Of course, we know faith is a process. Obviously a strong abiding faith life does not suddenly appear with a blinding light like a holy vision from God meant to be shared as a message with the rest of the world. Sometimes it takes a great deal of time to forge the elements of faith into some kind of usable shape which can then help support us in our walk with Christ. It is, however, not a crutch. Faith does more than ease our burden; it gives us strength to propel us forward to meet new challenges. Taking the easy way out brings about the death of faith and relegates it to distant memory.
Now if faith is about God we can certainly understand that it is of God. Then the source as well as the object of our faith are one making us the new material which is introduced into the process as raw material to produce the finished product of a faithful believer. We know that "...faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:17
So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Obviously the Bible is a part of this process and even if it were the only tool we used to obtain the finished result; we could acheive that.
What we should ask ourselves, however, is how do we recognize the elements in their finished state or what does a faithful believer consist of or are they made up of? Well, to put it in its most basic terms, to have faith you must have three qualities or attributes all of which must come directly from or be obtained through close fellowship with the Lord.
1. The Mind of Christ
2. The Holy Spirit of God
3. Divine will
Divine Will
Since the third item on the list is the most crucial for our discussion, let's address it. None of us can attain the most elementary start toward a spiritual life without chosing God. The exercise of choice involves will. To chose that which is in God's will for our life is Divine will. To continue to do so gives us the requirement for a life of faith that will spark and fire all the elements of that life. Therefore, it is that will which both precedes the life of a Christian and also drives it. It is important to note that all these attributes mentioned are acheived through fellowship with Christ and therefore the will must be a part of the process of faith since you must willfully chose fellowship with God. To ignore this fellowship is to reject the fullness of God's presence. Also, we need to realise that this fellowship will never be broken by God as He has promised us in His word.
John 10:28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The mind of Christ
1 Corinthians
2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
2:15
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
2:16
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
You see, we as believers have the mind of Christ. We don't cultivate it, we don't eventually grow this mind; we simply have it by virtue of the fact we are born again into newness of life. We have a new heart a new soul; a new mind which is the mind of Christ. Therefore, no one in the kingdom of God can claim to have a superior mind because we all have the mind of Christ. Think about all the great evangelists and preachers you have known. Did you know they all have the same mind. Well, you say, that means we have unity in the faith not that we all have His same mind. However, let me just warn you that if you are operating in some other frame of mind or mind set you are missing God in a very big way. This is a basic requirement for a powerful faith life. Our minds must be filled with something and God wants them to be filled with Jesus and nothing else.
The Holy Spirit of God
Acts 19
1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Now you can make what you will of the baptism of the Holy Ghost but you can not escape the obvious here. Paul knew these men could not be faithful believers without the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. That is why he took the time to see to it that they each received the Holy Spirit. Sometimes Christians receive the Spirit quietly; I'm sure most of us know this is true. But the point is that without this true baptism we are left empty and powerless and that is not the way to start a life of faith.
Now then we see that our minds, our hearts (spirits), and our wills must be given over to the Lord so that they can be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. If we hold back in any area of our faith life we will be greatly hampered in all attempts to live a life for Christ.
April 6, 2004
