FOUNDATION OF FAITH

II Peter 1:5-7 "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."
Here in II Peter 1, Peter tells us to add certain things to our faith, but many times we try to add these elements to our life without faith in the finished work of Christ as our foundation. In our last post we looked at what faith is, and even though we might have an understanding of faith, understanding faith and applying faith in our life are two different things. I believe there is one key thing in applying faith in our life. That key thing is simply remembering! We must constantly remember some crucial truths in our life.

1.REMEMBER THE HOLINESS AND POWER OF GOD

We must remember that God is a just, holy, righteous, and sovereign God that cannot and will not look upon sin. This truth is made evident in the fact that God the Father turned His back upon His own Son, Jesus Christ on the cross as He bore the sins of the world. When the holiness of God is watered down, mankind is fooled into thinking that he can measure up to please God through his works. As one man said, "Legalism is not legalistic enough." Those that try to earn their way up to God's standard and think it is possible do not really grasp the holiness and standard of an Almighty God. If it was possible to earn God's acceptance by our works, Christ's sacrificial death on the cross was in vain and of no purpose. God's holiness must be preached and remembered so we remember that we do not measure up. No one can stand before God. If we understand (as best as our finite minds can) the holiness of God, then it naturally leads us to remember the second truth.

2.REMEMBER YOUR WRETCHED, VILE, AND SINFUL SELF

We can never forget that we were, by nature, at enmity with God and in defiance of everything that God, in His holiness, stands for. Our flesh is still at work and deceitful, and often will trick us into placing confidence in ourselves rather than having faith in Christ and Christ alone! If we keep as "frontlets on our eyes" that our flesh is wicked, then it causes us to place absolutely no confidence in the flesh, and run to Christ in faith for our daily survival.
Paul deals with this in Philippians 3:3-9, "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"
The apostle Paul made it clear that our flesh and even our "righteousness" should be given no confidence whatsoever in our life. Our flesh's wants, desires, and choices should be given not even a moment of debate against the Spirit which lives within us. Our flesh is nothing, which leads us to our third truth we must remember.

3. REMEMBER THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST TO REDEEM

We must never forget what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did to redeem our wretched soul. In His grace, our heart was taught to fear the wrath of God, and in His grace, our fears were relieved in belief on the finished work of Christ for salvation. The gospel and work of Christ must be remembered on a constant basis in our life. Myself, growing up in church, I believed the gospel was for the lost. I had heard it already, and trusted in Christ for my eternal state, therefore, the only time I needed to hear it was if I was sharing the gospel with someone else who needed it. How prideful and wrong I was! I need the gospel of Jesus Christ just to make it through the next moment of my life. Remembering and keeping the gospel of Christ at the center of everything I do is necessary to have the foundation of faith required to lead a Spirit-controlled life. Christ not only died for our sins, he also bore our griefs, sorrows, and any care we could ever face. (Isaiah 53:4) Never begin to think you do not need to hear the gospel of Christ. And remembering the gospel of Christ leads us to the fourth truth that is crucial for us to remember.

4. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST

I believe there are many who understand and remember the first three truths I presented, but without remembering this fourth truth, a life of guilt and defeat will ensue. The Bible gives us an amazing, mind-blowing promise in II Corinthians 5:17-21, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is  a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
It is vital for the Christian to remember that he is made a new creature at acceptance of Christ as Saviour. The moment this takes place, the old man, the flesh, is crucified, and the new man forever takes his place. Christ became sin for us, that we might become His righteousness. What an astounding truth! We must remember this and reckon it to be so, whether we feel like it or not. We ARE a new creature; have faith it is so! It is no longer our nature to sin. Before Christ, we could not help but sin. After Christ moves in, when we allow our flesh to have control, it is against our very nature. When we go to Christ, in faith, confessing we have failed to yield to His Spirit and have broken His law, God promises He will forgive us. We must believe this to be so. We do not have to work our way back to walking in the Spirit and acceptance of Christ. God picks us back up and gives us grace and mercy to restore our life. (Hebrews 14:6) All he requires of us is to recognize we are helpless without Him and in faith, trust in Him. Everything that we do in our Christian walk must flow out of this attitude, otherwise we are working in vain in the power of the flesh.

In the Old Testament, every time the nation of Israel got away from God in disobedience, idolatry, or other sins, it was because they failed to remember the God that brought them out of Egypt. Do not make that mistake. Do not forget the God you serve. Do not forget where He brought you from. Do not forget the price that was paid to satisfy the wrath of God. Do not forget you are now a joint-heir with Christ and a heir of God the Father! Remembering these simple, yet amazing truths will enable you to have the right foundation of faith, out of which will flow an abundant and victorious Christian life.

II Peter 1:8-9
"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."

DON'T FORGET!!!!

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Written by Joel McCarty
Teacher and Staff at Madison Baptist Church and Academy

WITHOUT FAITH

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." v6. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for the that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

           

Faith – What is faith? The Bible answers this question in verse one of this same chapter, Hebrews 6. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and also the evidence of things not seen. A comparable word for the word substance here is also confidence, so we could also read it as the confidence of things hoped for. The word evidence here is also translated reproof in II Timothy 3:16 referring to scripture being profitable for reproof, or evidence. It’s proven and tested. So we discern that faith is not blind faith. It is believing in the proofs or evidences of things not seen. Faith, specifically in Hebrews 11:6, is believing that God exists and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek and depend on Him. Seek means “to seek out for one’s self, to beg or crave; to demand or require”.

The important part about faith is recognizing that we are completely and utterly helpless in the flesh, and to please God requires a total dependence upon Christ for any and all power. It means to literally beg for and crave God’s power. It means to go to God and boldly demand or require that He step in and give strength to live the daily Christian life, knowing that He is the only one capable of meeting His own requirements. Beyond this, it is believing and trusting that God has already granted our request, and thanking God in faith for his provision in our life! Without this, scripture reminds us, it is impossible to please God!

This faith, however important, is many times one of the forgotten truths of the Christian walk. Yet Peter mentions it as if it should be a given, and it should. He says in II Peter 1:5 that we need to add to our faith, yet many times we try to add morals, wisdom, patience, and godliness to our lives without having the base of faith that God demands to please Him. All our effort is in vain if not in the power of the Spirit through faith in the finished work of Christ. As leaders of the faith, we must make sure of our faithfulness, literally if we are full of faith, for without the power of Christ through faith, we are utterly hopeless.

Next week we will look at the practical adding of faith in our lives.