Romans 4:17: “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”
Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
What evidence do we display before God and our fellowman that we are indeed people of faith? Hebrews 11:1 calls faith a “substance” and an “evidence.” Do we demonstrate in our lives that we believe in things that as yet we do not see with our natural eyes?
We believe we are saved through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We believe that our sins are atoned by the shedding of His blood. I believe the difference between people of faith and the people who are not of faith is the substance and evidence of a changed lifestyle. A big part of this changed lifestyle is a changed confession.
Psalm 116:10 states: “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” Also confirmed again in 2 Corinthians 4:13: “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: we also believe, and therefore speak.”
Our faith is revealed by our confession. Romans 10:9, 10 states: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
The word saved is “sozo” which means full salvation--saved, healed, delivered, preserved, protected, and made whole. It is the same word Jesus used when he healed the people and they were “made whole” from that moment.
Considering our faith is revealed by our confession, why do we so readily quote Isaiah 53:5 “With his stripes we are healed” and at the same time confess our sicknesses? This is an opposing confession.
James 3:10 says: “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell