“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
Galatians 5:6 KJV
Sometimes in the Body of Christ we struggle with the concept of faith. We struggle with knowing how to exercise our faith. And we struggle sometimes to know how faith operates. Sometimes we feel that our faith is weak. Sometimes we feel that we have no faith at all. Sometimes we struggle to produce faith and we feel that nothing is happening. The problem is that we try to measure our faith by our feelings.
Faith is not a feeling. It is simply trusting and putting our confidence in what we know to be true.
Faith is not something that is produced by us. Faith is a gift from God Himself (Eph. 2:8). Even the faith to be saved is a gift! It was the Holy Spirit working in our heart that revealed to us our lost condition. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us Who Jesus truly is. And it was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us that the only hope of salvation, (that is being cleansed from our sin and made right and acceptable in the sight of a Holy God) could be found in Him. The Word declares that every follower of Christ has been given a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3).
The Word declares that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17). Faith is built up and released within us when we “hear” and believe that God’s Word is true! Then we act on that Word by faith because we believe. In acting on the Word by faith (not feelings) the truth of the Word is affirmed to us. When the truth of the Word is affirmed to us it produces within us a deeper love for the Holy One and for the Word of God that He has been given to us.
Our faith then continues to grow and is motivated by an ever-deepening revelation of His love for us. Love is truly the factor that causes us to operate in faith. It is our ever-growing love for Him and His Word that deepens and strengthens our faith in Him! If we do not love Him and His Word we will have no foundation by which faith can be activated as released in our lives.
Rev. James W. Black
