Faith, part 1

We are going to be looking into the subject of faith this week.

The Bible says that “without faith it is impossible to please God…” so we can see the importance this topic. 

Titus 1:1-2 “Paul, a bondservant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.” Isn’t verse two a great verse?! God, who cannot lie, has promised us eternal life. The fact that God cannot lie should give all of us hope for the life to come.

I was thinking the other night about the call I received one Tuesday night, while I sat in a church board meeting. My dad had suddenly died of a heart attack. He was only 60 years and one week old. It came suddenly and unexpectedly. Fortunately, he was a believer and follower of Jesus.

Later that evening I was watching the news on TV, and packing for a trip to Wisconsin when it struck me that life continues as it was for those of us still living, even though everything about my dad’s life had just dramatically changed. In a heartbeat (or the lack of one) he was transported from life on earth to life in the presence of the Lord. 
 

I wonder what he now thinks about the issue of faith and the need to believe God’s Word, about who He is, and what He has for us. I wonder if he thought about the things he was taught about faith while still on earth.

That is what Paul was getting at in Titus 1:1. This verse deals with the call of God that was on Paul the apostle. Paul was called of God to minister to, and to build up the faith of those chosen of God, in order to make the hope of eternal life a reality in their lives.

Eternal life is the issue. God wants us to live with Him forever. Isn’t that a wonderful thought?! We are not begging God to allow us to go to heaven; God is, in essence, begging us to have faith in who He is and His promise to us because He wants us to go to heaven when we leave this life. If anything, God is begging us to believe Him. We are not fighting against God to get there, He wants us there! (Praise the Lord!)
 

Even though Paul was describing the call that was on his life to help build up the faith of others, this call was not exclusively his.

A while back we talked about the gift of God that is in each of our lives and how we are to stir up that gift – to fan it into flame – so that we can be most effective in working for and in God’s Kingdom. But the ultimate objective in all that we do for Him, no matter what that is, is to instill the hope of eternity in others. Nothing else matters. 
 

Remember how Paul said that we need to take pains in the development of our gifts; and to be absorbed in them? 1 Timothy 4:16 “… for as you do, you will save both for yourself and your hearers.” If we persevere in these things, we will not only ensure our own salvation, but those to whom we minister will be saved also.

What a great word of encouragement! Isn’t that why we do everything we do?

Continued tomorrow