Faith Defined
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3. ” Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as exercised in appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word.” (Education, pp.253,254) As we behold Jesus through His Word, The Spirit who inspired the Word grows our faith. ( Romans10:17)
Faith in reality, is trust. “Faith is trusting God–believing that He loves us and knows best what is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness. Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed out as secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these principles.”Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.” (Education 253)
Through faith the Holy Spirit leads us to grasp the magnitude of the gift of grace so freely offered on Calvary. Through faith we receive spiritual strength to resist the temptations of the evil one. Through faith we are empowered to witness. Through faith we are motivated to do whatever Jesus asks and to obey whatever He commands. Faith grasps the promises of God and believes that they are our own. At Pentecost, ” higher and still higher they [the disciples] extended the hand of faith,” and “under the Holy Spirit ‘s working even the weakest, by exercising faith in God, learned to improve their entrusted powers and to sanctified, refined, and ennobled” ( The Acts of the Apostles pp. 36, 49, 50). This experience can be ours. The Holy Spirit long to both deepen and increase our faith. Our faith grows in the context of a close relationship with Jesus.
Excerpts from ( Day2 p.21) 10 Days in the Upper Room by Mark A. Finley
Education by Ellen G. White
Acts of the Apostles by Ellen G. White