Faith alone

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews11:1

It seems to me that “faith” as a word gets misused a lot. It seems to get substituted for words like beliefs, works, and religion. Sometimes I cringe to hear such a powerful word being watered down.

Faith stands by itself as supreme acceptance by man of Gods undeniable sovereignty over our lives. We cannot work hard enough or be good enough to find God’s favor, only through Christ’s death and resurrection. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Some try to substitute reason, which exists to deny faith. Those who employ reason over faith are still sitting under the ‘tree’ devouring the forbidden fruit of the glory of themselves and the power of their self awareness over the one who created them. Then at the opposite end of the spectrum there is religion. “Religion exists to control faith; faith exists to keep religion in check. Religion is mans interpretation of God’s will, faith is its acceptance.” (biblestudymanuals.net)

On this Memorial Day, it seems fitting to honor those who took with them into death a faith which upheld them in life. If we think about all of the ‘faithful’ listed in Hebrews 11, we noted that all didn’t necessarily go well for them in life. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews11:39-40; this to remind us that our final redemption is not of this world, but the next.

Bless you brothers, live this day in peace, in His Word.