Faith!

July 22, 2024 Monday Message:

2 Peter 1:1b NLT: “I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.”

Ephesians 2 teaches that we are saved by grace through faith. Grace is unmerited favor, like a free gift for no reason. Our salvation is an undeserved gift from above, given by God simply because he loves us. God looked at everything that was created, and declared it to be very good! We have also been given free will, so we can accept or reject God’s gift. God’s gift is heaven; Satan’s gift is the eternal lake of fire. Choose wisely!

Faith is another matter, and it can get a little complicated. Example: Pretend that you witnessed a crime. Therefore you’re an eyewitness. You can testify in court, telling the judge, “I saw exactly what happened. I saw him do it!” You don’t have to rely on faith, because you witnessed the crime first-person.

The judge, on the other hand, must rely on faith. To make a decision, the judge (or the jury) must have faith in the eyewitnesses. Faith is trust in the testimony of a third person. Sometimes faith comes down to who are the eyewitnesses and can they be trusted.

In the case of believing in Jesus, our eyewitnesses include three of the Gospel writers who were Apostles, a well-educated investigative reporter, and Paul who personally heard from the ascended Jesus.

Can we trust these eyewitnesses? That’s faith!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship