We are told by faith alone you are saved.
This proposition raises an immediate question:
No. 1. What is a "saving" faith?
According to the Apostle Peter, one of the top disciples of Jesus Christ answered the question: Genuine faith, for he says if your faith proves genuine you are going to be saved. 1 Peter 1:7 This raises another question:
No.2. What is a genuine faith?
Obviously genuine faith is the faith that is true, not fake, the faith that survives and comes out victorious despite counter forces such as ordeals trials challenges, difficulties, etc., just as the Apostle Peter said, "These [trials] came to you to test that your faith is genuine." 1Pe 1:7 This raises another question.
No. 3. Why does God test your faith?
Peter answered the question as well, for he said, "to test your faith is genuine". Without test one would end up thinking he has saving faith when in fact he does not. Faith ought to work. It must produce the result you desire. If it does not, it is not faith. Like a boat that floats and helps you navigate through a stormy sea, your faith ought to be intact, solid enough to carry you through, and it should not be like a boat with a sink hole in it.
Yesterday after a court session a reporter spoke of Oscar Pistorius saying, "Pistorius also revealed the death of his mother had caused him to struggle with his faith." The report indicates Oscar is now going through a test where he is yet to discover and live by faith that works. This leads to another question:
No. 4. Why genuine faith works (saves)?
We find the answer to the question in what the Scripture says: 'faith is from God' (Romans 1:5; Heb 12:2). By definition God is perfect. He is the author of all that are in existence. So faith that saves man is faith that believes in God and God alone. For this reason we say, "Faith does not depend on circumstances" (such as my feelings, or environments like hardship such as the death of mother etc.), so that one who lives by faith in God can come out victorious. In Daniel 3:18, Daniel's three friends demonstrated the faith that does not depend on circumstances or conditions on life (such as your own death) but on God alone, for they said in effect, "Even if God does not save us from this ordeal, still we will not worship gold but worship the God of Israel."
This proposition raises an immediate question:
No. 1. What is a "saving" faith?
According to the Apostle Peter, one of the top disciples of Jesus Christ answered the question: Genuine faith, for he says if your faith proves genuine you are going to be saved. 1 Peter 1:7 This raises another question:
No.2. What is a genuine faith?
Obviously genuine faith is the faith that is true, not fake, the faith that survives and comes out victorious despite counter forces such as ordeals trials challenges, difficulties, etc., just as the Apostle Peter said, "These [trials] came to you to test that your faith is genuine." 1Pe 1:7 This raises another question.
No. 3. Why does God test your faith?
Peter answered the question as well, for he said, "to test your faith is genuine". Without test one would end up thinking he has saving faith when in fact he does not. Faith ought to work. It must produce the result you desire. If it does not, it is not faith. Like a boat that floats and helps you navigate through a stormy sea, your faith ought to be intact, solid enough to carry you through, and it should not be like a boat with a sink hole in it.
Yesterday after a court session a reporter spoke of Oscar Pistorius saying, "Pistorius also revealed the death of his mother had caused him to struggle with his faith." The report indicates Oscar is now going through a test where he is yet to discover and live by faith that works. This leads to another question:
No. 4. Why genuine faith works (saves)?
We find the answer to the question in what the Scripture says: 'faith is from God' (Romans 1:5; Heb 12:2). By definition God is perfect. He is the author of all that are in existence. So faith that saves man is faith that believes in God and God alone. For this reason we say, "Faith does not depend on circumstances" (such as my feelings, or environments like hardship such as the death of mother etc.), so that one who lives by faith in God can come out victorious. In Daniel 3:18, Daniel's three friends demonstrated the faith that does not depend on circumstances or conditions on life (such as your own death) but on God alone, for they said in effect, "Even if God does not save us from this ordeal, still we will not worship gold but worship the God of Israel."
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