Ephesians 2:8
We are saved by grace, but why does God use the means of faith? Could He not have used hope or love, or any other thing? Of course He could have used anything that He wanted, but He chose to allow grace to operate only upon man showing faith. God's redemption is more powerful than anything that man can imagine, but it is powerless without man's faith going to work.
Faith is that which takes from God. God does not need to exhibit faith in man, for God does not take from man; rather God loves us, for love is a giver. Just as our hand reaches out to grasp something, our faith reaches out to grasp God's grace. We don't receive that something with our foot or with our head, but rather with that which God designed to be our receiver, our hand. Faith is the hand, and grace is the gift.
Faith cannot brag of itself, for it is merely the means of reception. We don't boast that we have "great faith" or that our faith is better placed than those around us. That is as absurd as someone reaching our and taking a gift and then bragging that their hand receives better than everyone else's hand. That which is worth boasting of is the finished work of Jesus Christ, which comes to all who believe on Jesus. There are no works that we can do to make this salvation better or to make ourselves more righteous, thus there is no room for us to feel better about our faith.
Remember, it was faith that Jesus honored when He was on this earth, and that faith did not have to be great. With the centurion, it was "great faith", while with the disciples it was "little faith". Both received what they needed, so it is obvious that great faith does not give you better things and little faith gives you little things. Great faith is a great ability to receive, while little faith takes little. We need increased faith, not so that we can get more things or feel better about our spirituality, but so we can take with that hand of faith all that God has to offer His children.
I once read a great example of faith from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon. He told of a ship that capsized above Niagara Falls and two men were thrown overboard. People along the bank floated a rope out to the men, and both grabbed hold of it. One of the men held on to the rope and was safely pulled to the shore, while the other man saw a log floating by which he grabbed and jumped on top of. It was large and allowed him to move freely, but it soon plunged over the edge of the falls for it had nothing to connect it to the shore. Though it was bigger and looked more stable than a flimsy rope, the log was useless, while the rope provided life. Such is everyone that trusts their works to save them, for there is nothing connecting them to Christ.
Your faith may feel weak and hopeless, but it is the rope that binds you to your Savior on the shore. Don't trust in you or your abilities to save you, let the hand of faith bring God's grace to work for you each and every day.
We are saved by grace, but why does God use the means of faith? Could He not have used hope or love, or any other thing? Of course He could have used anything that He wanted, but He chose to allow grace to operate only upon man showing faith. God's redemption is more powerful than anything that man can imagine, but it is powerless without man's faith going to work.
Faith is that which takes from God. God does not need to exhibit faith in man, for God does not take from man; rather God loves us, for love is a giver. Just as our hand reaches out to grasp something, our faith reaches out to grasp God's grace. We don't receive that something with our foot or with our head, but rather with that which God designed to be our receiver, our hand. Faith is the hand, and grace is the gift.
Faith cannot brag of itself, for it is merely the means of reception. We don't boast that we have "great faith" or that our faith is better placed than those around us. That is as absurd as someone reaching our and taking a gift and then bragging that their hand receives better than everyone else's hand. That which is worth boasting of is the finished work of Jesus Christ, which comes to all who believe on Jesus. There are no works that we can do to make this salvation better or to make ourselves more righteous, thus there is no room for us to feel better about our faith.
Remember, it was faith that Jesus honored when He was on this earth, and that faith did not have to be great. With the centurion, it was "great faith", while with the disciples it was "little faith". Both received what they needed, so it is obvious that great faith does not give you better things and little faith gives you little things. Great faith is a great ability to receive, while little faith takes little. We need increased faith, not so that we can get more things or feel better about our spirituality, but so we can take with that hand of faith all that God has to offer His children.
I once read a great example of faith from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon. He told of a ship that capsized above Niagara Falls and two men were thrown overboard. People along the bank floated a rope out to the men, and both grabbed hold of it. One of the men held on to the rope and was safely pulled to the shore, while the other man saw a log floating by which he grabbed and jumped on top of. It was large and allowed him to move freely, but it soon plunged over the edge of the falls for it had nothing to connect it to the shore. Though it was bigger and looked more stable than a flimsy rope, the log was useless, while the rope provided life. Such is everyone that trusts their works to save them, for there is nothing connecting them to Christ.
Your faith may feel weak and hopeless, but it is the rope that binds you to your Savior on the shore. Don't trust in you or your abilities to save you, let the hand of faith bring God's grace to work for you each and every day.
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