Living By Faith

The Significance Of Being A Christian
Living By Faith

An important aspect of being a Christian involves the element of "faith". The gospel to which a person responds in becoming a Christian is called "the faith" - Ju 3 "My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people." Those who obeyed the gospel have been "faithful to the Lord" - Ac 16:15 "Then after she and her family were baptized, she kept on begging us, "If you think I really do have faith in the Lord, come stay in my home." Finally, we accepted her invitation."; Co 1:2 "To God's people who live in Colossae and are faithful followers of Christ. I pray that God our Father will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!" Christians are called or referred to as "the household of faith" - Ga 6:10 "So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith."

Indeed, "faith" is the underlying principle of all the Christian’s conduct. It is fundamental to our salvation in Christ - Ro 1:16-17 "I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, "The people God accepts because of their faith will live."’ It is central to the life we now live in Christ - Ga 2:20 "I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me."; 2 Co 5:7 "But we live by faith, not by what we see." Yet the nature of faith and its importance in the life of a Christian is often misunderstood and is often neglected.

As we continue to examine "The Significance Of Being A Christian", we therefore wish to emphasize that it means "Living By Faith"! What that entails may be clearer as we first define the meaning of faith. Faith involves the idea of belief. The certainty or conviction that one has in some truth or proposition. For example, believing in things concerning Jesus and His kingdom - Ac 8:12 "But when they believed what Philip was saying about God's kingdom and about the name of Jesus Christ, they were all baptized." Such faith, or conviction, comes from the Word of God - Ro 10:17 "No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ."; also Jn 20:30-31 "Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life."

Faith involves the idea of confidence, the willingness to place one’s trust and reliance on someone else. For example, placing our trust in God, that He is reliable - Ro 4:3 "The Scriptures say, "God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him."’, 20-22 "But Abraham never doubted or questioned God's promise. His faith made him strong, and he gave all the credit to God. Abraham was certain that God could do what he had promised. So God accepted him, just as we read in the Scriptures." We are to have similar trust in God - 1 Pe 4:19 "If you suffer for obeying God, you must have complete faith in your faithful Creator and keep on doing right."

Faith involves the idea of fidelity, that one is loyal, committed, and can be trusted. An example is a faithful steward as one who is reliable - 1 Co 4:2 "And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for,". Our faithfulness (commitment, trustworthiness) is to last even to the point of death - Re 2:10 "Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life.", 13 "I know that you live where Satan has his throne. But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me." A faithful Christian, then, is one who believes in the Word of God, he has confidence in the Person of God, and is himself loyal and trustworthy in the service of God.

Now let’s take a look at what can be said about the life of faith. The life of faith involves confessing our faith. For example, acknowledging our belief in Jesus Christ before others. Something we must do as a condition of salvation - Ro 10:9-10 "So you will be saved, if you honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others." This is something we do throughout our lives - Mt 10:32-33 "If you tell others that you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. But if you reject me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you don't belong to me."; 1 Jn 4:15 "God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us." -- The life of faith is never ashamed to admit that one believes in Jesus Christ.

Living the life of faith involves living by faith, for example, conducting one’s life with trust in Jesus Christ - Ga 2:20 "I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me." Trusting in the works of Jesus, not our own; that His death was truly for our sins - 1 Co 15:1-3 "My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing. I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say."; Ti 3:5-7 "He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning. God sent Jesus Christ our Savior to give us his Spirit. Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life." Trusting in the words of Jesus, and living accordingly - e.g., Mt 6:33-34 "But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.\pard plain "; Lk 6:46-48 "Why do you keep on saying that I am your Lord, when you refuse to do what I say? Anyone who comes and listens to me and obeys me is like someone who dug down deep and built a house on solid rock. When the flood came and the river rushed against the house, it was built so well that it didn't even shake." -- The life of faith is one that seeks to live in harmony with the teaching of Jesus.

Living by faith involves benefitting by faith, enjoying the blessings that come from a life of faith. Such as joy and peace, hope and power - Ro 15:13 "I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope." Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive such blessings - Ep 3:12 "Christ now gives us courage and confidence, so that we can come to God by faith."; Ph 4:6-7 "Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.", 13 "Christ gives me the strength to face anything." -- The life of faith does not go unrewarded in this life, even though its primary concern is the life to come.

Living by faith involves maintaining our faith, remaining steadfast in the faith we have in Christ. There is a need to stand fast, for faith can turn into unbelief - 1 Co 15:1-2 "My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing."; He 3:12-19 "My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called "today." If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. The Scriptures say, "If you hear his voice today, don't be stubborn like those who rebelled." Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? Who were the people that made God angry for forty years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith."; 4:1-2 "The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out. We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good.", 11 "We should do our best to enter that place of rest, so that none of us will disobey and miss going there, as they did." To maintain faith, we must add to it other things such as virtue, knowledge, self-control, etc. - 2 Pe 1:5-11 "Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don't grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven. My friends, you must do all you can to show that God has really chosen and selected you. If you keep on doing this, you won't stumble and fall. Then our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will give you a glorious welcome into his kingdom that will last forever."; 3:17-18 "My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen."

A Christian is one who should take his faith very seriously. It is essential to salvation (both being saved and remaining saved). It is essential to life (to receive blessings now, and in the life to come). Are you "Living By Faith"? Do you believe what has been revealed about Jesus Christ? Do you have confidence in Him, that He can deliver on what He promises? Are you a trustworthy disciple of Jesus, someone He can count on to be faithful? Unless we can answer in the affirmative to such questions, we have yet to appreciate that "The Significance Of Being A Christian" which includes "Living By Faith"!

May the promise of a new creation and a new life in Christ remind us of "The Significance Of Being A Christian", and challenge us to examine our loyalties if we do not see in our lives the evidence of "A Person Reborn" that Belong’s To The Lord then we need to repent and take advantage of the wonderful blessings from our Lord and Savior. Have you taken advantage of this wonderful gift, by responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Would you like to be reborn in Christ to be a new creature with a new life? If you have not responded to the gospel message and would like to do so, by all means please contact me directly at jimnewy@classicnet.net

This material is from ExecutableOutlines.com, a web site containing sermon outlines and Bible studies by Mark A. Copeland. Visit the web site to browse or download additional material for church or personal use. The outlines were developed in the course of my ministry as a preacher of the gospel. Feel free to use them as they are, or adapt them to suit your own personal style. To God be the glory!
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2002