Results for "faith"
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1 Corinthians 12:9
9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
We have all have received some measure of grace in Christ (Romans 12:3, Ephesians 4:7). Some teachers deny the more apparently supernatural gifts, perhaps out of fear for spiritual pride or out of ignorance -- and yet *all* spiritual gifts are granted to us through the working of God's power in the midst of our weakness. Some of us have received and are growing in extraordinary trust in the promises of God, resulting in greater boldness and many answered prayers. Some of us find great confidence and hope in God's desire to heal and save miraculously and have tasted the great power of His love in this way (see John 14:14, 1 John 5:14 for encouragement). However, both of the gifts in this verse hinge upon prayer and, therefore, upon a broken and humble spirit. See the healing prayer of Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24) or the conquering faith of Gideon (Judges 6-8). These were not supermen, but humble servants called by God to seek His glory. Faith and healing are enabled by the Spirit for the good of the Church, and so one should try to grow in these specific gifts by praying not only for his or her own faith but also praying with others in hope that God would work wonders and miracles as we seek Him together. Ultimately, Paul doesn't teach that someone who is gifted with faith will see every prayer answered or that someone gifted with healing will have an inherent and inerrant ability to heal people. Jesus is still Lord of the church and the Holy Spirit directs the use of these gifts for God's glory. We must boast in Jesus Christ and seek to use our gifts so that others would boast in Him as well.
Bookmarked 3 months ago.
Romans 8:24
24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
What is our guiding hope, the unseen reality that our faith is directed at? It is simply and beautifully this -- eternal life with Christ through the promised resurrection. This shows in Paul's description of his own salvation in Philippians 3, as he talks about how Christ 'had made him his own'. Paul lost all that he had known in coming to this knowledge of Christ, and all of his life's purpose was directed toward the end of knowing Jesus and the fellowship of His suffering, even to the point of imminent execution. What is the ending to this great passage about enduring all of these things? "...that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." Here, too, Paul has been talking about suffering and now he reminds them that there is a greater purpose to their living and dying for Christ which will only be clear in the coming age. For now we are to live faithfully for this unseen hope, which looks like foolishness and a giving-away of everything precious to those living under the light of the various hopes of the world. As John says, 'what we will be has not yet appeared...' (1 John 3:2).
Bookmarked 8 months ago.
Romans 8:8
8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
We cannot, by our efforts, please God because of our spiritual condition -- our unholy attitude toward a Holy God. The Gospel, however, calls for a new way of life lived in the aftermath of Jesus's own offering of His life. The Holy Spirit, God Himself, comes to actually dwell in our individual bodies (we are individually and collectively, as the Church, 'God's temple', 1 Cor. 6:19-20) and thus the new and living way that was made possible by Jesus's death and resurrection becomes a reality for us who believe and look to the Son for life and leading. Therefore, to please God is to live by faith -- and only this faith pleases Him, because only Spirit-led minds, hearts, and wills actually live worshipfully before Him ('in Spirit and in Truth'; Jn. 4:23-24).
Bookmarked 9 months ago.
John 3:16
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,Or his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,Or his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We talk about God's love to others all the time, and often with good intentions. But we must be careful that when we assure people of God's love, we have this verse in mind -- that the means through which we have come to know the deep love of God our Father is through the person and work of the Lord Jesus. This is not to say that the first part of the verse is untrue -- that "God so loved the world' -- because Jesus seems to be saying that the Father's unmerited love is the only beacon of hope for the world. However, the next verses make it clear that no true knowledge of this love can be held except by the Spirit working in us the faith that responds to the call of the Gospel. Before we came to faith in Christ, we were outside of God's covenant of love and pardon, and could never have known any real assurance of favor due to God's hatred of sin--we '...were by nature children of wrath' (Eph. 2:3). Our responsibility to the fallen world is clear: the 'Son of Man must be lifted up' (v.14) in order that all may believe in him and know the hope of present freedom and life because of the Lord Jesus.
[for some real meaty stuff, read Calvin's commentary on this verse. ccel.org]
Bookmarked 11 months ago.
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