Faith in God?

FOUNDATION SCRIPTURES Hebrews 11:1-40, Romans 10:6-17.

INTRODUCTION:
Faith is the foundation of our Christian walk with God. We are justified and set free from sin based upon ones faith in Jesus Christ, we will be looking at the importance of faith in the life of believers.

WORD MEANING FAITH (Greek) Pis'tos - the foundation of what you believe and trust.

1) IMPORTANCE OF FAITH
i) Salvation Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 5:1-2. Salvation is based solely upon your faith in Jesus Christ, without faith you cannot be saved.
ii) Live by Faith Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11. The Just (saved) shall live by faith. This is talking about every area of your Christian life you are to be dependent upon the Lord through faith. The word live means to be sustained. Your active faith in Jesus Christ will sustain you.
iii) Walk by Faith 2 Corinthians 5:7. The bible says that we walk by faith and not by sight. Many Christians are dominated by what they feel, see and hear, this is walking by sight. We are told to walk by faith in Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Faith always deals with the invisible realm.
iv) Fight the Good Fight of Faith 1 Timothy 6:12. The Christian has entered into a fight and it is the good fight of faith. This is talking about holding onto your faith in Jesus Christ as satan attacks your faith to try to weaken your trust and confidence in God's Word. Jesus Christ has defeated Satan and through our faith we enforce his victory which makes it a good fight of faith.
v) Overcome through our Faith 1 John 5:4. The way to have victory is the way of Faith, this is only through Jesus Christ and what the scriptures teach us about our place in Him. We defeat the devil by faith in God's Word.
vi) Please God with Faith Hebrews 11:6. When we dare to believe what God has to say about us and as we stand upon his Word contrary to what the circumstances say, this is what pleases God, when we believe in him.
We have seen by these scriptures that Faith is a major part in the life of a believer. Satan's attack is focused upon your Faith in the Word of God and tries to stop you from acting upon the promises of God.

2) FAITH IS WHAT?
Hebrews 11:1. Faith has two important parts to its function in our lives:
i) Faith is the substance of things hoped for. “Substance comes from two words Sub- which means under and Stance - which means to stand”. Faith is what we stand upon, the foundation. It is what we base our lives upon, what we believe.
ii) Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is evidence, something that you cannot see with your physical eyes; it is an unseen spiritual force. The bible says that faith is of the heart, your spirit. (2 Corinthians 4:13, Spirit of Faith)
Romans 10:17. The Word of God is the source of steadfast faith in our hearts. To say that Faith is Substance can also be said that the Word of God is the substance of things hoped for and that the Word of God is the evidence of things not seen (physical sight). The Word of God is the agent that brings Faith to us.

CONCLUSION The Church needs to spend more time in the study of the subject of Faith.
Mark 11:23-24, Mark 9:23, Matthew 21:21-22, Mark 5:36, Romans 4:17-21, Hebrews 6:12, Ephesians 6:16.

FAITH FOUNDATIONS prepared by Stephen Fisher - www.stephenfisher.org