Faith as a way of life. What does this mean? Is it necessary for a Christian to live by faith? How do we accomplish this?
Let’s dive into these questions and try to answer them.
We are told in Hebrews 11:6, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (CSB)
Faith as a Way of Life Pleases God
This verse makes it clear to us that faith is the way we please God. The example given to us is Enoch. Look at verse five. “By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5 CSB)
There isn’t much we know about Enoch. Outside of genealogies listed in the Bible, we have seven verses about Enoch. Here they are”
“Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.” (Genesis 5:21-24 CSB)
“It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.” (Jude 14-15 CSB)
“By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5 CSB)
6 Things God Tells Us of Enoch
These seven verses contain all God wanted us to know about Enoch. So let’s list what we are told about Enoch:
1. He fathered Methuselah.
2. After Enoch fathered Methuselah, he walked with God for 300 years.
3. God took Enoch from the earth with his body alive.
4. Enoch was a preacher and a prophet.
5. He prophesied of Jesus second coming.
6. Enoch’s faith pleased God.
Enoch’s Faith pleased God
The most important aspect of Enoch’s life is that he pleased God. Enoch’s’ faith was a way of life. How did he do this? Let’s read Hebrews 11:6 again. “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (CSB)
Here are the points I get from this verse:
1. It is impossible to please God without faith. Not hard; impossible.
2. You must believe God exists.
3. You must draw near to God.
4. You must believe God rewards those who seek to draw near to God.
This is what Enoch did to earn his place in Hebrews 11. He is our example of how to walk with God. He drew near to God. Walked with God. And was rewarded by God.
We can use Enoch’s example to live by faith.
What Is Faith?
For us to have faith that is a way of life, we must know what faith is. God gave us the definition of faith in His Word:
God’s definition of faith: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 CSB)
Here is what we need to know:
- Faith is the reality, the assurance, the title deed, the confirmation of what we hope for.
- Faith is the proof, the conviction, the realityof what is hoped for.
- Faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.
- Faith believes in the promises of God before they are revealed to our physical senses.
Faith is placing our hope in God’s promises and knowing we have them before we can see them. This is difficult to do when we are so indoctrinated into the world’s view: “I will believe it when I see it.”
Faith believes before it sees. Faith will believe because God said it and God can’t lie. We believe in many things we can’t see. Our Christmas bonus from work, products bought on Amazon, and that we have a brain.
We just need to transfer that belief to God’s Words and the spiritual or unseen realm.
You can learn more about faith by reading my articles HERE:
Faith is Our Servant: The Key to Your Great Faith
How to Live the Lifestyle of Faith: With 5 Benefits for You
We Need to Understand Hope
The hope we naturally experience is the “wishing and hoping” type of hope. The kind that says to cross your fingers and hope it is true. “I hope I win the lottery!” “I hope the doctor doesn’t say I have cancer.” “I hope one day to own a new car.
This is baseless hope. You are just wishing it will come true. There is no substance to this hope.
The God-kind of hope is based upon His Word. We can take the promises God has in His Word and base our hope on these. Those promises are in the unseen spiritual realm. Our faith brings them into existence in the physical realm.
Faith begins where the will of God is known.
Paul says it this way in Romans 8:24 “Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.” (CSB)
Then the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church, “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 CSB)
We place our hope on the unseen – the promises from the Word of God. Then our faith brings God’s promises into the seen realm, which is our physical world.
Seeing Isn’t Believing
Too often people will say, “Seeing is believing.” Or, “I won’t believe it until I see it.” This isn’t how faith operates.
John 20:24-29 “But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (CSB Emphasis is mine.)
Jesus said “seeing is believing” is faithless. He even said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” This isn’t only true in believing in Jesus. (Very few Christians have ever seen Jesus.) It holds true for every promise of God.
Faith is believing God’s promises without seeing them. Just like Paul said to the Corinthians. To have hope for something you already see is not hope at all. Once you see it, you don’t have to hope for it.
To learn more about what “Believe” means in the Bible, you can read my article HERE.
The Just Shall Live by Faith
Whenever God repeats Himself in the Word, it is important. Habakkuk 2:4b says, “But the just shall live by his faith.” (NKJV) The Holy Spirit repeats this scripture in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. It must be important.
Who are the just? Those justified by the blood of Jesus. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1 CSB Emphasis is mine.)
Every believer is “the just.” The moment we placed our faith in Jesus, we became the justified. God says that as the just, we live by faith.
What does living by faith mean? It means we use our faith to have our needs met spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. But it means so much more than this.
It means we put our faith in God for everything we do. We go to bed believing God that we will rise the next morning. We work on our job believing God we will do our best work. We parent our children by faith and live out our marriage by faith.
God demands that faith is involved in every aspect of our life. That is what it means to live by faith as a way of life.
The Challenge
I challenge you to take your faith further than you have ever taken it before. Step out into the realm of living out your faith as a way of life. Start with any needs in your life. If there are financial, physical, emotional, or mental needs, apply your faith to them.
Find God’s promises concerning your need and use your faith for that need to be resolved. When your needs are met, then life starts to become exciting.
But then, step out even further. Start taking one portion of your life at a time and live by faith in that area of your life.
For instance, at your workplace. Start by doing your best work. If you need to meet a quota, start believing God to meet that quota and then to exceed that quota. Same if you receive commissions. Believe God for larger and larger commission checks.
Living by faith will keep you in God’s grace. It is an exciting way to live.
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