Tying in with my previous thought, “Salvation Of Faith or Salvation Of Works”, I now want to look at “Living Faith Bears Evidence”.
HEBREWS 11:1
11 NOW Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What we’re “hoping for” is that which we don’t yet have or perhaps is not yet known to our natural senses, yet it is referred to here as a substance, which is something that you can hold on to. Substance is tangible… It is real… And so the Faith which we hold right now is our substance of that which we’re hoping for and it’s the evidence of things not yet seen in the natural… There are things that we’re desiring that we cannot yet see in the natural… Yet, he says that our Faith is the evidence of those things and evidence is so powerful and convincing that you can carry it into a Court of Law and win a case with it… It’s Proof Positive!!!
And so Faith is a simple one-syllable word that can change your life and situation right now, if you can but understand that your Faith is both Evidence and Substance of that which you’ve not yet laid your eyes upon… It’s not yet a reality in the natural, but it’s as real as real can get in your spirit, because your Faith says so! To the outside world, they can’t see it, but in your spirit by Faith you just know, that you know, that you know, that God has already provided the answer. You can’t see it, taste it, touch it, hear it, or smell it in the natural, but in your spirit it’s just as real as the nose on your face because Faith is both your Substance and your Evidence! Some may even tell you that you’re crazy, but when Faith comes alive inside of you, don’t worry about what others think. It’s now a deal between your Faith and God. Hold tight to your Faith and don’t let it go, regardless of what outward circumstance says in the natural. Keep on Trusting.
HEBREWS 11:1
11 NOW Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What we’re “hoping for” is that which we don’t yet have or perhaps is not yet known to our natural senses, yet it is referred to here as a substance, which is something that you can hold on to. Substance is tangible… It is real… And so the Faith which we hold right now is our substance of that which we’re hoping for and it’s the evidence of things not yet seen in the natural… There are things that we’re desiring that we cannot yet see in the natural… Yet, he says that our Faith is the evidence of those things and evidence is so powerful and convincing that you can carry it into a Court of Law and win a case with it… It’s Proof Positive!!!
And so Faith is a simple one-syllable word that can change your life and situation right now, if you can but understand that your Faith is both Evidence and Substance of that which you’ve not yet laid your eyes upon… It’s not yet a reality in the natural, but it’s as real as real can get in your spirit, because your Faith says so! To the outside world, they can’t see it, but in your spirit by Faith you just know, that you know, that you know, that God has already provided the answer. You can’t see it, taste it, touch it, hear it, or smell it in the natural, but in your spirit it’s just as real as the nose on your face because Faith is both your Substance and your Evidence! Some may even tell you that you’re crazy, but when Faith comes alive inside of you, don’t worry about what others think. It’s now a deal between your Faith and God. Hold tight to your Faith and don’t let it go, regardless of what outward circumstance says in the natural. Keep on Trusting.
Now looking back to a scripture that we looked at in my previous post ~
JAMES 2:17 (My Words In Parenthesis For Emphasis and Clarification)
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, being alone. (Living Faith will always produce proper Works. If Faith doesn’t produce proper Works, then it’s declared ‘Dead’)
Again we know that Faith is the SUBSTANCE of those things that we’re hoping for and it’s also the EVIDENCE of those things that we cannot yet see. We know that Faith is so very important in each of our lives, but as important as it is, Faith without corresponding Works, is declared Dead!
Now, Faith could really be considered a verb, because Living Faith implies action. Anytime there is Real Living Faith birthed in your heart, there will also be a corresponding Action that goes along with it as proof or evidence of it’s Life.
Somebody says, “Oh, I’ve got great Faith”, but can I tell you that if you’ve truly got great Faith, the evidence or the proof of that Faith will not be found in how much you boast about it, but the evidence will be made known by the action that it produces.
For Example: When the National Hurricane Center predicts a hurricane’s landfall along the Gulf Coast, you immediately begin seeing people boarding up windows and packing up and evacuating, because even though they see no evidence in the natural as of yet, their Faith in what they’ve heard becomes their reality and their actions correspond with what they believe. Their Faith is alive and their corresponding works were the evidence of that Living Faith. By the same token, if they would have heard that same news and said with their mouth that they believed it was true, yet never did anything in response to it, then obviously they didn’t truly believe it. They professed Faith, but there was no corresponding, therefore, it’s obvious that their Faith is Dead!
And thus it is always with Faith. If you truly believe something, your actions will bear it out and if you don’t act on what you say you believe, then it will cause one to question whether or not your Faith is really Living or not. Because Dead Faith always produces nothing, but Living Faith will always bear corresponding fruit or evidence!
Now we understand that scripture clearly bears out that Salvation is not of ourselves, but it is a product solely of the Grace of God (His unearned Favor or Goodness) through Faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and that will always be followed by Good Works.
When someone says, “I’ve been saved”, yet you don’t begin to witness any type of change in their lifestyle and they don’t begin to move even slightly toward the character of Jesus Christ and they’re still cussing and shacking up and cheating and lying and loving every minute of it, with not even a desire for change… Then they’re Not Saved!!! I didn’t say “If you make a mistake, you’re not saved”. But If you’re just living and practicing and loving sin and there’s no change that begins to come into your life, then you are suffering from a condition that many religious, church folk are suffering from and that condition is simply known as – Lost! You say, “Yes, but I’ve got faith”, Well, It’s Dead Faith, because if you had real Living Faith and it was more than merely a profession with your lips, then it would begin to produce some works of change in your life.
Living Faith will always bring something out of you. It will cause you to begin to take on the nature of whatever it is that you are believing and that’s why it’s so important to know the Truth of God’s Word and believe it with all of your heart…
The Bible says to “Buy The Truth and Sell It Not!”
In other words, we need to buy into the Truth of God’s Word with all that we have and never exchange it for anything else, because anything other than the Truth is a Lie. We need to know His Word and believe it.
JAMES 2:17 (My Words In Parenthesis For Emphasis and Clarification)
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, being alone. (Living Faith will always produce proper Works. If Faith doesn’t produce proper Works, then it’s declared ‘Dead’)
Again we know that Faith is the SUBSTANCE of those things that we’re hoping for and it’s also the EVIDENCE of those things that we cannot yet see. We know that Faith is so very important in each of our lives, but as important as it is, Faith without corresponding Works, is declared Dead!
Now, Faith could really be considered a verb, because Living Faith implies action. Anytime there is Real Living Faith birthed in your heart, there will also be a corresponding Action that goes along with it as proof or evidence of it’s Life.
Somebody says, “Oh, I’ve got great Faith”, but can I tell you that if you’ve truly got great Faith, the evidence or the proof of that Faith will not be found in how much you boast about it, but the evidence will be made known by the action that it produces.
For Example: When the National Hurricane Center predicts a hurricane’s landfall along the Gulf Coast, you immediately begin seeing people boarding up windows and packing up and evacuating, because even though they see no evidence in the natural as of yet, their Faith in what they’ve heard becomes their reality and their actions correspond with what they believe. Their Faith is alive and their corresponding works were the evidence of that Living Faith. By the same token, if they would have heard that same news and said with their mouth that they believed it was true, yet never did anything in response to it, then obviously they didn’t truly believe it. They professed Faith, but there was no corresponding, therefore, it’s obvious that their Faith is Dead!
And thus it is always with Faith. If you truly believe something, your actions will bear it out and if you don’t act on what you say you believe, then it will cause one to question whether or not your Faith is really Living or not. Because Dead Faith always produces nothing, but Living Faith will always bear corresponding fruit or evidence!
Now we understand that scripture clearly bears out that Salvation is not of ourselves, but it is a product solely of the Grace of God (His unearned Favor or Goodness) through Faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and that will always be followed by Good Works.
When someone says, “I’ve been saved”, yet you don’t begin to witness any type of change in their lifestyle and they don’t begin to move even slightly toward the character of Jesus Christ and they’re still cussing and shacking up and cheating and lying and loving every minute of it, with not even a desire for change… Then they’re Not Saved!!! I didn’t say “If you make a mistake, you’re not saved”. But If you’re just living and practicing and loving sin and there’s no change that begins to come into your life, then you are suffering from a condition that many religious, church folk are suffering from and that condition is simply known as – Lost! You say, “Yes, but I’ve got faith”, Well, It’s Dead Faith, because if you had real Living Faith and it was more than merely a profession with your lips, then it would begin to produce some works of change in your life.
Living Faith will always bring something out of you. It will cause you to begin to take on the nature of whatever it is that you are believing and that’s why it’s so important to know the Truth of God’s Word and believe it with all of your heart…
The Bible says to “Buy The Truth and Sell It Not!”
In other words, we need to buy into the Truth of God’s Word with all that we have and never exchange it for anything else, because anything other than the Truth is a Lie. We need to know His Word and believe it.
Now, I believe that most everyone who attends church around the world, week after week, believes in God. I don’t doubt that for a second. People who come to Abundant Grace of Petal, whether regularly or not, surely believe in God or else, they wouldn’t even come, but just as I stated in my previous post ~ You could walk into probably any Crack House and ask most anybody, “Do You Believe In God?” And most would reply, “Well, of course I do!” Many may even say, “Yes, I’m a Christian Born and raised!” They profess faith with their mouth, but there’s no evidence of that profession in their lives.
There are 3 types of Faith that we need to acknowledge and I’ve heard my wonderful Pastor, Bishop Charles Hanchey teach in great depth on these 3 before, but I want to just briefly touch on them here.
1 – DEMONIC FAITH
James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God, you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.”
Satan himself, is a believer in God and he too is a believer in Christ Jesus and he even has a fearful emotional response in accordance to his belief which causes him to tremble. And so you can have Demonic Faith and respond with great emotion, yet it still not be Saving Faith or Living Faith. That’s the kind of Faith that many folks in the world have and said to say, even some in church. They simply believe that God exists, but they don’t truly believe what the Gospel says and how it pertains to them.
2 - DEAD FAITH
Again in James, the Bible says that Faith without Works is DEAD and so there’s DEAD FAITH and sad to say, but that’s where many, many Church folks live today…
It’s a Faith that says, “I go to church… I give my tithe… Perhaps, I sing and play music and even function in leadership…” But that’s all there is to their Faith. They’re just religious. They’re basically good people, yet there’s never any growth or progress made spiritually. There’s never any change taking place in their life. They’re unmoved by the anointing of Holy Spirit in a service. They have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof to have any effect on their life or in their heart. The only difference between them now and prior to their ‘profession’ is that now they do some religious stuff, yet they have no real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore the Holy Spirit has no way of working in their life. They’re full of Dead Faith.
3 - LIVING FAITH
Galatians 3:11 "For no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident: for The Just shall live by Faith!"
Living Faith is a Faith that births new life in your inward man and begins bringing forth change in the way that you live your life. It doesn’t just say the right things, but it produces action. It produces fruit. Living Faith produces Evidence and it literally draws from the Character of Jesus Christ Himself.
Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
Pastor Robbie
1 – DEMONIC FAITH
James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God, you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.”
Satan himself, is a believer in God and he too is a believer in Christ Jesus and he even has a fearful emotional response in accordance to his belief which causes him to tremble. And so you can have Demonic Faith and respond with great emotion, yet it still not be Saving Faith or Living Faith. That’s the kind of Faith that many folks in the world have and said to say, even some in church. They simply believe that God exists, but they don’t truly believe what the Gospel says and how it pertains to them.
2 - DEAD FAITH
Again in James, the Bible says that Faith without Works is DEAD and so there’s DEAD FAITH and sad to say, but that’s where many, many Church folks live today…
It’s a Faith that says, “I go to church… I give my tithe… Perhaps, I sing and play music and even function in leadership…” But that’s all there is to their Faith. They’re just religious. They’re basically good people, yet there’s never any growth or progress made spiritually. There’s never any change taking place in their life. They’re unmoved by the anointing of Holy Spirit in a service. They have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof to have any effect on their life or in their heart. The only difference between them now and prior to their ‘profession’ is that now they do some religious stuff, yet they have no real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore the Holy Spirit has no way of working in their life. They’re full of Dead Faith.
3 - LIVING FAITH
Galatians 3:11 "For no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident: for The Just shall live by Faith!"
Living Faith is a Faith that births new life in your inward man and begins bringing forth change in the way that you live your life. It doesn’t just say the right things, but it produces action. It produces fruit. Living Faith produces Evidence and it literally draws from the Character of Jesus Christ Himself.
Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
Pastor Robbie
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