Faith. You’ve heard of it. You know you need more of it, but what is it exactly? Look at the apostle Peter’s call to grow in faith with Gary Lodge in this second message of the series “What You Know Will Make You Grow”.
5 Reasons To Grow In Christ
- Grace (God’s unmerited favor) and peace will be multiplied (2 Peter 1:2).
- All things pertaining to life and godliness will be provided (2 Peter 1:3).
- You won’t have spiritual blindness, nearsightedness, or amnesia (2 Peter 1:9).
- You won’t fall (2 Peter 1:10). You will put off the weights that cause you to stumble (Hebrews 12:1). God will stabilize you and sustain you.
- You will have an abundant entrance into heaven (2 Peter 1:11).
The 8 graces need to be developed in conjunction with one another.
Faith is Fundamental
2 Peter 1:5
Faith is a firm persuasion; a conviction based on hearing God’s word; an action producing confidence.
No one can have faith for you.
Faith is believing God is capable of doing and will do what he says.
Faith is the understanding (Hebrews 11:1) [hypostasis in the Greek is literally an underlying]. Faith is the thing that undergirds you.
Faith is not gullibility. Faith is not without reason or blind. Faith is not saying “I believe just because.”
Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We must be diligent as the Hebrew writer and Peter exhort (2 Peter 1:5).
Hebrews 10:35-39
Faith is the catalyst. Faith is what activates the power you have access to. (Ephesians 8:18-20, Ephesians 2:7-10)
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe (Proverbs 29:25). Faith in God provides safety. Anxiety and fretting are traps.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:12-13
Faith in God gives you the right to be called his child.