Without Faith
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)
What is Faith?
Many people have a general faith or confidence in a good God and they assume that their dreams and premonitions are faith that they can depend upon. Often they are disappointed when things don’t work out as they had expected. But that is not Biblical faith.
Biblical faith has substance and evidence. It is a concrete dependence on promises of God that are secured by the evidence of fulfilled Biblical prophecy and by the accuracy of recorded history. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The hope here represents future promises by which we who are believers are encouraged. However, we are not told the time of their fulfillment. The Lord’s coming for the church is a “blessed hope.”
To summarize, faith is depending on the promises of God.
How Then Can we Please God
I suppose all of us who are believers want to hear the Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” when we meet the Lord on the other side. But in order to secure that blessing it appears that we must have faith in the promise that Christ was the sacrifice that satisfied God on our behalf and that put away our sin. Believing that promise will take us to heaven. But to be rewarded with the above commendation, believers must also have faith in the commands of the Lord with regard to worship and service.
Most of us are going to come short because we have “nest eggs” planning for retirement and “rainy days” when in fact the Lord has said we should sell all and give it to the poor. Most of us do not love our neighbors (including people that are different from us and including unbelievers) as we love ourselves. I know I have a couple of people in my life where I certainly fail with regard to this principle.
The Lord tells us how to worship him ceremonially. We tend to adjust the ceremonies to our own liking. We keep the Lord’s supper in the morning. I usually eat breakfast at that time unless I am remembering the Lord. The Lord has an object lesson on obedience and headship (not Lordship) for angels when we come together to worship. But we relegate those principles to another era and indicate that society has changed and so must this lesson for the angels. We don’t greet one another with a holy kiss (and please don’t try this with me, particularly during this pandemic). Some of us serve the Lord after we are saved without identifying with Him in baptism. So are we going to hear “well done, good and faithful servant?” Probably not!
Most of us need to pray the prayer of the father in Mark 9:24 where he said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24 NKJV).” Thank God for the things that we do get right. But as I have thought about this need of having Biblical faith to please God, I realize that I personally fall far short of what I really believe to be true. But one thing I know, that whereas I was lost, now I have been found. And I am thankful for that. I am thankful for a loving and gracious God who has kept many promises to me and my family while I have failed with regard to many of His commands.
It is no wonder that the last words recorded in our Bible were recorded by the Apostle John who was greatly beloved. Those words were, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Revelation 22:21 NKJV).” I thank God for His grace.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of March 26, 2023
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