Title:

Living by Faith – Part I

Objective:

To provide an understanding of living by faith

What:

What is Faith?

Faith is the substance of things you have hoped for and it is the evidence of things you do not yet see.

·   Hebrews 11:1-3

 Faith is a spiritual force not a philosophical point or intellectual fact.

 Faith = the Word of God

a. God creates with words

·   Genesis 1:3,6,7,9,11

b. God created everything that exists

·   Colossians 1:16

Because faith is the substance of things, and God created all things by first speaking them into existence we can conclude that faith=the Word of God
Faith works by love

·   Galatians 5:6

Worketh: to be operative, be at work, put forth power

Why:

Why is love important to faith?

Love is the greatest commandment

·   Matthew 22:36-38

All the laws (commandments) are dependent upon love

·   Matthew 22:40

·   Romans 13:10

God is love (Greek: Agape)

·   1 John 4:16

Love: brotherly love, affection, good will, benevolence

Love is the distinguishing mark of a child of God

·   John 13:35

How:

How do I develop love so that faith works?

Be born again – God’s love is placed in our hearts when we receive salvation

·   Romans 5:5

Study God’s love

·   1Corinthians 13:4-8

·   2 Timothy 2:15

use your bible dictionary and concordance to research all references of the word love throughout the bible to gain an understanding of Gods love

Renew your mind – God’s love is not the same as human love

·   Romans 12:2

Keep it real

·   Romans 12:9

Dissimulation: unfeigned, undisguised, sincere

Conclusion:

Imagine there is no electricity in your home. You plug in a lamp and turn on the switch, but there will be no light shining because there is no power, electricity, flowing.  So is faith, you can plug it in (get the word) and turn on the switch (speak the word) but there will be no light shining because there is no power, love, flowing. If you do not have love, faith will not work. 

If we simply release love (Agape), which is in us, to everyone we meet, then everyone will know the love of God.  Once they know God’s love, they can receive His goodness and God’s goodness leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Let’s purpose to renew our minds and allow the love of God in us to come out so that our faith can be operative.  We live in a dark world, but we are called to be the light (Matthew 5:14, 16).  It takes faith to lead someone to salvation through Jesus and faith to live.  Don’t let your faith be inoperative because you refuse to let the power of love flow.

Definitions taken from:

Greek lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the "Theological Dictionary of the New Testament." These files are public domain.