Faith is the gift of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it. So is bread, but you have to eat it. So is water, but you have to drink it. So, how do we accept the gift of faith?
Not by working for it,
not through a feeling of some sort,
not through willpower,
not through somebody else.
Instead, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). We don’t sit down and wait for faith to come upon us mystically. Instead, faith comes when we take God at his word.
God’s word tells us that Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and the sins of the world, was buried, and, after three days, rose from the dead. If you believe this, you are exercising faith. That same word of God says you will be ‘saved,’ meaning forgiven of your sins, given a new set of God-pleasing desires, and brought into God’s family.
Yet faith doesn’t end there. For Christians, faith in God and his word becomes a natural and normal part of life. As we read the Bible and become more aware of who God is, who we are and what God desires from us, we believe it and do our best to act on it. Thus, we seek to live a life of faith. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Or, to reverse the thought, we can please God by exercising faith.
Take God’s Word seriously and place your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as your Saviour from sin.
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