Live by Faith

Living by faith is such a fundamental statement of the Christian life that it has become little more than a tagline or a bumper sticker assertion.  However, living by faith is so much more.  To walk and live by faith is a basic premise on which the entirety of the Christian life stands.

Living by faith refers to living a life that depends wholly on the promises and sovereignty of God.  It is an attitude of utter reliance on the Lord.  Paramount to this is a belief that God is ultimately true and in control, no matter what.

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen".  This faith is based on God, who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.  Faith in God is the foundation that should guide all matters of life.  This is truly the challenge.  Having faith in the sense that it directs our actions in every matter is a daunting task.  Faith is not meant to be solely an intellectual or emotional ascension.  Rather, faith is to be the source cause of every move made.  Our faith is to be carried out by action.

Paul's quintessential example of this kind of actualized faith is the person of Abraham, who, as Paul says, was justified by faith (Rom. 4).  The major point that Paul makes is that the value of Abraham's faith was in its action.  It was how willing and profoundly faithful Abraham was in his actions.  The faith that justified Abraham is the same faith that justifies us, belief.

Belief on its own is a worthless thing.  Only when belief is properly paired with the saving object, God, does it have any worth.  The faith that saves is faith in God, not faith in man or in anything that has been created by God.  Everything created has an end of obsolescence and faith in creation is worthless.  Only faith in God profits anything.

Living by faith is just this, it is believing in the One who is God.  How this plays itself out practically is that it, as an attitude, directs our steps to be inline with He who is the Lord.  The positive assertion is that we live not by flesh but by the Spirit.  This is one of the most basic tenets of Christianity and should never be eschewed.  Living by faith is both the description and the prescription of life as a Christian.  Living by faith is an everyday realignment to the plumb-line of the Word.  It is a constant resetting to God, His will and desires.  This is life by faith.  Other verses for study on this would be 2 Cor. 5:6-7, and Hab. 2:4.