Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The vast majority of those who
teach on faith today believe it is an activity which can be
produced and stirred up by the ability of men. The religious
scam artists who have mesmerized whole segments of the so-called
Christian community with their health and wealth teaching depend
wholeheartedly on their ability to convince men to have faith,
sow seeds of faith, and keep the faith. Most of the time they
just want to keep the money coming. It's a great deception which
teaches men to trust in their faith. To know how big a lie
this is, one only has to go to the scripture record which plainly
says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Whatever man may be capable of,
we are quite certain that he does not naturally possess the
ability to have the faith which is described in the scripture
thusly. But without faith it is impossible to please him.
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The whole
teaching about faith in the scriptures is summed up in the description
of the faith of Abraham. Abraham did not conditionally
receive the promise of God because he believed what God said. Rather,
the promise was given to Abraham according to the sovereign purpose
and mercy of God. And Abraham was then given faith
to lay hold upon it and rejoice in its revelation. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
That faith which is spoken of as righteousness is built and
contained in the object of the faith, and not the act of faith.
The fact that Abraham exercised faith is of no importance at
all if the object of his faith was not the promises of God.
In fact, the scripture even plainly tells us that the promises which
Abraham enjoyed were not even given to him directly, but rather
to thy seed, which is Christ. All of the benefits of the sons
of God are wrapped up in Jesus Christ. He is our faith. He is
our hope. He is our righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption. He is our life. Succinctly put,
He is our all, but Christ is all and in all. So it is clearly
revealed in the scriptures that the righteousness of faith is
not the act of faith, but rather the one who is righteous before
God and who gives faith to those who are the objects of His favor
and delight. God is pleased to manifest his
elect children in the earth by causing them to flee to him for
refuge. He said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. The righteousness of faith is
contrasted with the works of the law. Sadly, many have taken
the faith whereby the sons of God are made manifest in the
world through belief of the gospel and turned it into a work of
the flesh. They do this by telling men that they can become the
sons of God by believing. They often mean well, but their
message is nonetheless a deception and has populated the earth with
a multitude of stony ground and thorny ground hearers. If a man
can convince another man to believe, then yet another man can come
along and overturn that belief. Yet when the righteousness of
faith is applied by the Holy Ghost to a lost sinner, then
nothing can turn him aside, nor can he be destroyed by the deceptions
of the world and Satan. This righteousness of faith can
in no wise be negated by men. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Still others come along who say
that they believe all that we have said, yet they cling to
the notion that while faith is the gift of God, yet it is according
to man's exercise of that faith which is given to him that the
blessings of God are bestowed. They say that if a man has more
faith, he will have more blessings. If he is more obedient, he will
gain more of God's favor. We must confess that we do not
see any difference in this line of thought than that which is
expressed by those who are confused about faith being the gift of
God. The blessings of God are manifested upon the sons of God,
based alone on His sovereign pleasure. Any and all of their
blessings are the result of that which has been purchased for
them and is theirs according as God has dealt to every man
the measure of faith. Because some are blessed, as
men see it, in this life more than others, is simply due to
the mercies of God. But none of the sons of God are
without blessing from the same source from which all of their
blessings flow, nor is one greater in the kingdom as a result. Is
Christ your faith? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.