Faith

Blog #86 April 24, 2024

How much faith does God require of His children. Some say a lot. Some say too much, but I have found that God requires no more faith from us than the faith He has in us. Yes it is true. God has faith that all of His children have the ability no know, understand, and apply His ways to our life. Need proof?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish; but have everlasting life.

Who was left out of this promise? Only those who decided not to accept it. In essence, God has enough faith in us to allow us to decide for ourselves. Is that important? I think it is very important, but for me understanding faith in the same way God does comes first.  

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Is that definition arbitrary enough to leave you confused? It was for me. Faith to me was, "You either believe it or you don't". This implies what I call "blind faith", but as I grow in God I am of the opinion that God wants more for His children. Adam was caught up in blind faith. His attitude seemed to be, "God said it, I believe it, that settles it, but God wants us to understand that faith is a lot more about knowledge than the lack of it.

Genesis 4:6  And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

This is blind faith and apparently it was just another chore Adam needed to perform for God. Some will call that faith, but I don't agree. Read again God's own definition and you will find that faith is based on both assurance and evidence. There are definitive reasons that bring us faith in the ways of God. The angel gave Adam the reason why God wanted Adam to practice blood sacrifice, for taken in the light of Jesus Christ this sacrifice meant so much more.

Genesis 4:7-8
4:7 And then the angel spake, saying, This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth;
4:8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest, in the name of the Son. And thou shalt repent, and call upon God, in the name of the Son for evermore.

In the ways of God faith is far from blind. God asked Adam to preform this ritual in the name of Jesus Christ. By doing it in this frame of mind God was giving Adam an assurance of things hoped for. The act also put Adam in remembrance of God's promised savior. This causes the sacrifice to become evidence of things not seen. God asks much the same of us each time we accept sacrament.

Mark 14:20-231
4:20 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them, and said, Take it, and eat.
14:21 Behold, this is for you to do in remembrance of my body; for as oft as ye do this ye will remember this hour that I was with you.
14:22 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them; and they all drank of it.
14:23 And he said unto them, This is in remembrance of my blood which is shed for many, and the new testament which I give unto you; for of me ye shall bear record unto all the world.

Yes, Adam's sacrifice as well as sacrament are both rituals that are in truth no more than testimonies, but oh the strength that these testimonies can bring to our belief in God. 

Consider this: Does wind exist? If so bring me a handful. How can we prove that wind exist other than the affect it has on all that it touches. From the welcome light breezes on a hot summer day to the destructive force of a F4 tornado, wind has a measurable presence in our lives. Such is the way of Faith. We know it by how it changes our life. Another's faith can beckon us to believe.

James 2:17-18
2:17 Even so faith, if it have not works is dead, being alone.
2:18 Therefore wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead and cannot save you?

This is the next thing I discovered was that true faith is a catalyst. If it is not active and growing it might not be real. If it is not an obvious presence in our lives we need to question it, because it might be dying. It is so very important that our faith is alive and growing, because absolute faith gives God the freedom to work in the lives of the believer in ways that are quite honestly, hard to believe. 

I am going to make a leap of faith and assume that we are all familiar with the tale of Daniel and the lion's den (Daniel 6:1-28). If not I apologize and hope that you will take the time to read it. The miracle of Daniel living through the entire night without being eaten by the lion is dynamic enough, but for our purposes the fact that Daniel humbled himself to the bogus law written to purposely catch Daniel honoring his God instead of Darius is a great testimony to Daniel's faith, but Darius's reaction to Daniels faith showed the true worth of absolute faith. The bountiful faith of Daniel caused Darius to recognize the authority of God working in the life of a man. That in turn caused Darius to honor the God of Daniel and honor Him before all the people of the world. 

Daniel 6:26-27
6:26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
6:27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

In a time before Daniel, God gives us another lesson about the testimony brought about by faith.

Genesis 22:2 And the Lord said, Take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering, upon one of the mountains of which I will tell thee.

Now read this verse again and realize that God was asking Abraham to use his son as a blood sacrifice. That is a big ask, even for God but in faith and humility Abraham surrendered to the wishes of God. The author of Hebrews was quite impressed with Abraham's faith and postulated what might have been Abraham's thoughts on the subject.

Hebrews 11:17-19
11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called;
11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

I think this is a good example of how much faith God expects from His children. It is the same faith Christ offered up to God when He agreed to come to earth and die for the sins of God's children.

Genesis 3:3 But behold, my beloved Son, which was my beloved and chosen from the beginning, said unto me: Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

Christ gave this same testimony of humble faith on the night He was arrested for heresy. Christ knew what was going to happen, but once again He offered the Father all in faith that it was truly needed by God.

Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

This is the measure of faith God finds acceptable in His children. Is that a lot? Yes it is a bunch. As to what happened with Abraham and Isaac:

Genesis 22:12-15
22:12 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
22:13 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham! Abraham! And Abraham said, Here am I.
22:14 And the angel said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him;
22:15 For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only Isaac from me.

The whole situation seemed to be just a cruel trick God pulled on Abraham to test His faith, but Brethren it was so much more. God knowing the hearts of all men already knew what Abraham was going to do, but did Abraham? I am sure that Abraham left that situation not only more aware of his faith in God, but also more aware of why he had that faith, but what of Isaac? According to scriptures Abraham was over a hundred years old when Isaac was born, and according to all that is written Isaac was old enough to be an active participant in the sacrifice.

Genesis 22:7 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon his back; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and Isaac his son; and they went both of them together.

Is it possible that Abraham an old man wrestled Isaac into submission? Remember Isaac somewhere between 8 and 25 years old. Logic tells me no. I admit that Abraham might have been able to drug him but no mention of it was made in scripture. I feel that the only way Isaac came to be on that altar was that he put himself there. How great is Isaac's testimony of faith? Did Isaac possess a faith that Abraham would not kill him, or was his faith that his death was necessary to fulfill God's need? Conjecture is all I can offer, but I can tell you that there was a great deal of faith on that mountain that day. 

As I looked to these two examples it was plain to me that a life in God required was amazing amount of faith. We discussed lightly how much faith was required of both Abraham and Isaac and how their faith grew during and after this dynamic challenge. Isaac was all but sacrificed before the angel interrupted. Daniel was not saved from the lion's den. He was saved in the lion's den. Even Christ was not saved from death. He had to die and then was resurrected. If faith weighed anything at all these people were using far more than they could lift.   

Matthew 21:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this to the fig tree, but also, if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done.

As I grew in God I was rather pleased and comfortable with my grasp of faith. I was quite disappointed when I discovered that I still had room to grow. Matthew 21:19 made it plain that my perception of the proper measure of faith was just insufficient. The abundance of faith I thought needed was now to be balanced against the amount of doubt you allowed yourself to possess.

DC 6:16b Behold, I do not condemn you, go your ways and sin no more: perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you; look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not:

I found I had completely misunderstood what gaining faith meant. I thought that the more faith I had the less doubt I had room for, but I find that the modern man has been taught by literature, radio, and all popular media that truth is a concept that can be easily challenged. 

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.  

Humanity exist in a world where the ability to hide the truth is a very respected attribute. I picture man dealing with man as much like a fencing match where each parry, each thrust may not have anything to do with truth. Yes I can be extremely intelligent, verbose and well spoken, filled with unquestionable faith, and still be plagued with doubt.

No, we are not at a dead end and the question of how much faith man needs to be a child of God is still very answerable. Christ was a man and He was a man of faith. Being who He is and living the life He lives, I think that Christ's faith is probably what we would call perfect. Once again listen to how Christ expressed His faith to God that fateful night in Gethsemane:  

Matthew 26:39 He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

This is more than just a measure of faith. It is more than a description of faith. This only happens when we allow our humble faith in God to become the intent of our heart. If we but allow ourselves to open our lives up to faith in such a manner, God promises good things.

Moroni 10:5 And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things.

Open your mind up to this verse and discover the assurance of thing hoped for. 
Live this promise and understand the evidence of things not see.

Of God
In God 
With God 
For God

FRED