assurance of your FAITH
in God.
Being totally convinced that God is real.
Until we are totally
convinced of the existence of God, we cannot have the assurance that God even
exists. We must determine to either believe that God exists or God does not
exist, personally.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
THE SENSE-REALM LIMITS.
§
God can not be detected by the five senses of the physical realm.
§
We all live in the physical realm and God lives in the spiritual
realm.
§
The physical realm is visible, the spiritual realm is invisible.
§
Faith in what is invisible to the physical senses,
is what we must come to believe in.
There are many things
that we believe in that we cannot detect with our physical senses. When we step
onto a airplane we are practicing faith in the skills
of the pilot to safely get us to our destination.
Belief to the point of acting on it
- is faith.
But until we are truly
ready to act on our belief, we are in a state of indecision. We have not yet
acquired Biblical faith if we are not yet ready to act on what we have
believed.
·
I am convinced logically that God exists.
·
I am not convinced of God existence through my physical senses.
·
I am convinced of God’s existence because it is logical!
·
I find all other options to have no credibility.
CREATION PROVES THE NECESSITY OF A CREATOR GOD.
I am convinced that
there must be a God, a Creator in order to have creation. Everything came from
something and that something was and is God. The first cause of all creation
came from the Creator. When I see a car, I know that there must be a builder
who built it. When I see the creation, I know there must be a Creator who
created it.
THE ID THEORY (GUESS).
Most of the sciences
today believe in intelligent design as a model of the natural world. This
belief is called the ID theory.
Romans
§
aving faith in the theory of
God.
§
Having faith in the fact of God.
§
Having confidence, of your faith in a Creator God.
§
These are two quite different things.
THE LIFE OF FAITH:
When we allow our daily
lives to be directed by God the Holy Spirit we are truthfully practicing faith
in God.
Romans
Allowing the truths of
God to have the first impact on our daily lives is a
active, living faith.
INTELLECTUAL UNDERSTANDING:
Before we truly put to
practice the truths of God in our daily lives, we have intellectual
understanding and appreciation for His truths. This comes before we have a
living relationship with God. This is called intellectual assent. God is still
a fanciful idea and not yet a practical part of our daily lives if we have only
intellectual assent..
The journey:
If we
are to understand how to arrive at the point where we have a high level of
assurance. We must first understand that Christianity is a journey that moves
from very lower levels of assurance toward higher levels or stages of faith.
Every stage of our Christian experience is related to our acquiring truth from
the Bible. The assimilation of that truth recorded in the Bible is an essential
part of personal belief. We believe it in our heart, or take it to heart, when
we begin to act by putting it into action.
MYSTICAL IDEAS:
At first the Christian
establishes a knowledge of God based on many mystical
and preconceived ideas. The faith that is associated with this stage of
Christian growth is very weak and wavers due to our traditions,
that are not based on or consistent with God’s Word.
As one moves forward in
a biblical and experiential encounters he begins to discard ideas that are not
in alignment with biblical truth.
Faith at this stage
begins to reject the fanciful ideas of mysticism and begins to move into the
arena of belief based on revealed and experienced truth.
1John
NOW WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD:
Every child of God has
need of the assurance of faith: the full certainty of faith that the Lord has
received him and made him His child. The Holy Scripture always speaks to
Christians as those that know that they are redeemed, that they are NOW
children of God, and that they have received eternal life.
Romans 8:15-16 For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
ACCEPTED OF GOD:
How can a child love or
serve his father, while he is uncertain whether his Father will actually
acknowledge him as His child? By ignorance or distrust a Christian can again
fall into darkness and doubt.
Romans14:17-19 For
the
Three things:
Scripture names three
things by which we have our assurance:
1.
Faith in the word, confidence in the veracity of the written Word.
2.
Good works or God works, works like
3.
The indwelling Holy Spirit, a displeasure
when we sin.
1Timothy
Faith in God’s Word:
Prophecy is one of the
major part of scripture that verifies the Word is
true. A study of prophecy will instill assurance of the truth of God’s Word.
Romans
good works:
We can also be assured
of our faith in God, when we put our faith into action and see the results.
There will be a action applied to the Word that one
truly believes.
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it
hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by
works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
James 2:26 For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
the indwelling Holy Spirit:
The assurance of faith
comes from a teamwork with the Helper, the Holy
Spirit.
1. The Holy Spirit will
reveal to us how sinful sin really is.
2. He will contrast us
to
3. He will reveal the
consequences paid for by
John 16:8 And
when he is come, he will reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and
of judgment:
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the
Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he
will shew you things to come.
Summary:
1. The importance of the assurance of faith lies in the fact, that I cannot
possibly love or serve as a child a God if I do not know whether He loves me as
His child.
John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.
2. The whole Bible is a
history of God’s effort to restore man to right standing with Him. The New
Testament reveals God’s love for us by the giving of His Son.
3. Faith combined with obedience are essential to gain
higher levels of assurance. True faith will produce fruit in our lives.
§
First there is the root of faith.
§
Second the tree and branches.
§
Third the there is the development of fruit.
§
Forth there is the mature fruit.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
4. Assurance of faith is
made strong by confession.
Romans
5. Communion with God
happens in our hearts:
The Holy Spirit of God
lives in our hearts. The assurance of the Holy Spirit is the best evidence we
are God’s children!
2Cor
2Cor 5:5 “God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest (down payment) of the Spirit”
1John
Have a God-day!
