04/21/2022
Does our faith make us righteous? When we are doing the hard things in life are we able to lean on God with sufficient trust, knowing that He is not only more than capable of doing what He has promised, but will do it? When we believe with this much strength in the Lord then there is no room left for doubting Him, or for us to claim or reassign a shred of His glory as He is working.
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.””
Romans 4:20-22 ESV
This scripture is referring to Abraham, but we should have the same righteous level of belief and faith that he did. There is nothing about him that makes him any different than any one of us. Jesus was entirely man, and entirely God, but Abraham was simply a man, and Sarah was a just woman. The only thing that separates us from the blessings that the Lord wants to give us is our own lack of faith… not our human nature.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
Hebrews 11:6, 8 ESV
We should never doubt our own ability to have faith or to believe. As a matter of fact, even those who we refer to as lacking therein do have faith, and they do believe, the problem is not that they can’t believe or have faith, but that they have it wrongly, or in a limited fashion. Their faith is not in God.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
We are born into the world, and from infancy we are taught it’s natural laws. In this way we come to trust that if we jump up we will always fall back down, or that there is air to breathe surrounding us… even though we can’t see it. Our faith becomes so tied to the world, and our belief so completely founded in what we call the laws of nature, that we can’t see beyond them; we are their captive. However, this is still a form of faith, and belief… just constrained, and imprisoned, by our understanding, and we have not yet had our eyes opened to the larger overarching nature of God.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ESV
Many believe that if there is a God then He must be bound, or governed, by these same natural laws that we have been taught to believe from birth, and that our greater faith is now limited by. We believe so completely in what we see, or can prove, that we miss the fact that God is not limited by what He created, but that what we consider to be the laws of the universe are all set, and limited by God.
“But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””
Matthew 19:26 ESV
So yes, we can believe as Abraham believed… we can receive the same level of blessing, and have the same faithful righteousness, but in order for this to occur we must have our eyes opened, our chains broken, and our horizons expanded by Jesus Christ, so that we can be transformed. We need to see that there are greater horizons in God that we can’t begin to see, or fathom… that life in Him is eternal, that He can make water flow from solid rock, He can part seas, or that He can heal the crippled or blind among us, instantly; making them whole with a single touch. This is the greater faith, and the righteous belief of Abraham, and those who pick up their crosses and follow Jesus.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the grain of faith you have given each of us, and for our belief in you. Thank you too for your Son Jesus Christ who opens our eyes to the greater faith you have prepared for us, and breaks the chains that bind us to the limitations of the world. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who has made all things, and set the stars and planets in motion. Greater are you than all of your creation, and the laws you have set in place to govern them. Praised be your name for the greater faith that your Holy Spirit reveals to us in your Word, and the gospel of Jesus. Merciful are you who loves us, and reaches out to touch us from eternity, to redeem us, forgive us our sins, and replace the death of the world with life everlasting in Christ. Wash us clean with his blood, and judge us to be worthy, in Him, of eternal life in your presence. Call us your children Lord, and seat us at your table forevermore.
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!”
Psalm 107:13-16, 20-21 ESV
Rich Forbes