Faith In Jesus: To have FAITH in Jesus Christ means to BELIEVE & OBEY Jesus Christ, having the Spirit of Christ within Romans 8: 9, and having a relationship with Him by following Him in obedience Mathew 16:24, believing the truth that God has revealed about Jesus, His person, His redemptive work and His saving power... Believing that He is the Son of God Romans 1:4, that He died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins Colossians 1:14, and that God raised Him from the dead to live forever more, sharing His victory over sin with all who obey Him Hebrews 5:9 through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we may be changed into the likeness of Jesus 2 Corinthians 3:18, and receive eternal life... John 3:15

Jesus : Son Of God: Jesus Christ the Son of God, took the form of mortal man and manifested the divine nature in the world, revealing the invisible God and calling mankind into the kingdom of God. Mark 1:15 That mankind might come to know God, love Him and fellowship with Him, because for this reason we were created. God Himself is our eternal destination 1 Corinthians 15: 28 and it is Jesus Christ who reveals Him and brings us to Him through faith in Jesus Himself. To have faith in Jesus is not just to follow his commandments because that is only following Christian law, but to receive the Spirit of Christ Romans 8: 9 and have a personal relationship with Him who rose from the dead and lives, continually drawing near to God through Him Hebrews 7:25 to receive through Him 2 Corinthians 1: 20 all the saving power and blessings of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5: 22 so that faith is perfected by faithfulness. Because Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father... a relationship with God starts with faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6

Faith Is A Gift: How can we believe in whom we can't see? Faith is a spiritual quality independent of the mind's reasoning and dwells in the spirit of man 2 Corinthians 4:13 and the spirit illuminates and influences the mind. Luke 6: 45 Faith is believing in the heart Romans 10:10 what the eyes can't see. Hebrews 11:1 So how can knowledge of God enter the heart without the mind? Because faith is spiritual in nature it is given by the Spirit of God who reveals knowledge of God through our spirit. 1 Corinthians 2: 10-11 The cross is a mystery that has to be believed in, not necessarily understood. No one believes that Jesus is the Christ unless God reveals it to him, Mathew 16:17 and no one comes to Him unless he is invited by the Father. John 6:44 This is to guarantee that salvation is by the grace of God, and not of man. Faith leading to salvation is a gift of God... Ephesians 2:8 1 Corinthians 12: 8-9

Unrighteous Can't Believe: So is God a capricious being arbitrarily selecting some for salvation and the rest for eternal hell? No because God wants all men to be saved 1 Timothy 2:4, but the truth can only be received by those who love God. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 Whoever loves righteousness loves God because God is righteous. And whoever loves righteousness loves Jesus Christ because He is the manifestation of righteousness, displaying the divine nature and image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 Whoever loves righteousness seeks righteousness, and seeks Jesus Christ and the righteousness He imparts because He is the savior of the world. Mathew 1: 21 Those who don't love righteousness don't love God or His Son Jesus Christ but love unrighteousness and reject the gospel of salvation for themselves because they want to remain in their sin. John 3:20

Faith Strengthened By The Holy Spirit: So the gift of faith in Jesus Christ begins like a seed sown in our hearts from heaven Mathew 13:3-23 ... and faith is increased and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom God also gives to those who obey Him, Acts 5:32 because it is the Holy Spirit who reveals Him to our minds, hearts and souls.

Faith Weakened By The Flesh: But if our eyes are not on Jesus Christ then we are not being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit and we remain 'in the flesh', in our natural state, alienated from God in mind, spirit and soul, Romans 8:5-8 spiritually fruitless in thought, deed and consciousness, dead in our faith, James 2 17 because the behavior of the faithless man is opposite to the man of faith. Galatians 5:19-23 If our mind is under the influence of the spirit of the flesh, which is inclined towards sin and opposed to what is holy, then it cannot hear and understand spiritual truths from the Holy Spirit, Co1 rinthians 2:14 And the mind of natural man being blind to the truth of God is vulnerable to spiritual lies, which are a denial of the truth, and originate from the Devil. John 8:44. He (whose name means enemy) is the enemy of God and also of the children of God, and his strategy is to destroy our faith in God which is our lifeline to God our savior, 1 John 5:4 so as to cut us off from Him who is the source of life and destroy us. The method the Devil uses is to counter truth from God with a lie disguised as truth, 2 Corinthians 11:14 by appealing to the desires of the soul of the natural man. Genesis 3:6 And the natural man being spiritually blind but a slave to the desire of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, 1 John 2:16 is vulnerable to deception which appears so credible. By accepting the lie he has received the seed of doubt, which unless rejected quickly increases in credibility, contradicting and obscuring the truth until it is rejected, resulting in unbelief then disobedience. If our faith is dead, then our desires/lust prevail and sin follows. James 1:14-15 And when we sin our souls are alienated from the presence of God, consciousness of God is lacking, we are not filled and strengthened with the love joy and peace of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 57: 21 and the fear of God and of man prevails. Genesis 3: 8-10 When we take our eyes off Jesus, we sink in the sea of evil... Mathew 14: 25-32

Love Is The Power Of Faith: Therefore we must choose to listen to either of two competing voices, either the voice of the Holy Spirit seeking Gods will, or the thoughts of the natural man seeking our own will. John 7:17 Our choice is determined by who we love the most, either God or ourselves. John 14:15 Whoever has the Holy Spirit has the love of God Romans 5:5 and the power of God in his heart and is able to resist the power of the flesh. The strength of that power to obey depends on how close we are to God in Jesus, while the depth of our love for God determines how close we want to draw near to Him rather than ourselves, therefore love is the power of faith.... Galatians 5:16

Author: Simon Strahler
Published: 30 September 2003
Updated: 16 October 2006