The Righteous Shall Live By Faith
Romans 1:17 (NIV)
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Do you know that ALL people have faith? We have faith that our automobile will start, and we are surprised, even stunned if it does not start. People expect their Social Security check to be deposited on time and even write checks in anticipation of that deposit. We willingly put our life in the hands of a surgeon about whom we know very little.
However, faith is only as good as its object. For example, can the object do what we believe (faith) it will do? If not, our faith is vain, and we are headed for a big letdown. Thankfully, the object of the Christian’s faith is the God of the Bible. But (and this is very important) our faith must be rooted in a correct view (i.e. biblical view) of God (Matthew 7:21-23). After all, some have faith that there is no hell; does the fact they have faith in their beliefs mean they are right? Of course not.
We live by faith and we need to be certain such faith is well founded….cannot disappoint.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us, “True Bible faith is not blind optimism or a manufactured ‘hope so’ feeling. True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.” (See Hebrews 11:35 for the consequences which the faithful may experience.)
Please note, biblical faith is NOT a leap into the dark; rather, faith is a leap into knowing God is already there awaiting your arrival. We read in Hebrews 11:8 that Abraham “went out not knowing where he went.” That statement sounds like a blind leap into the dark but compare those words with Genesis 12:1“unto a land I, the Lord, will show you!” “Unto a land I will show you!” is proof that God had a plan including a destination. Thus, we learn (and this is very, very important) Abraham went out not knowing where HE was going but KNOWING or FAITHING that GOD knew where he was going. What a lesson! You see, once you become convinced that this step of faith is God-directed you can confidently step into the dark.
Never forget living by faith is not a leap into the dark but it is a leap into the revealed promises and guaranteed providence of God. Quite honestly, such living is even more certain than our automobile starting tomorrow morning!
Tom Swartzwelder was born again at the age of nine in an old-fashioned revival meeting. Tom received his B.A. from Tennessee Temple University and his M. Div from Luther Rice Seminary. He has pastored for nearly forty years in both bi-vocational and full-time roles. He provides practical how-to-do-ministry resources for the disciples of Jesus Christ. Tom’s latest book is “God Speaks–Today!”
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