The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1955-07-28
The Importance of Faith

The Importance of Faith
"But without faith it is
impossible to please Him: for
he that cometh to God must
believe that He is, and that He
is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him."
Hebrew 11:6
The New Testament stresses
the Importance of faith in the
life of an Individual. 1t is necess-
sary for consistent Christian liv-
ing. Our text tells us that with
out faith it is impossible to
please God.
Faith means reliance or COM
plete trust in another. In the
New Testament it is a complete
trust in God and His Son Jesus
Christ. The word not only means
a complete trust, but it includes
the thought of constancy in such
profession. So real, genuine
faith is complete and continual
trust in God the Father and in
! Jesus Christ. Primarily, it con-
Germs the spiritual realm rather
than the physical or material.
Yet, it will find expression in
the physical realm and will
determine ones attitude towards
and the uses of the material.
Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen" Hebrews 11:D.
We are reminded, from our
own acts and from the Scrip
lures, that we are sinners. Cali
have sinned, and come short of
the glory of Cod (Romans 3;23).
That means that as long as one
chooses to live in that state he
is dead Spiritually and lost;
| he is under condemnation. But
God loves the sinner (John 3:16),
so through Jesus Christ He has
provided a way of salvation -
way for sinful man to be re-
conciled to Himself.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
on Calvary's cross, suffered for
man. He bore the punishment
for mans sin. He satisfied the
demands of Gods holy law for
man. He did that because of His
grace, not because we deserved
it, But only those who are will
ing to put their trust in Jesus
Christ and desire to let Him be
Lord of their life are the ones
who experience the results of
| Christ's work on the cross -
forgiveness, justification and
freedom from the power of sin.
In Ephesians 2:8 we see that ''by
grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God" In John
l:12 we read that "as many as
received Him (Jesus Christi, to
them gave He power (the privi-
lege) to become the children of
! God, even to them that believe
on His name. (The word believe
is from the same root as faith
in the original language of the
New Testament.)
If the faith of an individual
is genuine, it will be demonstrate
ed in his every day life - in
his home, his business dealings,
his social contacts as well as in
attendance of worship services
with fellow believers. Paul not
only stresses the need of repen-
tance (turning from sin and to
God) but he also emphasized the
need of works meet for (befit-
ting) repentance" (Acts 26:20).
James put it this way: Faith,
if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone (James 2:l7).
So the person who has exer-
cised true faith in Jesus Christ
will want to be baptized because
he knows that it is Gods will
for him (Mathew 28:19, 20). He
will want to do that which is
right and honest. He will want
to live and talk clean. He will
want to witness to others about
the grace and goodness of God.
He will have a concern for the
physical and spiritual welfare
of others. He will desire fellow
ship with God and with Gods
people.
Without faith it is impossible
to please God.