New....Testament
FaithING
The Bible says the just shall live by faith, and that we are saved by FAITH. So, just what is Faith? In our world today it is taught that "Faith" is the same as "belief", "trust", or some display faith with their emotions. We commonly hear "have faith", "keep the faith", or "what faith do you belong to" - so just what is FAITH. Unfortunately we are applying common English terms of our present understanding, to the New Testament Greek word "pistis" which was translated into the English word "faith". "Pistis" i.e. faith, is not what most are taught. Pistis is a verb, not a noun, as is commonly taught. Further, Faith is not just a belief in something, or a state of mind, nor is it a denominational franchise. The truth is, we all practice faith every day, for the most part without ever knowing what we are doing. We are faithING. For example, when you travel in an airplane, you're taking action based upon a belief that the plane will fly to your destination and land safely. That IS Faith! The true Biblical meaning of "faith" is, "Action sustained by a Belief that Continues until the object of our faith becomes a reality." Just remember A-B-C We Christians are losing the rich and deep Biblical meaning of faith with our concept that faith is the same as a belief. The problem is that having a belief does not describe the action part of "faith". Faith IS ACTION! Faith is about 90% courage! To further illustrate the meaning of Faith, we could say that Belief is the fuel and Action is the engine of faith. One without the other - and FAITH is not produced! We are not talking about some kind of discounted, cheap human belief, though. We are talking about a belief that you're so confident in, that your compelled to take action and follow through completely, without wavering! To better understand the meaning of PISTIS / Faith, compare the words runnING, walkING, fightING, cryING, and swimmING - to the meaning of run, walk, fight, cry, and swim. In doing so we can see the ING adds the element of ongoing action. So, to pull the word up to it's Biblical intent of Pistis, we should say we are FaithING. So, when the preacher says just believe in Christ to be saved - he is NOT telling the complete story. It is NOT enough to just believe in Christ to be saved. We must put our beliefs into actions and never give up until the object of our faith becomes a reality. To be saved and justified by our faith now has more meaning! How can a Christian start Faithing? Prayer: When we pray we are taking action to humble ourselves, to get on our knees and humble ourselves before the Father. Our actions and beliefs are supported by our absolute confidence that God is true to His Word and is on the other end of our prayers. Communion: Communion is taking action of based upon the belief that the wine represents the blood of Christ shed to cover our sins, and the bread represent his broken body for our healing. Our actions and beliefs are supported by our absolute confidence that God is true to His Word. Giving: Giving is an action of worship toward God! When you're giving to others you're taking action based upon the belief that God is blessing you to give, based upon the confidence that God is true to His Word. Matthew 6:3-4 says, that we are to give our money the same way we pray. In secret, because giving is an action of worship. To claim a tax deduction for our secret giving done to worship God by gaining an IRS reward (tax-deduction), as most Churches teach, is NOT Biblical giving that is done as an action of worship to GOD. Dynamic Action vs. Static Action: Corporate Modern Churches, perhaps with good intentions, have sedated their congregations to become a group of boy scouts having a belief with little or no action, instead of being the greatest force on earth as the army of God. The way of Biblical faith is the opposite, for it is based upon walking the same way that Christ did. True Christians are no longer stagnating cesspools - but more like one carrying a stick of dynamite - empowered by the Holy Spirit! There is NO such thing as a Christian being a "Religious spectator." Why? Because when you become like Christ you will take dynamic actions sustained by his belief that continues until the action/belief become reality! Just remember A-B-C Action sustained by a Belief that Continues until the object of our faith becomes a reality! Can You Find the ABC's of Faithing from these Bible References Habakkuk 2:4 Promises of God To YOU: Mat 18:19-20 |
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