First Presbyterian Church of Alabaster (Cumberland) - three characteristics of the Christian life OCT 2005

Main Menu *

FYI

Who's Online

Home

Open Door Articles

October Articles

three characteristics of the Christian life OCT 2005

Thursday, 17 November 2005

     For the next three weeks I will be writing about these three characteristics of the Christian life: faith, hope, and love. The Whole People of God Sunday School class has been ( and is still ) studying the letters of Paul to the church at Corinth. We have had a fascinating study with lots of wonderful discussion and discovery. Of course, the verse that probably jumps to our mind when we hear the words faith, hope, and love are found in Paul’s first letter. I Corinthians 13: 13 says, “ And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. ” We’ll follow Paul’s recipe of Christian characteristics and see what we discover. We begin with faith.

     Paul was not the only biblical writer to discuss faith. In Hebrews 11: 1, the writer of the Hebrew letter pens this, “ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ” In his Roman letter, Paul writes, “ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ ” ( Romans 10: 17 ). And, in our church’s Confession of Faith the following is written, “ faith is response to God, prompted by the Holy Spirit ... Faith is a gift made possible through God’s love and initiative ... In the life of faith, believers are tested and suffer many struggles, but the promise of ultimate victory through Christ is assured by God’s faithfulness ” ( Confession of Faith, 4.08, 4.09, and 4. 11).

     All of us are guilty of short changing faith. Sometimes we define faith as simply belief in God. But faith is much more complex than that. Faith in God and God’s promises demands that we do more than merely believe God exists. Faith compels us to trust God. The faith that God requires from God’s people commands us to receive in trust the salvation that God has accomplished in Jesus Christ, to turn from ourselves, to rely on God’s words and deeds, and ultimately, to embrace the teachings of Jesus as the appropriate way to live.

     So, in our faith journey we begin blind. We cannot see that to which we are asked to make faithful response. God’s Spirit calls us, convicting us, and compelling us to receive as true and good, the gift of faith that God places in us. Faithfully trusting in God to be God frees us to be the people of God. We turn to God and find that God has always intended for us to be God’s people and opened up for us are opportunities to live selfless, serving, committed lives to the work of the kingdom of God. We discover along the way that our faith is becoming sight. What at first we could not see, we now begin to see in other people and in ourselves: God at work to bring to completion God’s faithful promise to us.

     I visited with James Partridge earlier in the week. James is very sick. We know that. He knows that. More importantly, James knows that God knows. They are connected. James trusts God in the most intimate way any human can, with his own life. I don’t know what that is like. But, I am blessed, as are all who witness, to see God at work and James at work. God calling with faithful promises. James responding with humble trust. May we all see so clearly.

     Grace and peace