WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY...LEARNING ABOUT FAITH (PART 1)

LEARNING ABOUT FAITH

Is seeing believing? Or is believing seeing? Those are questions of faith. This plan offers in-depth study of faith—from Old Testament stories of real people who demonstrated courageous faith in impossible situations to Jesus’ teachings on the subject. Through your readings, you’ll be encouraged to deepen your relationship with God and to become a more faithful follower of Jesus.



"What does the Bible say 

about faith?"

 Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “CONFIDENCE THAT WHAT WE HOPE FOR WILL  ACTUALLY HAPPEN; IT GIVES US ASSURANCE ABOUT THINGS WE CANNOT SEE” . Perhaps no other component of the Christian life is more important than faith. We cannot purchase it, sell it or give it to our friends. So what is faith and what role does faith play in the Christian life? The dictionary defines faith as “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.” It also defines faith as “belief in and devotion to God.” The Bible has much more to say about faith and how important it is. In Hebrews 11:6 "AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD WITHOUT FAITH.  ANYONE WHO WANTS TO COME TO HIM MUST BELIEVE THAT GOD EXISTS AND THAT HE  REWARDS THOSE  WHO SINCERELY SEEK HIM". Faith is  belief in the one, true God without actually seeing Him.

EXAMPLE OF TRUE FAITH

GENESIS 22: 1-14

Abraham’s Faith Tested

1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together,7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.11 At that moment the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”

12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT ABRAHAM'S FAITH?

Abraham had strong faith in God.  When Isaacsaid, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, 8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son. Abraham was willing tosacrifice him to God.  

I know that Abraham must have been thinking, because of his complete faith and doing what God told him to do, God would come through and save his son.

As Christians, we go through tests of faith.  But by putting our complete faith in God, Jesus said, "Everything  is possible  for one who believes."  Mark 9:23