Live by faith!

Gullible. It never ceases to amaze me just how gullible people are.

When P. T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” he was right. It seems that there is no limit to what we will believe.

Just look at the titles that appear in the tabloids found in grocery store checkout lines.

People actually buy and believe that stuff! Gullible is certainly a word that can be used to describe many people.  But gullible has also been used to describe Christians as well. 

Many people, enamored by the so-called logic of rational thinking, believe that Christians are gullible for their faith in the supernatural.

That we believe in miracles and in an unseen God is evidence of our own gullibility, they think.

The Bible, however, teaches that faith is the key to everything for the Christian.

By faith we come to Christ. By faith we live our Christian lives successfully.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘’The righteous will live by faith.”  (Romans 1:17) In other words, faith is central for Christian living.

What to the world may seem like gullibility is in fact the key to unlock the door which will eventually lead us to certainty.

Vance Havner, the famous Baptist evangelist, used to tell the story of an elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles both real and imaginary.

Finally she was told in a kindly way by her family, “Grandma, we’ve done all we can do for you. You’ll just have to trust God for the rest.”

A look of utter despair spread over her face as she replied, “Oh, dear, has it come to that?”  After telling that story, Havner would say, “It always comes to that, so we might as well begin with that!”

Jesus Christ is the message of the Gospel. The Gospel centers in the person of Christ. It is all about His sinless life, substitutionary atonement, and supernatural resurrection.

He is the object of the Gospel, and the object of our faith.

The Gospel is an explanation of why we can be saved. We can only be saved because of what God has done. The Bible teaches that we are all sinners by nature and by choice and that we are totally unable to save ourselves.

The Gospel is all about the intervention of God on our behalf. Salvation is something God has made possible for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Faith is how we receive the righteousness of Christ, and faith is how we walk in that righteousness. But what is true biblical faith? Is faith something we do? 

No, on the contrary, true biblical faith is never a work we perform because we are somehow good and worthy. 

In fact, faith is rejecting all our works and trusting completely in Christ alone. There is a little acrostic which attempts to explain this – Forsaking All I Trust Him.

True biblical faith is casting oneself wholly on the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope for salvation. 

Faith is trusting in what Jesus did on the Cross as sufficient for you. Faith becomes a way of life for us.  Faith is the principle of life for the believer.

The Bible calls all of us to trust in Christ. We are called to believe in Christ.  Do you believe?  Do you truly trust Christ?  If you do not know Jesus, cast yourself on Him as your only hope of salvation.

If you have trusted Christ and have been made His by the power of the Spirit, cast aside trusting your own strength for living - it is insufficient. Trust Him daily. He is all you need.

Dr. Krouse is pastor of First Baptist Church of Colusa. He can be reached at 696-0563 or sskrouse@succeed.ne