One cannot put a price tag upon the value of faith. Our souls literally depend upon our faith. The Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” We will not make it to Heaven without faith. We will not make it to Heaven or be pleasing to God with just a “little faith.” We need to have a biblical faith, a saving faith. That is a faith worth having. I cannot give it a true value but if I were to estimate it, I would say without hesitation, our lives. Christ gave His life so that we may have life in His name.
Throughout the years, the masses have allowed false teaching to go unchecked, especially regarding faith. For many, when they hear or read about the idea of “strengthening faith”, “developing faith”, “increasing faith” – they usually shut themselves down with the thought that we should do nothing to try to please God. They will tell you that there is nothing that you can do to get yourself into Heaven. Statements such as these need to be thrown in the garbage because that is exactly what it is. It is not based on truth. This idea is not found in scripture. It was never taught by Jesus or any of His Apostles.
Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
The questions that need to be answered are how do we increase our faith and why do we increase our faith? The how is simple!
Romans 10:17 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
So, if our faith comes from the word of God, why do people neglect the word of God? Their faith is similar to that of the demons. They have faith but their faith is not the kind of faith that saves. Have you ever thought about why so many people so vehemently oppose baptism? I could use up all of the space in this article and several more articles in teaching the truth regarding baptism FOR the remission of sins. Instead of doing that, I want to focus on why we need to increase our faith.
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.
We sing a song called “Faith Is The Victory”. What victory have we gained? Faith helps us in overcoming the things of this world. Faith helps us look past illnesses, death, loneliness, suffering, persecution, and fear. These things can get between us and God. The questioning of God is one of the easiest things that Satan can make us do. I am reminded of what Paul told Timothy.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.
Increasing our faith will help us in our effort of spreading the gospel to the world. Our faith will lead us to approach others in their sin. We will not do this from the perspective of, “look how righteous I am!”, rather, from the “look at how righteous God is!” Allow me to ask you a question. If we believe that those who do not obey the gospel are lost, how can we remain silent? Let me ask you another question. How many of us are remaining silent every day?
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith.
The increasing of our faith, through the teaching of God’s word, will help us in overcoming our wickedness. We all do not sin the same. What I mean is, we all do not commit the same sin. We all struggle differently. This does not excuse us from repenting of our sins. We will do two things with teachings of God. We will allow it to manifest or dwell within us or we will reject it.
Psalm 119:9, 11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. (11) Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Finally, the increasing of our faith will give us confidence in knowing that we are saved. We will not be bothered with the nagging thought that “we are not good enough!” Nobody is good enough and it has never been about being good enough. It is about trusting in Jesus being the sacrifice for sin. It is about trusting in God.
1 Peter 1:9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
The result of us trusting in God, believing in Him, and obeying Him is our salvation. I mentioned a portion of Hebrews 11:6 briefly but read the whole verse below.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Developing our faith is important and it has practical applications for us even within our lives. It will not necessarily make you a millionaire. You might not become a superstar. You probably won’t win a Noble prize. Even if you did all those things, they would all be worthless if you went to eternal condemnation. Take your Bibles out to read them, study them, learn from them. Have the courage to make changes and put into practice things that will help you go to Heaven.
-Lee Elkins
