Walking by Faith by Charles Stanley (In Touch Ministries)

Walking by Faith by Charles Stanley (In Touch Ministries)

February 19, 2010

2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8

In the Christian community, we often hear the term faith. However, when such a word is used frequently, it can become familiar, and then we sometimes grow immune to its great depth of meaning. So today, we will consider what faith actually entails.

All people have faith. For example, it takes a measure of confidence to sit down in a kitchen chair without first testing its strength. Yet belief in the fact that furniture will hold our weight is quite different from entrusting almighty God with our lives. A wrong judgment concerning the first may result in a physical bruise, whereas the latter determines not only our success in this life but also our eternal existence.

So what, exactly, is a biblical definition of faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that it is ". . . the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." And we know that it is impossible to please the Lord without faith (11:6). In fact, there is nothing we can do that will earn salvation; the only way to heaven is by having confidence in Jesus' substitutionary sacrificial death on the cross, which paid the penalty we owed for our sin. What's more, faith is nothing we can create within ourselves; Scripture is clear that it is a gift of God (Rom. 12:3).

Have you accepted the Father's gift of faith and embarked on the wonderful journey that He invites you to share with Him? God responds to searching hearts. If you are unclear whether you have trusted your life to Him with full confidence, ask Him to guide you and reveal truth.