FAITH

Christianity is faith. The Bible is from beginning to end a book written about faith. In Paul’s writings he, as all other Christians after the coming of our Savior, realized that faith in Christ is the keystone of our relationship with God. Paul began the letter to the Romans with his statement on faith that the gospel reveals how God puts man right with himself. It is by faith from beginning to end (Rom. 1:17). He then returns to the point that we can only be reconciled to God through Christ (3:22). Sin is so ubiquitous that no one is exempt. In Chapter four, he goes back to Abraham who lived by faith even though there was no law at that point in time. In Chapter five, he again comes back to faith in Christ and emphasizes that point that we have been put right with God through Christ Jesus (Rom. 5:1). Through Him we receive the salvation that was promised. The fulfillment of the promises is evidence to help us believe that God is trustworthy.

 I. Faith is defined in the dictionary as

    A. Complete confidence

    B. Allegiance to a person

    C. Belief and trust in and loyalty to God

    D. According to the Bible, faith is possessed when we are "sure of the things we hope for," and are "certain of the things we cannot see" (Heb. 11:1). Christian faith is therefore complete confidence in the Gospel (Rom. 1:16).

    II. The cornerstone of our faith is the Gospel (I Cor. 15:1-11)

        A. That Christ died for our sins

        B. That He was buried

        C. That He was raised to life three days later

        D. That His resurrection was witnessed by at least 512 persons and the fact was immediately recorded

    III. Because Christ was God, He has the following attributes that are ours (Rom. 8:17)

        A. Infinite love (I John 4:16, 17)

        B. Infinite forgiveness (Luke 23-34)

        C. Truth John 1:14, John 15:26)

        D. All power (John 1:3)

        E. Justice (Luke 18:7,8)

        F. Trustworthiness (Rom. 15:13)

    IV. We are the recipients of God’s promises

        A. To forgive (1 John 1:9)

        B. To heal (to make us whole ) (Luke 9:1)

        C. To carry our burdens (Matt. 11:28)

        D. To guide our lives (John 14:25)

        E. To meet our every need (John 16:23, 24)

    V. Our faith then

        A. Should be in Jesus (Phil 4:13)

        B. Should not be in money or material things (Matt. 6:24)

        C. Should be like that of a child (Luke 18:17)

    VI. To what use should we put our faith?

        A. To become more Christ like

            1. By growing in knowledge (Eph. 6:13-20)

                a. Of prayer

                b. And the Word

            2. By becoming disciplined (II Tim. 2, 3, 4)

            3. By working to do what He asks us to do (Matt. 25:31-40)

        B. To bear fruit that lasts (John 15:16)

        C. To being obedient in all aspects of living (John 14:15)

        D. To being healed (Phil 2:12, 13)

    VII. The role of faith in psychological healing

        A. Faith is necessary for healing

            1. To begin, the healer must have faith. He has to believe the person can be healed. (Mark 11:22-24)

            2. His faith must be passed on, if possible, to the person being healed so that both believe.

        B. Faith is necessary for confession and repentance

            1. A person must want to be cleansed of his sin (John 5:6)

            2. He must want to be selfless (Luke 9:23)

            3. He must want to be a different person (to die to self) - a person who is Christ like (II Cor. 5:17)

            4. He must decide that he will be different no matter what the cost (Mark 10:28)

        C. Faith is necessary for the action necessary to bring about healing

            1. A person has to believe that he can identify his problems, strip away his defenses and allow the problems and their associated feelings to surface

            2. He has to believe that he has available the love and forgiveness necessary for resolution

            3. He has to believe that new behaviors will result in resolution of conflicts, and therefore, he initiates these actions