Faith is a certain assurance ofwhat we hope for, a clear revelation and a conviction of things that are not seen, a conquest of the world, the Devil, and the flesh; it is a sure guide to God, an assurance of the hope and purification of the heart; through it a man becomes completely pure, holy, and godly. But faith is also a justification, because through faith in Christ we become devout and just before God - as a gift.
Faith is a power that can do everything - nothing is impossible for it. As Christ testifies, "If you have faith like a mustard seed, say to this mountain, 'Get up from here and cast yourself into the sea,' and it will obey." Or, "Be it done for you as you have believed." Faith is also an assurance of the conscience that it stands firm and trusts God's promise. Thus it i a confirmation of the supplication, for God does not disdain the prayer of the believer, but must grant his request since it comes from faith. John says, "We are certain that we have received what we have asked him for. "As Paul teaches, faith is a power that works righteousness and easily carries out all God's will. A man who says he cannot carry out God's will shows that he is not a believer but an unbeliever, for all things are possible to him who believes. It is easy for him to walk in the footsteps of Christ, who has said, "My yoke is easy and my burden light."
The man who does not believe considers him a liar and accuses him of loading unbearable burdens upon us, although in fact, he has placed the very lightest that he could upon us; for he took upon himself and carried a heavy burden which we couldneither move nor carry, and he has reduced the burden of all the commandments to one commandment, namely love, that we may the more easily grasp it and reach our goal. Whoever believes also confirms and testifies that God is faithful in all his promises. "For he who is righteous through faith shall live." However, it is impossible to believe before one knows God and the strength of his power as well as his love and faithfulness to us. Paul writes, "How can they believe before they hear?" Therefore God sent his own Son intothe world, who has proclaimed to us the name of God, our Father, in order that we can believe and have hope in God, as it is written: "I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sing your praise in the great congregation." Further, "I have made known your name to the children of men." John writes, "No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son of the Father has made him known to us." And "We have believed and bear witness that God is light, and we know that our witness is true." He revealed God's will so clearly that nothing is left that he has not told us. He went before us, not with words only but also with deeds and power, and he has shown us the way to follow him. For he walked in obedience to his Father unto death - even death on the cross, which he endured for our sin. So the Father awakened him again and raised him up as king over all the kings of the earth and gave him a name that is over all names; at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and all tongues will confess that God has made him lord of all lords and king of all kings. His kingdom endures for ever and has no end, as is written: "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." Mount Zion is the community of believers gathered and united in love by the Holy Spirit through unity of faith, building up those who are consecrated through the blood of Christ to be a holy house. That is why Christ, after he had risen and before he took possession of heaven, appeared to his disciples and commanded them to be his witnesses of all they had seen and heard, and said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures; he who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Here Christ follows the method of his Father, who arranged everything in his creation not in confusion, but in the right order. First he created the earth, and then the grass that came from the earth as food for the cattle, in order that they, when made, might have fodder and not suffer want. The cattle, however, were food for man, prepared before man was made, so that each created being would have what it needed before it actually was. God acts wisely in all his works and sees that everything is rightly ordered. Christ did the same: when he wanted word of his good deeds to be spread among the children of men, he first sent the disciples saying, "Go!" and commanded them to preach the Gospel.They did not go of themselves, but through being sent they received strength for their task and were not unfruitful. In the same way Paul writes:
How can they hear without preachers; how can they preachbefore they are sent? Yet, have they not heard? Their voice has gone out into all the world, its sound to the end of the earth; thus faith comes from hearing, hearing through preaching, but preaching through the Word of God.
Tags: FAITH
