Genuine Faith (1)
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I speak:
may the peace and joy of our Lord fill our hearts.
I have been given a topic to speak on: entitled 'Genuine Faith.' Faith is very important to all of us, when we talk about faith, it also means our belief. When we say that we have faith in God, we also have faith in the the word that He has given to us.
Today, in the world there are so many Christians who claim that they know God because they believe in Jesus. However, many of them do not really believe in the word of the scriptures, their faith is not genuine. What we need to pursue is genuine faith.
First, we need to understand what is faith? Faith is about God and knowing His words. Today, I have faith because I know Him and I believe that He is the Saviour, Father, and the Provider of my needs. In order to express my faith in Him, I need to follow and abide by the words that He has taught me.
When we first came to the church, many of us did not know much about God, but because we constantly come to the church, to pray and listen to His words, as a result, we find that our faith in God begins to grow.
(Romans 10 : 17)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We cannot see God with our naked eyes. Today, how can we maintain this faith in God? It is by constantly listening to His words, this is also the main reason why the church always encourages us to be frequent in church services. By coming to the household of God, when we listen to His words, our faith can be maintained. Not only do we listen to the words of God, when we talk about faith, we talk about practical faith, this faith enables us to have a relationship with God.
If I do not have a connection with Him, then my faith in Him is not a genuine faith, but an empty one. We thank God that He has given us a way so that we can build up this genuine faith with Him. All those, who have been baptised in the church and ushered into Christ, are given this relationship with Him. Without a connection with Christ, our faith cannot be true. It is important for us to maintain this faith in Him.
(2 Timothy 1 : 5)
when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
We always say that First and Second Timothy are pastoral books. When we look at the three books - including Titus - more closely, they are more like personal letters to Titus and Timothy from Paul.
Here, Paul told Timothy that he remembered the genuine faith that was in Timothy. From here, we find that faith is not something that cannot be seen. We cannot think that faith is something that is within us only.
The fact that Paul could remember the faith of Timothy, tells us that faith must be expressed, it must be expressed in action, in the things that we do; it means how we conduct our life. From our life, we can determine if we have faith in God or not.
If we look at verse 5 again, Paul also says that this faith was first found in Timothy's grandmother, then it was passed down to his mother, Eunice, and then this faith was imparted to Timothy. Quite clearly, we were not born with faith, this faith has to be acquired - we must listen to the words of God or we must be taught by God Himself.
When we read the book of Second Timothy, it seems that he was going through some sought of difficulties in life or in his work for God. Many of the messages here written, are concerned with stirring up the faith of Timothy.
The last statement of verse 5 says, 'and I am persuaded is in you also.' Paul knew about this faith that was in Timothy, and he would like to believe that this faith would still remain in him. From the words of Paul, it is quite clear that sometimes this faith can be lost.
