Fervent Faith

Throughout Scripture, the necessity of faith cannot be overstated.  It is by faith that righteousness is applied (Gen. 15:6).  Faith is the medium for reliance and comfort in the Lord's strength (Psa. 23:1-6; 28:7).  Faith is the manner with which God's grace is appropriated to believers.  On top of this, faith activates life and empowers movement (John 14:12; Matt. 17:20; Eph. 2:8-10; James 2:14-26).  Needless to say, the many significant components of faith beg further examination.

The writer of Hebrews defines faith: "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen (Heb. 11:1)."  The "hope" that is assured is salvation through Christ Jesus and the gift of eternal life.  Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, conquering sin and death at the Cross.  Therefore, our hope is made sure in the historical fulfillment of the legal requirements of holiness by Christ Jesus.  The "unseen things" that we find conviction in are the heavenly things, chief among them being the knowledge of God, gifted by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through faith.

Additionally grace and faith are intimately intwined.  Grace is utterly God's doing, defined as the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus.  Grace is the gift from God that is applied through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).  This being true, faith should not be seen as a substitute for grace.  We worship the God of grace through faith.  We do not worship faith; we worship by faith.  Unfortunately, many people neglect grace in their praise of faith.  Remember, just as an IV or a needle is worthless without the medicine it conveys, faith is useless without grace.

Lastly, and this cannot be overestimated, faith does not save.  God saves.  Faith is the conduit for salvation's application.  Faith apart from Jesus Christ is useless, for only Christ Jesus saves.  We should not overlook the profundity of this assertion: faith serves no purpose but to connect us with the Lord. Faith is but a conduit for restored relationship with the Lord, reconciled by the blood of Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

This should not lead us to diminish faith's usefulness.  Far from it!  Grace comes to believers through faith.  Therefore, because faith is the manner for grace's application, we should pursue a fervent faith as the energy of our faith reflects our desire for grace.  Let us then press on in faith as to receive the immeasurable riches of God's grace!