The Word This Week

Hebrews 12:1...

It has been well-said the object of your faith is the most important thing about the faith you possess.

But the originator of your faith is equally important. When it comes to faith in Christ, how wonderful it is to read here Jesus Christ Himself is the author of it. And more than that, Jesus Christ Himself is the finisher of it.

So, this “cloud of witnesses” which surrounds us all have the same testimony: Faith in Christ begins with Christ – and it lasts to the end of life by the power of Christ. This is what each of those witnesses speak forth from the pages of history.

We are not alone in this life of faith in Christ. Never, ever. Even in the moments when we may feel most alone – amid trials and persecutions, or family rejection, or whatever may come as a Satanically-inspired attack upon our faith in Christ – Christ is there to meet the threat with His power.

This is why it is appalling to Christ for us to give in to the temptations which the enemy places in our path in order to trip us up or to make us fall into sin. It is His shed blood which covers us, and it is His shed blood which has cleansed us. Now would you walk through that shed blood in order to satisfy the lusts of your flesh? Would you not resist that by His shed blood and the price He paid?

This is where discipline enters the life of the believer. All of us, because of the world, the flesh, and the devil, are prone to falling into sin. The problem comes when we fall AWAY in our sin. God knows the difference. Have you tripped and fallen into sin – or have you departed from faith in Christ to walk in your sin?

The answer to this dangerous question is profoundly important. Is God still disciplining you when you fall into sin, or as He grown silent? Have you come to believe God allows your sin because you are no longer suffering any repercussions?

God disciplines those He loves, just as a loving father disciplines His children. Those who can live in sin without experiencing God’s discipline are in grave danger.

Pastor Bill