WANT TO PLEASE GOD? LIVE BY FAITH

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Because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for Himself on the cross for our redemption, today when we believe in Him and in what He has done to reconcile us back to Himself, we become children of God. The Word of God declares:

¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: - John 1:12 NKJV

Now, as children of God, we are declared holy and righteous by faith in what Jesus has done, not because of anything we have done. Now that we are just and righteous before God, we are not to live our lives relying on or being limited by our five senses – we are to live by faith. The just or the righteous shall live by faith as Romans 1:16-17 declares.

We cannot please God by our performance, willpower, determination or by anything else we can produce on our own, the only way we can please Him is by having faith in what He has already done for us through Christ, no wonder the Word of God makes it plain that “without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6 and the same Word reminds us of this truth:

        … for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. – Romans 14:23b KJV

Contrary to the popular definition of sin in many circles, under the New Covenant which is based on better promises than the old, sin is anything and everything that is not based on faith in Christ and His finished work, however noble or righteous it may seem. Think about that!

Having faith in what God has already done for us through Christ will result in us doing what He said we can do through Him. In other words, our faith in Him will empower us to act accordingly. We may claim, confess and proclaim that we have faith all we want but if there’s no corresponding action to demonstrate our faith, then our faith is as good as dead, remember what James the Apostle said?

¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. – James 2:17 NIV

Now, how do we acquire this “faith”? Do we fast and pray for it? Do we get some anointed minister to lay hands on us and impart faith into us? Absolutely not! If anyone tells you they can pray for others to have faith, you may have just found a customer for this mountain I’m selling, Mount Kilimanjaro – you’ll get your commission as soon as the transaction is complete. I jest of course… :)

For starters, faith is always in the present tense "Now faith is..." Hebrews 11:1 defines it. Faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8) and He has given each one of us the measure of faith (Romans 12:3) and faith also comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).Every believer has faith already, nowhere in the New Testament were believers ever told to pray for faith, they were believers, so logically, they already had faith. Instead they were encouraged to fight the good fight of faith, to contend for the faith, to stand firm in faith, to live by faith etc.

Source: Google Images

When Jesus prayed for Peter, He didn't pray that Peter would have faith, but that his faith, which he (Peter) already had, would fail not.. (Luke 22:32) When the disciples asked Him to increase their faith, He essentially told them they had enough faith already, they just needed to use it, remember the mustard seed example He gave? (Luke 17:5-6)

So beloved, rest assured since Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you have been crucified with Him, you now have His faith in you, live your life by it and echo Apostle Paul’s words “the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20)

Blessings!