I did not want to begin a conversation about being born again and developing/receiving faith without having first mentioning repentance in my last blog.
Far too many preachers in my opinion spend far too much energy trying to identify sin and “guide sinners” away from its evil grasp…oooh, spooky spooky. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to these pastors and teachers but…
THE FIRST thing to BELIEVE is SALVATION IN JESUS. This is the state of being born again. This is the state of being “a believer” in Jesus. That state is fully actualized and bears the fruit of salvation and demonstrates your repentance the day you said I believe Jesus died for my sin and Jesus is the Christ and the Lord of my life. For the rest of your eternal life you should move towards sanctification and toward perfection. To try to do this by identifying sin, in order to “not do sin” is like driving a tractor trailer rig using its rear view mirrors, it can be done but it is backwards and slow and dangerous and it will ware you out!
The key ideal to know in repentance is it involves simply noticing a short coming confessing it, knowing the resurection proves your forgiveness and moving FORWARD toward the mark of a righteous and higher call, to reveal Jesus. You have already been forgiven if you “believe”… It is Jesus’ Life that stands as evidence for your new life in Christ and your confession was the fruit. Not the other way around…Enough said! Let’s get some faith!
Cardinal Point: There are some very old church traditions that make a great deal of confessing sin and doing penance by praying to God. Without going into detail I want to make two observations about them. One, these habits came out of the church very early on and do have sound biblical grounds as doctrine (a fancy word for a set of principles or guidelines). However I also want to make clear what the Old Testament said about traditions. In Joel and Amos and several other prophets God spoke out against useless religious traditions. His contempt was for those acts of principle being done ceremoniously without meaning or substance. So while this blog will out line steps or principles to receiving faith, no amount of practice of dead works will ever produce a living state. This tiny precursor to my message is precisely the pivot point between salvation by Grace and salvation by works. PLEASE make no mistake in my message, it is by Grace that we receive eternal life and all that God has for us for eternity, including faith!
Faith comes by receiving the Word of God in love. The substance faith exists as elements within the seeds we know as the Word of God. To receive in love is to relate to God through His Word as someone relates to another person who loves you. This begins as parental love. It grows to friendship love. It develops into every stage and experience of love until the fullness of love becomes manifest as a reflection of “agape”
Faith comes as we relate to God in all these forms of love, but each of these stages so to speak can easily be counterfeited as lust until you reach agape. Our concern should always be to know the fullness of Gods love. Agape is an undefeatable benevolence and an unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the good of the other person no matter what the circumstance. A self giving love that freely loves without any need or demand for anything in return
Love not lust, remember what I said about Grace and not works? Same point different words. Love seeks for the purpose of reflecting back or expressing out its experience. Lust seeks for the purpose of gathering in or satisfying self through an experience.
The means to have faith and believe is a process which must in the end come from your desire to love God. Selfishly pursuing your needs cannot produce life. It can only become an exhausting effort to maintain what cannot be maintained. You have bee blessed with faith to believe Jesus as your savior, not for the sole purpose of your eternal life but so others might see and know and receive faith to believe too. Everything which comes from God produces life.
So with the proper mind set to approach this effort to receive faith I conclude with the simple process of reading, praying out loud and meditating on the word of God, singing and making the melody of praise and love in your heart. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Love in the natural comes by time spent in relation to another soul, talking sharing and getting to know them. The transaction is spontaneous but it can only happen if you seek God’s heart with an open heart.
If you wish to become the state (believe) of any fulfilled promise of God you must receive through a love relationship the substance of that promise (faith). The evidence of your love relationship with God will be an expression of a new life. Believe… be alive.
The simplest of statements are often the most profound… God bless
