“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col. 2:6).
This is the faith by which we began, and it is the same faith by which we are to “stand” (16:13), “walk” (II Cor. 5:7) and “live” (Gal. 2:20). “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col. 2:6).
WE now come to our second and continuous reading and review in the first chapter of Principles of Spiritual Growth.
THE quote above is how our author ended our previous review. As we continue our study, the author opens this review on an all-important aspect of Faith saying, “true faith is anchored on scriptural facts, we are certainly not to be influenced by impressions.” This is what we began to look at in the previous posting.
AS I ponder this, I’m thinking that my first reading of the above so many years ago may have been the moment that the full force and meaning of Col. 2:6 truly registered within me. Col. 2:6 has been one of those anchor verses for me throughout these many years, reminding me over and over again that our walk – that is, our daily activity with life’s encounters – will never deviate from the absolute necessity of simple faith. It is a requirement for pure reliance upon God’s grace no matter how long we endure and advance in our understanding and spiritual growth. Just as we received Him at the foot of the cross by faith unto new birth (John 3), so we are to walk step-by-step in Him in that same faith moment-by-moment on our way to the ultimate crown that we will lay at His feet in glory.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Psalm 115:1.
IT is true our Lord calls us to a doing (James 1:22), to follow Him and perform those works on earth that will honor our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16; Eph. 2:10); but these are all performed in faith as He enables us by faith to confront and respond to each test, task, and experience in faith. So the topic here is faith, how it comes and is developed in this first chapter of Principles of Spiritual Growth – Faith. Let’s get to it.
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa. 30:15 & Job 2:10
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FAITH-2 …..continued
Since true faith is anchored on scriptural facts, we are certainly not to be influenced by impressions. George Mueller said, “Impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do with faith. Faith has to do with the Word of God. It is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make the difference. We have to do with the Written Word and not ourselves or our impressions.”
Then, too, probabilities are the big temptation when it comes to exercising faith. Too often the attitude is: “It doesn’t seem probable that he will ever be saved.” “The way things are going, I wonder if the Lord really loves me.” But Mueller wrote: “Many people are willing to believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. Faith has nothing to do with probabilities. The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. Appearances are not to be taken into account. The question is—whether God has spoken it in His Word.”
Alexander R. Hay adds to this by saying, “Faith must be based upon certainty. There must be definite knowledge of God’s purpose and will. Without that there can be no true faith. For faith is not a force that we exercise or a striving to believe that something shall be, thinking that if we believe hard enough it will come to pass.” That may be positive thinking but certainly not biblical faith.
Evan Hopkins writes: “Faith needs facts to rest upon. Presumption can take fancy instead of fact. God in His Word reveals to us the facts with which faith has to deal.” It is on this basis that J.B. Stoney can say, “Real faith is always increased by opposition, while false confidence is damaged and discouraged by it.” There can be no steadfastness apart from immovable facts. Peter’s burden was: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1:7).
Once we begin to reckon (count) on facts, our Father begins to build us up in the faith. From his profoundly simple trust in God, …..To be continued
