Gal. 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” Faithfulness is crucial to the success of our Christian walk and will, more than anything else, determine our destination because it will determine our obedience. In fact, the author of Hebrews makes the importance of it perfectly clear in Heb. 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
The world has no faith in God. It will have no share in the greatest promise of all time – and eternity in heaven with the Father. What the world has faith in is the opinion of an individual about how humankind came to be. The world has faith in a person who calls themself a Doctor of Science, and they can see evidence of the universe’s beginning in a telescope. In other words, the world has faith in man. They have no credible evidence about the evolutionary development of man, much less the creation of the universe, but they fall for those fanciful theories “hook, line, and sinker” nonetheless.”
In the church, some people have a “kinda” faith. They “believe” in God but never attend a church, pray, read their Bible, or fellowship with other Christians. They are “Christians” by name but not by actions, and they are as lost as those who have no faith in God at all. Neither the atheist nor the Christian-by-name-only have any hope of enjoying the unimaginable beauty of heaven. In fact, Jesus will have something to say when they try and plead their case to Him, but they will not be happy to hear what He has to say.
Matt. 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” How sad that day will be for them. How sad that they did not see that their faith was lacking despite their words. But it will be all but too late to make any changes, something I fear is “lost in translation” these days. Far too many “believers” think that they will be able to bargain with Christ on the Day of Judgment, but what they don’t realize is that their last breath on earth will be the last opportunity to change their destiny.
However, for those who call themselves Christians and grasp onto this particular fruit of the spirit, there is much to be excited about. These individuals believe the words of Heb. 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” They rightly believe that their faithfulness determines their destiny and are 100% correct. We don’t need the physical proof the world demands of us to believe in God. We see Him in everything around us – Rom. 1:20, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” We see His majesty and glory in His creation, and we know He is the great “I AM.”
We don’t believe for a second that the stars, suns, planets, earth, animals, birds, fish, insects, plants, rain, and man were the result of an accident. Our faith shines because we believe even though we have not seen, and we are incredibly joyful and rejoice. Moreover, we know we will be rewarded for our faithfulness. 1 Pet. 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
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