"What Does It Mean To Live By Faith?" (Various Scripture References)

The Bible teaches that the life of the Christ follower is a life of faith! Christ followers are called by God to live by faith from start to finish; from initial faith in Jesus that promises salvation as a gift from God to a moment-by-moment life of faith that encompasses every circumstance of life! Few subjects in God's Word are more important for us to understand and embrace than that of faith! That faith or trusting the Lord is important to the lifestyle of the Christ follower is everywhere evident in the Scriptures! This is obvious from the number of times faith or its synonyms (trust and believe) occur in the Bible. In the NASB, faith occurs 250 times, trust occurs 83 times, and some form of believe, occurs 279 times! The subject of faith pervades every aspect of the Christ follower's relationship with God through Christ, and our service to Him! The Bible teaches that Christ followers are born again through faith; declared righteous before God by faith; forgiven by faith; healed by faith; understand the mysteries of creation by faith; learn the Bible by faith; walk by faith; overcome the world by faith and are controlled and empowered by the Spirit of God by faith! It's therefore imperative that we understand and embrace what the Bible says faith is and how we're to live by it! Let's begin our examination of what it means to live by faith by looking at what faith IS NOT! Biblical faith is not a "force" that when sufficiently held, will bring to pass whatever is said or confessed! This is a redefining of the nature of Bible faith! This kind of faith requires the person to ignore the reality of the present and "see" the desired reality instead. This redefining and distortion of faith endues man with the creative power that belongs to God ALONE! When this false faith is ignored by God, when these confessions don't bring possession, it pulls out the spiritual rug from beneath the Christ follower who trusted it! When their confessions don't forestall a disaster, or "speak" life into a dying loved one, or bring to pass healing in their own bodies, or materialize the desires of one's heart, they run the risk of being spiritually devastated! This is error and is not meant to be followed! I have many sincere brothers and sisters in the Lord who are trying to live by this redefined faith! Even though they're sincere, they're sincerely wrong! Your move. Be encouraged!