“Sin is believing the lie, otherwise eating fruit would be outlawed since the garden.” – Brook Potter.
If truth is what sets us free, lies are what keep us in bondage. If you are not free in your spiritual walk, know, without a doubt, there are lies and traditions that you believe and need to have uprooted in the light of the finished work of the Cross. The God-given reality of humanity, because of what Jesus has done, is Great News that has already happened and affected all humanity. Yet, without faith, these realities have little affect in our lives.
Why is faith required? Simply because without faith or trust, God has little access into your life. Imagine for a moment, that a total stranger walked up to you and started giving you counsel about your marriage. If you are like most people, your response will be to question who this person thinks they are, to speak to you about something so intimate? Similarly, if one of your parents were to come and speak the same thing into your life, you would more than likely have an open ear and be receptive to what they are saying.
Whats the difference? Trust. The stranger has no credibility or trust, and as such, their words have no access to your life. On the flip side, if someone you do trust speaks, their words can affect your situation. Faith and trust are what opens our hearts to those words and its no different with God and His Word. All the great wonders, all of the great power and majesty of God cannot speak into someone’s life if they are blind to his Goodness and do not trust Him. Yes God can orchestrate the circumstances around the person, but the person can still remain closed to the words of Life.
In one of my previous articles I explained how to have effortless faith, by presenting evidence that results in expectation. Similarly, that is what preaching the Gospel does to an individual. You are presenting the facts of what God has done, by forgiving all their sins, justifying them from all their wrongs, adopting them, transforming them, and all the other benefits that came from work of Christ on their behalf. The evidence of what God has done establishes his credibility; that effortlessly produces faith to manifest all his goodness in your life.
Without faith and trust, it is impossible to please God. Without it, He cannot love upon you as He wants to and share the abounding riches of his Grace, because His words won’t have access in your life. The Gospel is a light to those in darkness, revealing his goodness and giving a window for God to love His children with all the riches of his glory in them and through them. How else can we walk together with God, if we do not agree with what He says is already true about us, if it is not by trusting Him?
Tullian Tchividjian, great grandson of Billy Graham, expressing the Grace of God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScUc4imMAe0
True!