Walking by Faith

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Points:

  1. All Faith Comes From God.

  2. God wants us to take his faith and turn it into our faith.

  3. Our faith is used by us to overcome the world, or our lust will destroy us.

  4. Growing in Christ and living in Christ means we never come to the place of not needing Christ to give us faith, which we then make our faith.

The text is talking about the active use of faith, not the inactive.

  1. Faith comes from God. It is His gift to us. It is not "mustered" up from within us.

    1. Eph 3:12 "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him."

    2. Eph 6:23 "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

    3. Phil 3:9 "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Not only does God give us faith, the righteousness we have is also from God (by the faith he gives us).

  2. God enables us to take the faith he has given us and make it our own.

    1. Rom 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Hearing causes our faith to increase.

      1. This is why it is so important for us to attend church services, and hear the preaching of the Word of God.

      2. This is why it is so important for each of us as individuals to daily read our Bibles, seeking God's will for our lives.

    2. Can our faith increase? YES!!!! The more we hear, and learn, of Christ and His eternal plan, the more we can have faith in that eternal plan.

      1. Luke 17:5 "And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith." Jesus Christ did not reprimand the apostles for asking for an increase in faith, rather He instructed them that an increase of faith leads to an increase in obedience, not in an increase in importance, or of feelings of importance.

      2. II Thess. 1:3 "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;"

        1. It is very important to note that our faith will increase in direct proportion with the increase of our love.

        2. This is not only love for God, but also love for our fellow man.

        3. Notice how faith is changed from the faith of Jesus Christ to our faith (compare Gal. 2:20 and Luke 17:5 and II Thess. 1:3)

      3. II Pet 1:5-7 "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; {6} And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; {7} And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."

  3. We can have victory in Christ when we use the faith he has given us, made it our own, and use it to defeat Satan and the lusts of our body.

    1. The victory is in our faith.

      1. Satan will attack every child of God, attacking that person's faith. Satan knows he cannot defeat the faith of Jesus Christ, (Jesus defeated Satan's temptation in the desert) but when Jesus gives faith to a believer, Satan might be able to defeat the faith of that believer. This is why every believer faces Satan's attack.

        1. Some will fail: will you?

        2. II Peter 2:7-9 - Lot failed because he was drawn away of his own lusts.

        3. James 1:14 - Every man is tempted by his own lust and enticed to sin.

        4. James 1:3 - The trying of your faith worketh patience.

      2. I Peter 1:7 - The trial of your faith is the most precious thing you can ever imagine.

        1. Verse 9 - the end of your faith is salvation.

        2. This is not working to obtain salvation, but the completion of our initial salvation experience (of the heart), working in our bodies (our Christian life) and finishing in our resurrection.

      3. Luke 22:32 - Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith fail not.

        1. Every person will be tested similar to how Job was tested.

        2. Not with the same things, but in the same intensity of heart.

        3. Some are tested with prosperity like Job was tested with poverty.

        4. Some are tested with health like Job was tested with illness.

        5. Some are tested with gaining good family members like Job was tested with loss of good family members.

    2. I John 5:1-5 (4) - We overcome the world by our faith. These verse explain some very elementary facts:

      1. How you can know that you believe in Jesus Christ to the salvation of our soul.

      2. How you can tell if you love the children of God or not.

      3. How you can tell if you love God or not.