Word of Encouragement (10/13/2020)
Today, we will start talking about the graces God promises for our sanctification.
The first is faith, “which Leigh says is a supernatural gift of God in the mind, whereby we know, apprehend, and apply the saving promise of Christ (John 3:16; Rom. 10:11) along with all promises that depend upon it (2 Cor. 1:20-21). By faith, the mother of all other graces, we are united to Christ in salvation and receive all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3)” (pp. 124-125).
If faith is “the mother of all other graces,” then it must be a grace from God even more so than all other graces. So, Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...” (Eph. 2:8-9). (What “the gift of God” refers to is not clear but it can refer to both our salvation and faith, or to both.) Paul also said in Phil. 1:29, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake...” (Phil. 1:29). Heb. 12:2 says Jesus is “the founder [or, author] and perfecter of our faith.”
If faith is a gracious gift from God, why does the Bible call us to believe? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). But doesn't God have to give us faith and, if He does, won't we automatically believe? Here, we have to keep in mind that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). The Holy Spirit uses the preaching and reading of God’s Word to cause us to be born again (or, born of the Spirit or born of God) so we can believe. Because we are dead in trespasses and sins, we cannot believe without being born again first: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). (John says here that those who believed in Jesus’ name were those who had been already born of God.) The Holy Spirit can use even the command, “Believe in Jesus Christ,” to grant a person regeneration and create faith in him as he learns that he must believe in Jesus Christ!
Faith is the mother of all other graces because it is the instrument by which God unites us to Christ and all His benefits, including our sanctification. Faith makes Christ big and us small. Faith enables us to trust God’s promises more than the failures of our past. Faith enables us to accept what God says of us because we are in Christ more than what we have come to believe about ourselves or what others say about us. Faith makes the beauty of Christ more attractive to us than the sinful desires of our hearts.
Have a blessed day as you walk by faith and grow in sanctification!