GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 25 ~ ~ Romans 10:17 ~ ~ “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Continuing with excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”.
(Continuing with the truth that the power of faith will break the attractions of sin, because, knowing Jesus, we will love holiness because it is His personality.)
The writer to the Hebrews works this out for us in some practical illustrations. For example, he shows that Moses’ obedience and love was produced by this kind of faith.
Hebrews 11:24-26 ~ ~ “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward.”
Here we see the key to the triumph of obedience over disobedience. The key is confidence that what Christ offers is better than the “fleeting pleasures of sin.” Moses looked to the reward of God’s promises, he weighed that against the rewards of unrighteousness, and he rested satisfied in God. With that, the power of sin was broken and he was freed to love a rebellious people for forty years. The writer of Hebrews calls this liberating contentment “faith.” “BY FAITH, Moses….chose to share ill-treatment with the people of God.”
The definition of faith behind this usage is given in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” In other words, faith is the satisfied assurance that God will work things out in the future far better than I could work them out by relying on myself or by departing from the path of obedience—even if obedience means suffering now. Being satisfied with all that God is for me in Christ—past, present, and future—is the power to resist the alluring temptations of disobedience.
The writer of Hebrews gives another, even more graphic illustration of the way faith produces obedience. He tells the story of how in the early days of their faith the Christians showed great love to the imprisoned saints by visiting them at a great cost to themselves. What was the powerful source of this obedience to the command to“remember those who are in prison” (Hebrews 13:3)?
We’re told in Hebrews 10:32-36
Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on the prisoners, and YOU JOYFULLY ACCEPTED THE PLUNDERING OF YOUR PROPERTY, SINCE YOU KNEW THAT YOU YOURSELVES HAD A BETTER POSSESSION AND AN ABIDING ONE. Therefore do not throw away your confidence which has great reward.”
In these Christians’ lives, the power to love was the confidence that God would take care of their future. So their obedience was the obedience of faith. The cost of obedience—which was immense—was not so great as the offsetting promise of God. The assurance of things hoped for was the source of the obedience of love. This is what Paul meant in Galatians 5:6 when he said:
“In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but FAITH WORKING THROUGH LOVE.” Faith works through love because faith is satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ, and so faith breaks the alluring power of selfish temptations.
(Put simply, the only way to increase our faith (and by that, live in obedience) is by getting to know Jesus, and getting to know the Father, ………..their power, their character, their love, their justice, and everything about them. To know the Triune God is to have love for Him, and faith in Him. On our end, it’s as easy as studying the Bible AFTER we have truly given Him our lives, knowing that Christ suffered and died to save us from eternal punishment. “Trust and obey for there is no better way…”