Faithful vs. Belief

If faithful = belief, then what does the Bible say of someone who is unfaithful?

How can you be a believer if you’re not following Christ? Someone who is not faithful to Christ must obviously not be a believer in Christ. Right? Not only should you believe Christ, you should live like you do. In Titus 1:6 Paul states the qualifications of a pastor are to have faithful children (if they have children, if they’re married). These children not only believe in Christ, they show it out in their life; they are not rebellious young men and women.

Belief and faithfulness go hand in hand in the Bible. Someone who is faithful is faithful to their belief in Jesus as Messiah. So, you can’t be faithful without having belief. What would you be faithful to? There’s nothing.

And again, you can’t be a believer without faithfulness. Right?? I think of Mel Gibson in “Signs” as a pastor who loses his faith after his wife’s death. Kind of tough. But Christ isn’t much if I only believe Him on occassion. Christianity calls us to a much more enduring lifestyle. There isn’t much compromise on that. If you have belief, you must prove yourself faithful to that belief or else it’s in vain.

Day 16

From this morning’s devotion by Os Hillman: Go share your faith, Christian! …

  How strong is your relationship with Christ? Have you shared your faith lately? Hmm…..

 

Sharing Your Faith with Others
By Os Hillman

 “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ” (Philemon 6-7).

There is a strong correlation between those who publicly share their faith with others and an increase in spiritual growth for that individual. In my own journey I’ve discovered that when I stop sharing my faith with non-believers I begin to see a dryness in my walk with God.

Sometimes we justify our lack of verbal witness by saying we don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism. Or we conclude that because we have an introvert personality we leave witnessing to others who we deem as more qualified. As a well-qualified introvert myself, I’ve often wanted to use that excuse. Then, the Holy Spirit reminds me of a few instructions Jesus said to EVERYONE:

“But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Matt 10:33). “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15-16). There is not much confusion about what Jesus is saying in these verses. And it relates to all of us.

When we share Christ with others God allows us to gain a deeper and greater understanding of every good thing in Christ. Do you see the direct correlation between sharing your faith and your own spiritual growth? Paul says it’s actually a prerequisite to spiritual growth.

One of the great ways to turn a conversation to faith is by asking someone if there is anything you can pray for them about. You will be surprised how easily this will transition you into a conversation about their faith lives.

Ask God for boldness today to offer to pray for someone.

Contact Os Hillman at www.marketplaceleaders.org.

Faith in Action

A friend of mine showed me this passage I had forgotten despite the nice highlighter markings in my Bible. We were talking about what it meant to put our salvation into words. She didn’t like the analogy that trusting God is like trusting in a chair to hold you up. It doesn’t have anything to do with us, whether we believe the chair works or not. God’s mercy has nothing to do with us. Whether we trust Him or not, He sacrificed His life to be an offering for the mess we would make trying to save ourselves, living in a world we can’t fix, can’t conquer.

2 Peter 1:3-8 gives counsel:

  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

For amazing faith in action, I’d encourage you to read one particular story at the following blog: “Bring the Rain” at http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/.

Lord, I pray for healing and for help as we learn how to lean on you. Help us show your love by what little faith we have. Take it and add what you will that we may see goodness, cherish knowledge, pride self-control, persevere for godliness, seeking brotherly kindness - every day of our lives. Amen