Faith (part 1)

I wake up every morning and find He hasn't gone. I realize His awesome love and worship Him in song.

The just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). Many times this passage is quoted in the new testament. Here is what it means: to ''live'' is to be justified by God. We, sinners, can only be justified by God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, we cannot be declared ''not guilty.'' Apart from Christ, there is only death: seperation from God.

Faith alone is what saves a persorn from death. It is what connects us with the Lord in a way that enables us to experience eternal life and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The just shall live by faith.



But what is faith? Have you asked yourself: ''Do I have the right kind of faith? If not, how do I find it? What does it mean to exercise your faith?'' Faith is coming to Christ just as you are for forgiveness and grace. Eternal life He's given me, peace of mind and heart. He's part of me and will always be, never to depart.

Faith begins with a need. All of us have a ''spiritual itch,'' an emptiness. When we become aware of this itch, we try to scratch it with any one or a combination of these: careerism, pursuit of money, immorality, drugs, alcohol. The list goes on. Sometimes we scratch it even with things that the world esteems as good pursuits: like sports or community service. Yet we remain empty. The itch persists. Why?

Because we ''have sinned an fall short of the glory of Go'' (Romans 3:23). This passage is square one for everyone of us. This is also where faith begins.

Faith begins with an awareness of our deep spiritual need. It is the acknowledgement that sin is present in our lives. Saving faith means coming to Christ just as you are: spiritually itchy, spiritually needy, spiritually empty.

I'll never be the same again since I first believed. What a precious day that was, salvation I received!

''All have sinned'', the bible laments. Sin, that enticing, candy-coated poison that has an all-too-human appeal to our senses. It tastes good for a while, but it certainly leads to death (Revelation 21:8). So many times we throw our lives and our future away for a momentary pleasure. That is the destructive nature of sin.

Let's read Ephesians 2: 1-3. ''you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of God's wrath, even as the rest''.