Expressions of Faith

A 19 lesson series of the various expressions of faith.

9 – Faith brings peace from God with joy

By / Expressions of Faith / 3 minutes of reading

Faith in action trusts God’s sovereignty and saving goodness equally. The Holy Spirit then empowers our trust to manifest peace that surpasses worldly understanding. This does not mean that we never have negative feelings, No. But it does mean that faith empowers us to override those dark feelings to experience God’s peace which guards our hearts and minds, protecting us from the destruction caused by anxiety and despair (Php 4:7).

Faith produces joy that is not dependent on circumstances but rooted in God’s presence and promises. This joy influences our behaviour, making us a testimony of God’s grace. Faith shifts our focus from problems to God’s salvation, to God’s power, and to God’s promises, enabling us to rest in Him even while living within turmoil (Neh 8:10).

The reason that Christians have God’s pure peace and joy is that they do not trust in the sinful experiences of the world which promise fleshly peace and joy. Jesus said in John 14:27, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. And again, in John 16:33 Jesus said, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Christian peace and joy only come because of Jesus Christ! It’s a peace that makes us joyful because in Jesus we do not need to sin for pleasure, but pure living now produces peace with joy. The apostle Peter explained the relationship between salvation and peaceful joy this way. Though you have not seen him (Jesus), you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).

The apostle Paul focuses on the specific component of salvation that produces peace in Romans 5:1. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s declaration of innocence through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection is the nucleus (seed, core) of God’s peace being experienced within the repentant sinner. Peace, not guilt; Joy, not sadness; and Hope, not despair. These all exist because Jesus has washed away our sin, the wrath of God the Father has been appeased (propitiation. Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1Jn 4:10), and we now have the Holy Spirit living within.

As forgiven sinners, Christians can now choose to set their minds on walking with Jesus as they are controlled by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:6). Before salvation, a sinner’s thinking is attached to fleshly living which brings death. But now, in Christ, they are able to set the mind on the Spirit which is life and peace. Which is what Paul later refers to in Romans 14:17, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. As Christians live in surrender to Jesus’ Lordship, they will increasingly experience the fruit of the Spirit as the Spirit controls them more and more (Galatians 5:22-23).

Consequently, as Spirit filled believers in Jesus, faith leads Christians to pursue peace and reconciliation in relationships. We are called to be peacemakers, reflecting God’s desire for unity and harmony among His people. Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Faith produces joy that is not dependent on circumstances but rooted in God’s presence and promises. This joy influences our behaviour, making us a testimony of God’s grace.

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8 – Faith overcomes fear and doubt

By / Expressions of Faith / 4 minutes of reading

Fear and doubt are common human experiences that can have a big impact on our lives. They effect people differently and often go unseen because they rise from within the heart. But to the person experiencing them, they are very real and can be debilitating. Just as fear has the ability to paralyse someone if it’s allowed, faith in Jesus Christ has the ability to empower a person to face challenges with courage.

Faith that is enabled by God brings a sinner into a living relationship with Jesus Christ which is energised by the Holy Spirit who lives within. Therefore, every Christian should understand that God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

But how does a Christian, who is naturally nervous or fearful, overcome those struggles now that they have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living within?

For such believers, it’s important to understand that you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1:23). It is NOT by physical or emotional elements that a believer received salvation. No, rebirth was a unique work of God that was enable by you listening to and obeying God’s Word in faith. Being born again was purely a spiritual work of God within you. Therefore, overcoming struggles will also be a spiritual work of God within you as you continue to grow in your faith and walk in obedience.

Remember, Paul told Timothy (2Ti 1:7), that the Spirit expresses power, love, and self-control. So believers need to live daily in a way that pleases the Lord and enables the Holy Spirit to action His nature of power, love, and self-control within us. Following are a few things that assist us in this.

ü  Trust in God’s presence, even on the dark days when you do not feel Him emotionally. Faith believes God’s promise of be present and never leaving us. In Jesus final and greatest commission to the disciples, and us, He said that I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20. Cf. Psa 23:4; 34:20; John 14:1-3). Faith believes this to be true!

ü  Do NOT practice worry as worry and anxiety feed fear and doubt. Worry is a choice that we make which causes great harm to our faith. Jesus explained to His disciples in Matthew 6:25-34, that they should NOT be anxious because God loves them and will provide for them. Faith believes this to be true!

ü  Intentionally put on the armour of God as Paul instructed us to do in Ephesians 6:10-18. It is God’s armour that enables us to have victory over the devil (Eph 6:12-13). Choose daily to put on: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes ready with the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Faith believes God’s armour to be true and effective!

ü  Spend time daily in God’s Word. Read it, meditate on it, memorise it, and obey it. Invite the Holy Spirit to renew your mind as you drink in God’s Word (Rom 12:1-2. Cf. 2Co 10:4-5; Eph 5:6; Heb 4:12). Faith believes God’s Word cleanses and strengthens our hearts.

ü  Replace fear and doubts with worship daily. Listen to worship songs, sing worship, whistle worship, clap worship, pray worship, think worship, and speak worship. When worship with thanksgiving is active, there is little room left for fear and doubts (Eph 5:4, 19-20). Worship is an important part of being spirit filled. Colossians 3:16-17, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Faith believes this to be true!
AMEN!

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7 – Faith Pleases God and forgives others

By / Expressions of Faith / 3 minutes of reading

God desires a relationship with sinners following them trusting Him with belief in Jesus that repents and turns away from chasing after sin. The nature of this kind of faith seeks to please God because it acknowledges His existence, His power, His goodness, and His grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Faith that seeks to please God is the foundation of God honouring worship and thankful obedience.

The writer of Hebrews 11:6 understood that without faith that pleases God, we cannot truly connect with God, we cannot receive forgiveness through God’s Son, and we are not able to receive His blessings. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is essential for coming near to God and experiencing His rewards which pleases Him. James assures us that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

In 2 Corinthians 2:15 (NET), Paul reminds believers that we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God… In Christ, Christians give God pleasure. Therefore, as people who please God, we will seek to be imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1).

The apostle Paul explains how a Christian is to “put on” Godlike character by writing, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive (Colossians 3:13). Paul argues that because believers are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved (Col 3:12) they will manifest Godlike character. And just as Jesus could say in John 8:29, I always do the things that are pleasing to His heavenly Father, so Jesus’ followers also desire to please the Father.

And central to Godlike character as God’s chosen ones, we are to forgive as God has forgiven us. In a world that knows little about forgiveness, this Godlike quality will stand out for the world to see. The world promotes being easily offended, hatred, unforgiveness, and violence. But God, through Jesus Christ, is the master of forgiveness, and so also should His children be skilled at forgiving others.

In fact, forgiveness is so important to God that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:14-15, if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. God is serious about believers forgiving others when they are sinned against, or when we are just offended or have a complaint against someone.

Paul, writing to the Corinthian church on how to treat a brother who had repented of his sin, instructed the congregation in 2 Corinthians 2:7-8, you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. Forgiveness, comfort, and love, all needed to work together in restoring their brother. In the John MacArthur Commentary on 2 Corinthians 2:7, he writes, “Believers are to forgive to deflect pride, show mercy, restore joy, affirm love, prove obedience, restore fellowship, and thwart Satan.”

Psalm 86:5 reads, For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. This passage highlights God’s readiness to forgive as an integral part of His nature. Just as God is a forgiver by nature, so also, His children are to be forgivers by nature as they imitate Him. 

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6 – Faith requires obedient action

By / Expressions of Faith / 3 minutes of reading

True faith in God is never passive. It’s not content to sit back and fill its life with self-centred living while ignoring work that needs to be done for Jesus Christ.

James, the half-brother of Jesus asked an important question; What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14). Great question James!

James then presents a practical example of a person who says they have faith in God, yet they lack the evidence of that faith through the way they treat poor people. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (James 2:15-16). I think most people would answer James’ question by saying something like, that’s no good at all you hypocrite.

And that is precisely the point James is making. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17). And dead faith is not faith at all! Actions cannot save us, but faith will always act.

Faith manifests itself through actions that align with God’s will. James emphasizes that faith without works is lifeless, dead, meaning that faith is demonstrated and validated by what we do. As Christians, our attitudes, our speech, and our actions provide the evidence of our faith, showing that we trust God enough to obey Him, even when it’s difficult or costly.

This is because saving faith in Jesus Christ was gifted to us by God for His glory and purposes, not for ours. Therefore, faith seen through actions can never be separated. They are to always be one.

The apostle Paul commended the Christians in Ephesus, saying, I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints (Ephesians 1:15). Genuine faith is seen through right behaviour towards others, and Paul had heard this about the Christians in Ephesus.

John the Baptist taught that whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36). Now, John was NOT saying that every act of disobedience proves you are not saved. No! John means that if the pattern of your life is one of disobeying Jesus, then your continual disobedience is evidence that you do not know Jesus, and you remain under God’s wrath.

The author of Hebrews 11:8 emphasises this truth. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Faith neither opposes nor bargains with God, nor does it question Him or seek to avoid His commandments. Faith simply obeys because faith loves God through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about Titus taking up a collection of money to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem, he wrote in 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV), since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Again, Paul says it well in Ephesians 2:8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this (faith) is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

You see, Faith acts, it’s not lazy, and it’s not disobedient.

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5 – Faith leads to Spirit filled living

By / Expressions of Faith / 3 minutes of reading

Within Paul’s prayer of Ephesians chapter 3, we read of the connection between faith and the working of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 3:16-19, Paul prays that according to the riches of His (the Father’s) glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Through his prayer, the apostle Paul reveals the amazing spiritual resources which are only available to Christians. God’s divine treasure, found within the immeasurable wealth of His heavenly glory, has been made available to His earthly children, to those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. As incomprehensible as this may seem, access to this storehouse of blessing is gained through faith.

Faith, which is trusting belief, its dependant belief, and its belief that channels the believer’s affections through Jesus Christ to God, it is this faith which attracts God’s full attention. So, it is because of faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection as payment for our sin, that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5. Cf. Rom 3:21-26). And it is God’s Spirit who manifests the heart of God within the believer’s changing heart.

Now, as the child of God is rooted and grounded in love through the Holy Spirit, Paul prays for the believers to have strength to comprehend the enormous greatness of the love of Christ. As the Holy Spirit grows and matures the child of God, so it is God’s desire for them to be filled with all the fullness of God. And to be filled with God means we are to be saturated with the presence of the Holy Spirit, which speaks of being controlled by God’s Spirit.

Paul explains the ways in which the Holy Spirit manifests Himself through a believer’s attitudes and behaviour in Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… Again, these expressions of the Holy Spirit are the outcome of faith, because faith chooses to live in obedience to Jesus Christ and God’s Word. Faith chooses to walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Living an obedient life of faith stops sinful desires becoming sinful behaviour.

Faith not only believes in Jesus Christ for salvation, but it trusts the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent (John 15:26) for daily representing the Lord Jesus within us. Faith trusts the Holy Spirit to do the long term job of sanctification, of changing our lives to be more like Jesus Christ, a little more each day.

Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Faith in God, through Jesus Christ, is reliant upon the Holy Spirit to accomplish the things we cannot do in our own strength. As always, this ministry of the Triune God within us does not… depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy (Romans 9:16 NIV).

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