It Depends on Faith
"That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed…”
Romans 4:16
A couple of events occurred over the past week serving to remind me once again that life is a matter of faith. It does depend on faith. The just are to live by faith is an exhortation that occurs four times throughout the bible and we are all familiar with Hebrews 11:6; without faith it is impossible to please God. Note, it doesn’t say God won’t love us, it says, we can’t please Him without faith.
Everyone has stuff that they must face and overcome through their own dependency and trust in God. Anyone could have reason to quit and give up at almost any time, but successes are found in perseverance and adherence to Him. It depends on faith. He who comes to God MUST believe He is a rewarder of those who are diligently seeking Him.
Everything depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed.
Spiritual success is not firstly by works or human effort, it is through faith. While we are then required to work out our faith, James’ epistle points this out in chapter two verse eighteen
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
So faith still requires obedience to the direction God gives. We have to believe the instructions are God given. If they are God given, obedience is required. If they are God given, grace is available and the promise is guaranteed as faith accesses grace. Faith must rest on grace. The promise rests on our ability to stand in His grace.
As our surrounding culture shifts, deception grows. As deception grows, disciplines become lax and unbelief invades. We become double minded regarding the promises of God. Unsure of His guarantees, we stop accessing the grace needed to achieve all He has ordained.
There are heavenly seeds waiting to be sown so that the creation of God may occur here on this earth. We must believe. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven requires faith accessing grace to do His will. We must believe.
Jesus reminds us from Luke seventeen, IF we have faith the size of a mustard seed we would say……. A mustard seed, as you know, is the smallest of all seeds. Every seed in God is big. It holds destiny and must be sown to be seen. Alignment and agreement with God’s promise sows the seed. We won’t sow what we discount.
It’s the declaration unto sowing.
It’s the watering unto growth.
It’s the patience unto reaping.
These days require us to be strengthened in faith like Abraham. Like Abraham, we make thanksgiving our sacrifice while we wait. He did not weaken in faith when he looked around and considered his circumstances. There was no wavering concerning God’s promise. He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed.