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Faith: Trusting in God

Nevertheless, we must not wait passively for God’s gift of faith to
come to us. The fact that people are commanded to believe implies
their ability and obligation to do so. All people have the ability to place
their confidence in some person or thing. When belief is informed by
the Word of God and confidence is placed in God and Christ, we have
saving faith (Romans 10:17; Acts 4:4). The Scriptures reveal our need,
state the conditions, indicate the promises, and point out the blessings
of salvation. It is our responsibility, then, to read and study the Word of
God so that faith will begin to grow in our hearts.

Maintaining Faith
Faith cannot be taken for granted; it must be maintained. Trying to
maintain life and growth in the Christian experience without nourishing
one’s faith is like trying to operate a car without fuel. The potential is
there, but it is incapable of performing its intended function. We may
also compare maintaining faith to riding a bicycle: the rider must
keep moving or fall. Let’s see what the Bible says about the need to
maintain faith.

Habakkuk declared: “The righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). In
the New Testament this statement, “The righteous will live by faith,” is
repeated three times (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38).
This truth states clearly that spiritual life depends on faith. The apostle
Paul encouraged the believers in Colosse to continue in their faith,
“established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel”
so that their salvation may be assured (Colossians 1:23). He exhorted
the Corinthian believers to be on their guard and to stand firm in the
faith (1 Corinthians 16:13) as they set themselves for the defense of the
gospel. Moreover, he challenged Christians at Ephesus to take the shield
of faith so that they “can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one” (Ephesians 6:16). The need to have and maintain faith is therefore
evident. Some ways we can maintain faith are:

• Praying.
• Reading the Word.
• Maintaining relationships with others who demonstrate faith.
• Witnessing.
• Taking part in group worship.

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