Our Living Faith - 1
(1 Peter 1:6-9)

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9)

Faith may be one of the most used and misused word in our Christian vocabulary. We often say “my faith,” in reference to our religion. But, religion has very little to do with faith. Religion is our customs, rituals and traditions. Faith is something totally different. Hebrews 11:1 says:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen

Faith is more that believing. It is “knowledge of, assent to and confidence in” something. It’s like when the little boy was trapped on his house which was engulfed in flames. His dad beckoned him to jump, but the boy could see only the smoke. “Just jumb – I’ll catch you,” his father called. The boy answered back, “But, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “I can see you and that is all that matters.” Which part of that is faith? Faith is when the boy jumps.

Most churches and many individuals have an incorrect view of faith. Some think it is a recklessness. When a television preacher accumulates mass amounts of debt and beg us to support him – that is not faith. When we carelessly misuse God money, it is not faith. Others of us simply never respond in faith to anything God says.

Faith is very simply listening to God’s instructions and responding to them. Because God gives us God-sized tasks that only can be done with His help; the obedience takes faith. Understand that faith is found in obedience.

Characteristics of our Living Faith

1. Faith looks to the future

One of the killers of faith is to look to the past. We tend to follow patterns that we or others have established in our lives. We focus on the people that have let us down. We look at our past failures, and even our successes, to determine our current course of action. Religion and ritual are largely concerned with the past. Some of the past must be remembered; but much of it should be forgot.

We also look at the present. If we would be honest most of our actions are a “tyranny of the urgent” response to situations we see in front of us. In a business-like manner, we take inventory of our life and take action based on what we see. But, remember faith is not about what we see or observe.

Satan likes to remind us of the past and distress (v. 6) us with the present. Faith, however, looks to the future.

Remember Philippians 3:13-14 – “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Many times God puts us in situations where there is no clear pattern. We can’t rely on the past. We may not even be able to analyze the current situation appropriately. We will often not be sure of the right approach to take. We must trust Him to guide us – we must have faith in his direction and His power to deliver us through the situation.

2. Faith is purer when tested

Trials can seem bigger than they are. To make it worse, we often make some false assumptions when we experience testing. We say “God must not love me” or “God isn’t please with me” or “God must be punishing me” because of this trial. In reality God only tests those that are faithful.

I sometimes allow my son to be tested. We have him answer the phone or borrow something from the neighbors, even though it make him a little nervous. We often have him ride his bike to the store, even though we could drive him in the car. Because I love him, I often allow pain to enter his life, so that it will make him stronger.

It is reported that George Mueller said, “God delights to increase the faith of His children…I say, and I say it deliberately—trials, difficulties and sometimes defeat, are the very food of faith…We should take them out of His hands as evidences of His love and care for us in developing more and more that faith which He is seeking to strengthen in us.”

Philippians 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”

May I suggest two alternatives:

- If you can rejoice during trials, then it is possible to rejoice all the time. If you can rejoice when you things get tough; then when things get better, it will be that much easier to rejoice.
- If you don’t rejoice during trials, but let yourself get bitter and grumpy; then often that bitterness bleeds over into the mountain top times when you should be rejoicing.

The choice is yours. Do you understand that trials are designed to purify your faith? Start rejoicing.

3. Faith leads to deliverance

The ultimate example of deliverance is our salvation. Saved means deliverance. We are delivered, by our faith, into eternal life. But also daily we are delivered. How?

1. God calls us to action
2. We respond (obedience) in faith
3. Trials come and we endure them by faith
4. God delivers us most often through the trial to victory

Deliverance comes in God’s time.

Charles Spurgeon said of faith, “I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all. Believe this book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much. “

The problem most of us have is the two rowboats we find ourselves in. The first is our old way of life. It has many holes in it and has to be constantly bailed out. The other is our new life in Christ. We may have accepted Christ, but we often keep one foot in the old rowboat. We spend most of our effort trying to keep the old rowboat afloat, instead of stepping completely into the new one which will never fail. We know that old dog won’t hunt, but for some reason we hang onto it.

Faith is all or nothing. We must look to the future, realizing that we will have trials and expecting God to deliver us. Get both feet in the boat!

Karl J. Forehand, 2001