We are
justified by faith. To meet G=
ods
righteous demands requires us to be people of faith. It is faith that empowers us to li=
ve a
life that is righteous before God.
Jesus told his disciples that if they had faith like a mustard seed =
they
could move mountains and that nothing would be impossible to them (Matt 17:=
20).
Their problem is that they had at that point little or no faith. Hebrews
chapter 11 demonstrates the various activity that
emanates from faith in the people of God.
So what is faith? How can=
we
get faith? What does faith do=
? Nothing can be more frustrating th=
an to
be told to have faith and to believe when you don’t.
Abraham is the example of faith in Romans chapter 4. He has been called the father of f=
aith
to all those who believe (Rom 4:16 & Gal 3:7). As the father of faith we should
consider Abraham to understand this matter of faith. This will save us much frustration=
and
help us to acquire faith, increase in faith and eventually to become the
faithful, those full of faith.
Understanding Abrahams experience will also help us realize how the
people in our personal environment can become people of faith.
His believing in God was a reaction to the heavenly infusion. This reac=
tion
in Abraham was the faith that was deposited into him through hearing Gods
speaking (Rom 10:17). This fa=
ith is
the substance, the very element of God Himself reaching and deposited into
Abraham (Heb 1:1-3 & Heb 11:1).
Each time that God spoke with Abraham more of the substance or eleme=
nt
of God was added. Eventually =
in
Genesis 15 Abraham believed God and that was accounted to him for
righteousness. By the time God
spoke to offer up Isaac on the alter Abraham had become a person full of
faith.
When God spoke to us it was His intention was to bring us back to Himse=
lf.
Moment after moment and step after step, like Abraham our heart has to clea=
ve
to God. God trained Abraham to believe in Him and today is training us to t=
ake
Him as our source. Like our f=
ather
Abraham we desperately need to be in the fresh speaking of the God of Glory=
. God is still speaking in the Son t=
o us today. It is this faith reacting in us th=
at
will bring us on to Glory and make us those who are full of faith.
The church life is a life that affords us many opportunities to be in t=
he
hearing of faith. Each time G=
od
speaks in us faith is added. =
Each
time we share with those around us faith is infused into them. At some point this element/substan=
ce of
faith in a person causes them to react to God. This reaction in that person is
accounted by God as righteousness.
In the
same manner from our birth we had no faith in us to believe into God. It was when the God of Glory appea=
red
that everything changed both to Abraham and to us.
Psalm 29 equates the voice of Jehovah and the God of Glory. This God of Glory appeared to Abra=
ham by
speaking to Abraham (Acts 7:2-3).
In this speaking, Glory was infused into Abraham without his realizi=
ng
it or being conscious of it causing a reaction in him to move away from all=
the
things that were formerly the source of his life, his land his people and h=
is
fathers house (2 Cor 4:4). Abraham's faith did not come from =
his
natural ability and it did not originate with himself.