FAITH
FOUNDATIONS
BREAD
2 The LORD looks
down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any
who seek God. 3 All have turned
aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not
even one. Psalm 14:2-3 (NIV)
23 For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (NIV)
10 As
it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God. 12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one.” Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)
23 For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)
16 “For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has
not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John
3:16-18 (NIV)
21 So
I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in
God's law; 23 but I see
another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my
mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will
rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks
be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in
my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of
sin. Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
20 We
are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God…1 As God's fellow workers we
urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2 For
he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I
helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of
salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this
grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character,
hope. 5 And hope does not
disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans
5:1-5 (NIV)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything
is possible for him who believes.” 24 Immediately
the boy's father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 (NIV)
BUTTER
“The
only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is
through the Cross of Christ. There is no
other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy
for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary.
We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy
Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous
cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God,
this price had to be paid. Never accept
a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the
atonement He cannot forgive – He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being
brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the
supernatural realm……Once you realize all that it cost
God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of
God.” Oswald
Chambers
“Just as surely as God implants the life cell in the tiny seed that
produces the mighty oak...as surely as He instills the heartbeat in the life of
the tiny infant yet unborn…as surely as He puts motion into the planets, stars,
and heavenly bodies – so He implants His divine life in the hearts of those who
earnestly seek Him through Christ…But has it happened to you? If not, you are not only unfit for the
kingdom of God – you are cheating yourself out of the greatest, most
revolutionary experience known to any human being. By a simple prayer of faith ask Christ into
your life right now. He will come in,
and you will be born again!” Billy
Graham
“A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a
lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul.” D. L. Moody
“Our fight is to be a fight of faith, and the moment we doubt, our
fight ceases and our rebellion begins.” Hannah
Whitall Smith
“God no longer holds you responsible for
the smallest sin. Every single sin is forgiven. When faith is said to be
credited for righteousness, it is because of what your faith receives: when you
believe, Christ’s righteousness is credited to your account, and your sins are
credited to his account. If both of these things do not happen, you cannot
consider yourself forgiven. Sin would be charged to your account. In the
gospel, two things happen: first, God removes the charge of sin against your
account. Second, God gives you the gift of righteousness from Christ. You
receive this double gift when you receive Christ’s redemption through the
shedding of his blood.” Walter Marshall
“To learn
strong faith is to endure great trials.
I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.” George Mueller
“We came into this
world wretched, miserable, and undone creatures, in cruel bondage to sin and
Satan, under guilt and under wrath, hostile toward God—the fountain of
blessedness—and in a state of condemnation leading to everlasting destruction.
But when a man is converted, he is brought out of that state of woe and misery
into a sure title to glory, honor, and peace forever. When once a man is
converted, all this blessedness that we have heard of is his; he has an
absolute right to it. God’s work is accomplished for it; His faithful promise
is given.” Jonathan
Edwards
“Even though we
are now in faith, the heart is always ready to boast itself before God and say,
‘After all, I have preached the law, lived so well and done so much that surely
He will take this into account ‘. We
even want to haggle with God to make Him regard our life, but it cannot be
done. With men you may boast, I have done the best I could...If anything is
lacking, I will still try to make recompense, but when you come before God,
leave all that boasting at home.
Remember to appeal from justice into grace. But let anybody try this and he will see and
experience how exceedingly hard and bitter a thing it is for a man, who all his
life, has been marred and has worked righteousness to pull himself out of it
with all his heart would rise up through faith in the one mediator. I myself
have been preaching and cultivating it through reading and writing for almost
twenty years and still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with
God that I may contribute something so that He will give me His grace in
exchange for my holiness. Still I cannot get it into my head that I should
surrender myself completely to sheer grace, yet I know that this is what I
should and must do.” Martin Luther,
Commentary on Galatians
“The act of faith is more than a bare statement of belief, it is a turning to the face of the living God.” Christopher Bryant
“Ask
God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter
what you wish, say, or can do.” Martin Luther
“What
is needed is not mere present professions, but perseverance to the end in the
power of faith.” Ignatius
of Antioch
“It is faith alone
that justifies, but the faith that justifies is not alone.” John
Calvin
HEART
SAVOR
- ·
Jesus took upon
Him all the sins of sinful man on the cross.
He was made sin for us. Don’t
dare to delve again into what He died to save us from – it brings only death
never life. Jesus came to give us life
and life to the full. Why be yoked to
the slavery of sin?
- · Ask God to increase your faith.
- ·
Faith isn’t just a
mere statement of belief. It is turning
in repentance to the Living God – Forsaking All I Trust Him.
