Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) tells us, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him (God) for whoever would come near to Him (God) must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out)."
This whole new covenant of grace is based on faith. Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving) but is the gift of God."
All the things we strive to do on our own will not and cannot bring us what we hope to acquire in God. This covenant we're called to must be and can only be achieved by faith in what Jesus did, from the forgiveness of sin to the healing in your body. Everything that will be made manifest in this earthly realm must be received by faith in the finished work of the cross.
We fail to be healed and receive most of the promises of the new covenant because we still try to earn and deserve them through works and not because God is holding anything back from us. Although we no longer observe the ceremonial parts of the Law, we still try to fulfill the Law by works (whether or not we realize it).
God plainly said in Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) that without faith, it's impossible to please Him. We keep trying to please Him by our performance. We feel like if we pray more, study more, do more or give more then we'll be pleasing to God. NOT TRUE. Though we should do all of these things, it's not to please God, but what we're supposed to be doing as His children.
We don't pray more in order to please God, but to fellowship with Him. We don't study the Word more to please God, but to learn of Him. We don't give more to please God, but to establish His covenant in the world. We don't perform better to please Him, but to reflect into the world the very person of Jesus Himself. All of the things that we're to do aren't done in order to please God, but to reveal to the world around us that Jesus lives in us by grace and faith.
We can't do enough good works to pay the debt of sin removal in our lives. We must, by faith, accept that Jesus did it all. If we try paying for our past and our sins, then we're not putting faith in what Jesus did, but in our own works.
Everything in this covenant of grace must be received as a free gift by faith. We feel that if we do wrong things, we must do something to make amends for them. This isn't faith, but works again.
Does this mean that it makes no difference if we do wrong? No, of course not. When do wrong, instead of trying to make amends for it by works, we should believe by faith that Jesus still removes it in our lives. Sometimes we act like we believe Jesus bore our sins to get us born again, but then we have to cleanse ourselves thereafter. This impossible to do. The same Blood and sacrifice that put sin away when we were saved, is the same Blood and sacrifice that will keep cleansing (by faith) forever.
We've been taught over the years that if things go wrong in our lives, it's because we're doing something wrong. When that thought comes, we being trying to do things in order to make it work. This is, whether we know it or not, trying to obtain whatever it was by works. If something in the covenant isn't working in our lives, then it's because we've never let our hearts (by faith) receive it.
We've come up with many things trying to justify ourselves because of this. But, the bottom line is we have allowed our faith to fail in certain parts of our covenant. If this is a covenant of grace (God's unmerited favor), then it's exactly that...unmerited favor. None of it was earned and none of it can be earned. Only faith in this grace can obtain it in our lives.
Jesus said in John 17:23 (Amplified), "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me."
In this scripture (if you have faith in it), Jesus said that we are perfectly united with Him and God and one another and that we are just as healed, justified, sinless, righteous and holy as He is. We cannot begin to receive this prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17 (Amplified) unless we receive it by faith. When receiving this by faith, we're not being puffed up with pride and lost favor with God. Contrarily, this means that you've become pleasing to Him because you've come in faith and believed He is the rewarder of those who seek Him out.
What is the reward we seek God for? Is is not that we be clean before Him and be united with Him as one? The only way to achieve this is by faith. When we have faith in all that Jesus did, then this is what pleases God. The reward that we receive is grace to help in our times of need according to Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified) which says that the only way to approach the throne of grace is by faith. It is never approached by works or our own merit, but by the unmerited favor of God.
Everything we receive from God must be obtained by faith. Grace has already been extended to us, but only faith can obtain it. Salvation (by grace) has been extended to the entire world, but only those who put faith in it are saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment