in prayer, really believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22). Since God tells us to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), faith is therefore a key to our material provision.
3. Faith brings all the benefits of salvation into our lives (Ephesians 2:8,9). This includes healing, prosperity, peace, love, joy (1 Peter 1:8), deliverance from demons and the curse, sanctification of the mind and emotions (the salvation of the soul) and any other benefit which the word of God promises to us.
4. Faith is a spiritual force through which our ministry for Christ becomes effective. (Mark 11:23; Matthew 17:19,20). Faith is a major key to ministry success. It brings to you what you need for your ministry, and by imparting it to others through your life and your ministry of God's Word, you enable them to receive the blessings of God's grace mentioned above.
5. In particular, faith is the major key for an effective healing and deliverance ministry. Jesus Christ "the same yesterday, today and forever" lives in the Christian (Hebrews 13:8, Galatians 2:20), and through the Christian wants to reveal the power of salvation to men in a way they can see and feel. In this way, our evangelism concerning the Kingdom of God will not be in talk, but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20).
We see how important faith is. Yet some people despair here, thinking that they don't have faith. Yet faith comes (Romans 10:17), it can grow and develop. If you are not full of faith today, that doesn't mean you will be that way all your life. You can choose to be a person of faith!
Here are some keys to developing faith.
1. Listen to the Word of God as much as possible. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Constant attention to the Word of God produces faith, especially if we attend to it with an open heart and mind. The book of Proverbs encourages us to constantly keep the Word in our hearts and to keep our attention on it (Proverbs 4:20-22). Health is one of the benefits promised.
What we listen to affects what we believe. If we listen to the TV more than to the Word, we will believe the lies of the world more than we will believe what God says. Constant attention to lies produces deception. Eventually the mind will accept something if that thing is heard often enough and persuasively enough. That is why we should keep hearing the Word of God, through preaching, Christian tapes, confession of the Word, daily fellowship with godly Christians. This will cause us eventually to believe the truth from our hearts.
2. Realise that every believer has been given a measure of faith by God. (Romans 12:3). We just have to use and develop what God has given. We must put it into action.
3. Pray in tongues and be full of the Spirit (Jude 20). We will look at this later. If you have been baptised in the Spirit as the disciples were in the book of Acts, you should pray and praise in tongues often because through this you "edify yourself" (1 Corinthians 14:4) and "build yourself up in your most holy faith". Praying in tongues is a key to being full of the Spirit. Since faith is a fruit of the Spirit, all things things are related together.
4. Obey God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is as you walk that you gain strength. God will not reveal greater things to you until you are faithful in the things He is showing you NOW. Therefore obedience to the Spirit and what He is showing you through the Word or through your conscience is important in the development of your faith. You cannot have living faith without taking some practical steps of obedience. Act on what God is saying!
5. Give thanks. Give thanks for the results before you see. Don't complain - that shows you doubt God's love and God's answer to your situation. Give thanks in all situations (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
6. Develop a life of praise and worship. Praise drives the powers of darkness away and brings the throne of God into your circumstances. Praising God is an act of faith and helps your faith to grow. It is commanded (Hebrews 13:15). Worship is admiring God through the Spirit. If you can perceive who is God, His power, faithfulness and love your trust and faith in Him will grow.
7. Spend as much time as you can with people of faith. The spirit of faith on them will touch your life also (Proverbs 13:20).
8. Speak the WORD. By saying with your mouth you exercise your faith, you hear the Word and you build it into your life. God's Word is anointed and has power when it is spoken to change the spiritual atmosphere (Joshua 1:8; Romans 10:10). Confession of God's Word (saying the same thing as God's word) brings you into the place where the Lord will move to fulfil it (Hebrews 3:1). The angels hearken to the voice of God's Word (Psalms 103:20)
9. Seek holiness, purity of heart. "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14). It is with the heart that man believes (Romans 10:10). To the extent that the heart has uncleanness, unforgiveness and other bad conditions within, the man will lose the spiritual perception of the Lord which enables his heart to believe. Purity and faith feed each other.
10. Remember that faith works by love (Galatians 5:6). The centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) and the woman of Canaan (Matthew 15:21-28) were both motivated by their love for another in coming to Jesus. And both were described as having great faith. Let us believe God for others to be blessed, in a spirit of love, and as we give of our selves God will give blessings to us also (Luke 6:37). This is related to the idea of "seed-faith". Express your faith by planting a seed in terms of some form of giving. God will release a multiplied harvest in return if we endure and do not faint (Hebrews 10:36).
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