LIVING BY FAITH
Romans 1:17 (KJV) “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
I want to talk to you about something I wish someone would have told me from the very beginning of my walk with the Lord, and that is living by faith. I remember when the Lord spoke to my spirit and said, “Don’t teach your people to have faith projects; teach them to live by faith.” The Bible is very clear—it teaches us to live by faith, as it says in our Scripture for today.
The Word also declares that the just shall live by faith in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. Since the Word of God tells us to live by faith, we should do our part to learn how to live by faith every day.
Everyone who is born again can live by faith. Romans 12:3 says that every person has been given the measure of faith, so everyone has the ability to believe God and His Word. When you were an unbeliever and heard the Word of God ministered, then believed in your heart that Jesus was the Son of God, that He was raised from the dead, and confessed that, you were born again.
Everyone has been dealt the measure of faith. There is not a person on planet earth who cannot believe. After you are born again, you have the faith of God living on the inside of you. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” You and I can absolutely live by faith. Living by faith is different from using faith. To live by faith means you never turn it off—you are always living it.
Why should we live by faith? First, the Bible is clear that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Second, we must mix faith with the Word of God when it is ministered so that it will profit us (Hebrews 4:2). You also need faith to resist the devil. I Peter 5:9 tells us to resist the devil steadfast in the faith.
Your faith produces victory. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (I John 5:4). Another important reason to live by faith is so you can move obstacles that are in your way. Jesus called them mountains in Mark 11:23–24. The final reason I will mention is that if all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus, you must learn how to receive them. I John 5:14–15 teaches us how to receive our petitions by faith. Living by faith is vital to our walk with God. He has so much to give us, and He wants us to walk in all of His promises, but we must live by faith in order to receive all that He has for us.
One last thought: your faith doesn’t move God—your faith receives from God. God is not withholding from us. We are not using faith to get Him to release something, because He has already provided all we need. We are using the faith He gave us through the new birth, and through hearing the Word, to receive all that He has promised.