- CHAPTER 11 -
Receiving God's Gifts

The gifts of God all come in Jesus Christ. God has offered humanity one gift that encompasses all other gifts. He is God’s answer to the human dilemma. And so, in order to obtain all the gifts of God, we must obtain Jesus Christ. If we have Christ, we have laid a hold of God’s promises. To belong to Christ is to become one of God’s people. It is in Him that we find the cure for sin. It is in His name that we are saved. It is Jesus Christ that we need.

The question then arises: How do we obtain Christ? How is it that we can enter into this new life as promised in the Scriptures? Let us explore this in full that you might enjoy the richness of this promise as it is offered freely by God to all people.

Repentance

The good news message of the bible is a message of reconciliation between God and humans. God is seeking to be reconciled to each one of us. Like a child abandoned from birth, we do not know our Heavenly Father. Therefore, Christ came that we may know God. He demonstrated God’s love for us on the cross by dying for our sins. In this way, God has reached out to us. He wants to give us a new life. The life we have known is a life separated from God. The life Christ is offering is a life shared with God. In this way, we may have a newfound relationship with God built upon trust. We can feel at home in our Father’s arms. However, before anyone can be reconciled, apologies must be made. We must first repent of our sins.

As sinners, we have turned away from God and sought our own way. Because of this, we try to hide from God knowing that we have wronged Him. This was Adam and Eve’s initial reaction when they sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. They hid from God. They did not want to be found out. Even today, we do the same. When we sin against someone, our initial reaction is to cover our tracks. We hide from others knowing what we are doing is wrong. No one sins out in the open where they can be caught. We sin in darkness away from those who would shed light on our wrongdoing. An example of this is seen in modern workplaces where people attempt to secretly playing games and surf the internet while working. Whenever someone walks by, the person clicks a button to hide what they are doing. When the boss passes, they scour to look busy. The person hides to avoid being caught.

As sinners, we try to hide our sin from God thinking that He cannot see us. (Though some deny God’s existence so they can openly sin without restraint while others create false gods that fit their own evil desires.) This, of course, hinders our relationship with God making it impossible for God to bless us. How can God help us when we are hiding from Him in dark places? First, we must repent by coming into the light and exposing ourselves. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

Repentance is necessary to receive mercy. This only makes sense for who would have mercy on someone that continually wants to harm them. For example, let us say a woman friend of yours walks up and slaps you across the face. You did nothing to deserve this or even warrant it. And so, you stand astonished that she did this. She then apologizes for her action wanting to maintain the friendship. You accept her apology. She then slaps you again and apologizes again. This happens again and again. At what point would you stop accepting her apology? How long would endure her ill treatment until you finally decided to end the friendship? If you discovered that she enjoyed slapping you because it pleased her, how would you respond?

Before anyone can be forgiven, they first must repent otherwise forgiveness is offered in vain. You cannot forgive someone who thinks they had done nothing wrong and refuses to accept responsibility. For example, let’s say your car is stopped at an intersection when someone suddenly slams into your bumper. In stepping out of the car, you find that a young driver hit you because they weren’t paying attention. In your mercy, you say, “I forgive you. Don’t worry about the accident just go on your way.” However, the young driver says, “You forgive me? How dare you blame me? It’s not my fault. You shouldn’t have been stopped for so long.” Even after the police officer arrives and gives the youth a ticket, the young driver says, “This isn’t fair! It’s not my fault!” Until the youth accepts responsibility, forgiveness means nothing and instead becomes offensive. We must first accept responsibility for our sin to receive God’s forgiveness and help.

Repentance begins with the acknowledgement of sin. This means we come to terms with what we have done wrong and confess it openly. When we have come to this point, we are willing to admit that we were wrong to the person we have sinned against. If we have wronged a friend by lying, we go to our friend and admit, “I have lied to you.” When we have sinned against God, we say as King David did, “O Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.” (Psalms 41:4)

The next step in repentance is detesting our sin. We see our sin and find it troubling. Scripture says, “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” (Psalms 38:18) It is not enough to confess our sin, we must also hate it. Our sin should cause us deep remorse. We should wonder, ‘why did I even do such a thing?’ Inwardly, we should weep knowing our sin has caused great damage.

Our sin against God was displayed on the cross for all to see. It was our sin that drove the nails into the hands of Jesus. Christ was innocent, not deserving of such torture. However, because we had sinned against God; Jesus was beaten, bruised, and hung on two wooden poles for public display. As we look to the cross, we should be disgusted by our sin. Look at how our sin has shed blood and cost life. This should cause us to hate the evil things we have done.

At the sight of our sin, we should want it removed. If we truly hate the horrible things we have done, we will wish they never happened. Remorse should lead us to seek forgiveness. This should turn us toward God. Scripture says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7) We must turn to the Lord that we might be forgiven by Him. We need Him forgive to us. We cannot impart forgiveness upon ourselves. We may try and say, “I am forgiven.” However, we will not be forgiven until God has forgiven us. This means we ask Him to forgive us and trust that He will.

This last step is of utter importance. Many have confessed their sin only to sin again and again. They treat confession like a free meal ticket to indulge in sin again without feeling guilty. And yet, they never know forgiveness. They are still weighed down by the burden of guilt. Many others hate their sin; however, they sulk in shame. Rather than look to the cross for forgiveness, they look to themselves. They continually say, “Woe is me, pity me, I am a horrible person,” without ever finding forgiveness. Only those who have looked to the cross and called to Christ will find forgiveness. Only those who have truly been forgiven know forgiveness.

Forgiveness has come to us by Jesus Christ. He carried our sins onto the cross. With all the sin of the world upon Him, He died. Therefore, sin died with Christ. This means that Jesus Christ died with your sins and for your sins. However, Christ cannot carry anyone’s sins unless He has their sins. Anyone who seeks to be forgiven must give their sins over to Christ so that He can carry it onto the cross and crucify it. When we look to the cross, we should see our sins. We should feel remorse that Christ had to suffer for our sins. At the same time, we should see our redemption. Our sins have been done away with. Christ has crucified our sins. We look to the cross and see, not our sins, but God’s love for us. God no longer remembers ours sins and neither should we. When our sin has been crucified with Christ, then we feel the burden of guilt lifted. Only then do we truly feel forgiveness for only then has it truly come to us.

Forgiveness has come to us through Jesus Christ, and it is only Jesus Christ who can offer us forgiveness. He is the one who has died for our sins and so He is the one who can bring us forgiveness. If we seek to be forgiven, we must turn to Jesus Christ in repentance. We must humble ourselves before Him and cry out, “Please forgive me.” And we can be sure that He will forgive us because He has already died for us. His mercy was shown on the cross. He has already died for our sin. All we must do is turn to Him to receive His gift.

Forgiveness is a gift made possible by Christ and offered by Christ. Since He paid the price by dying on the cross, forgiveness is offered for free. We do not have to do anything to earn forgiveness. The gift is yours without any price to pay. All you must do is accept it. On the surface, this seems too easy. Inwardly, we want to pay off our own debts. We want to suffer and earn forgiveness for ourselves. This is due to our earthly pride. We want to be in control. However, accepting this free gift is much harder than you might think. It means humbling ourselves before God. This means we expose ourselves honestly before God. We admit our weakness and inability to control ourselves. We let go and let God. And for many of us, this is not an easy thing to do. In this life, we have learned to fight. We fight for life and struggle to live. For us, giving up is not an option. And yet, this is what God is asking us to do. Confess your sins. Admit your weakness. Tell God the truth. Then, in His mercy, He will forgive us. Christ is merciful. He has already proven this on the cross. All that is left is our response. How will we respond to this? Will you accept God’s forgiveness by repenting of your sins?

Acceptance is necessary in the reception of any gift. For example, let us say that some parents had decided to buy their daughter a brand new car for a surprise birthday party. On that day, the daughter opened a small box with set of keys to a bright red sports car. It was just what she wanted. The parents then encouraged her to go out and drive it around. However, she felt the gift was too great and handed the keys back. She said, “Maybe I can work for the car. I’ll buy it from you.” The parents insisted, “The car is yours. It is a gift because we love you.” Even still, the daughter would not accept it. The parents pushed but she resisted. So, they waited. ‘Surely,’ they thought, ‘our daughter will accept the car since she needs it to get around.’ A few days passed and the daughter asked to borrow the car. “I need it just for a few days,” she said, “then I will give it back.” The parents replied, “The car is yours. Take it and keep it.” The daughter refused. She borrowed the car and paid her parents a few dollars for letting her use it. Though the car was hers and she drove it, she never owned the car because she never claimed it as her own. She never accepts the gift her parents offered.

Christ died on the cross offering you forgiveness. However, you cannot receive this gift unless you accept it by turning to Christ and claiming it. This means repenting of your sins, asking Christ to forgive you, and then accepting the cross as your own. If Christ is yours and you belong to Christ, then surely you are forgiven because He has died for you.

It is important to note that forgiveness is only a part of repentance. It is what we are seeking in repentance, but it is not the end. Repentance is complete when we have stopped sinning. Repentance involves making an apology for the wrong we have done. When we apologize for something, we ask another person for forgiveness. At the same time, it is understood that if the situation arises again, the person will not make the same mistake. When a person is pulled over for speeding and they plead with the police office, “Please forgive me, I didn’t notice how fast I was going,” the officer may have mercy on the person and say in return, “I am not going to give you a ticket this time, but don’t do it again.”

Therefore, the last step in repentance is transformation. If we truly have repented, we should already have a desire to change. We should hate our sin and want to stop sinning. “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.” (Galatians 3:22) We are prisoners. We cannot stop sinning in our own power. If we could, then we would not have sinned in the first place. If we had the power not to sin, then we wouldn’t be sinning. However, the more we try to stop, the more we discover how powerless we are. The harder we struggle, the more victimized we become. This is why sin is like a disease. We cannot cure ourselves. We cannot help ourselves. We need power from somewhere else, a power greater than sin, to aid us. We need help from an outside source. In other words, we need to be saved.

Salvation

Forgiveness is not the same as salvation. We need both. However, forgiveness alone cannot help us. To illustrate this: let us say that a sewer was left open by the park down the street from a mother’s house. Knowing her teenage boy likes to play at the park most afternoons in the summer, she charges him: “Do not play around the open sewer or you might fall in.” Because she loves him, she keeps watch from her back window to make sure he has obeyed. The next afternoon, she hears screaming in the distance. She looks out the window. Her son is no wear to be found so she runs out the door to check the sewer. Sure enough, he has fallen in. Covered in slime, the boy looks at her and says, “Please forgive me mommy, I should have listened to you.” She says in reply, “Son, I forgive you.” Then, she then walks away leaving him to sit there. At this point, the mother has forgiven her son. However, she has not saved him. When the mother reaches down and pulls her son out of the sewer, then she has saved him.

Having forgiveness does not keep us from sinning again, though it is equally important. Forgiveness must come first or else we cannot be helped. In the previous illustration, the mother came to save the boy. However, the boy may have refused the mother’s help in several ways. He may have said, “I can’t accept your forgiveness. This is all my fault and I deserve to suffer.” Here, the boy is refusing to accept forgiveness. If the mother helps him out, the boy will jump back in believing he deserves to be there. Or he could have said, “This is all your fault mother. Why did you let me fall into this sewer?” Here, the child is blaming the mother and not taking responsibility for his own actions. If she tries to pull him out, he will not listen to her ever. As she pulls, he will try to tell her what to do. He will fight against her rather than let her do what is best as his mother. Or worse yet he might say, “I like it down here, I don’t want to come out.” Here, the child refuses to leave. In every case, the boy could not be saved. He first needed to accept forgiveness. In doing so, he would then be ready to obey her. He would be willing to listen as the mother did what was best for her son. He would submit as she took control.

Jesus Christ knew this and so He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) He came to save those who realized they had sinned against God and were seeking forgiveness. Those who have sought forgiveness could also then be helped. Like a piece of clay in a sculptor’s hands, they could easily be transformed by the power of God so as to overcome the power of sin. In this way, a person can be born again entering into a new life with God.

Once a person has been cleansed from sin through forgiveness, they are transformed by the power of God. This transformation makes it possible for a person to stop sinning and live for God. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3) To live in the Kingdom of God, where God is our King and we are His people, we need to be born again. We need to experience a transformation that will infuse us with a power greater than sin. Only then do we have self-control which enables us to conquer sinful human nature. Only in this way may we live a life that is pleasing to God. Jesus knew this and He came to offer such a power.

Many often think that Christ came only to do away with sin, in other words, to make bad people good. Christ came, not to make bad people good, but to make dead people live. God’s will is not to make us stop doing bad things. God’s will is to raise us to new life. (John 6:39-40) He wants to give us a new life filled with peace, righteousness, and joy. Sin prevents us from attaining to this life. We cannot life a meaningful life when sin has power over us. Everything we do, even the good things we do, is tainted with death. Christ came to give us a rich and meaningful life. To explain it another way, the desires of our human heart are evil. And so, we struggle trying to achieve our goals, ambitions, and dreams. We dream of things that God hates. We try to accomplish tasks that God despises. Christ has come to change our dreams and desires. He came to give us a new heart. Our new heart is aligned with God. We desire the same things God desires. Our heart is transformed to match God’s heart. Once this happens, our ambitions, dreams, plans, and goal become the same as God’s. And then, God takes joy in helping us accomplish our dreams. He comes down from Heaven and helps us to do the good things we want to do. This means our life is filled with rich and meaningful activity. We live for God doing good things that are pleasing to God and pleasing to ourselves. We are able to do them because God gives us the power we need.

The Holy Spirit is the power we need. This is the Spirit of Christ that comes down from Heaven and enters our heart. This means that God dwells within us providing the power and authority we need to reign as Kings and Queens over our lives. To explain this as simply as possible, this means that God Himself comes to live inside of us as our Lord and Master. His Holy Spirit communes with our human spirit and we become united as one with Him. This does not mean we lose our individuality or that we become God. Instead, it means that God is united to us in love. We are bound to Him like intimate lovers. He is there to guide us, sustain us, and love us. He is always with us. At the same time, we retain every right to ignore Him. He does not force anything upon us. Instead, He asks if we would listen to Him. His request is simple: will you let me take control so that I can help you? Will you let me be God and Lord of you? Every time we submit to His power, He is able to use us to accomplish great things. When we surrender to His authority, then He is able to freely do good things in us. He is like the roots of a tree while we are like the branches. He provides us with nourishment so that we can grow fruit.

It is this indwelling of Christ’s Spirit that we need. Forgiveness comes first because you must be cleansed of your sin before the Holy Spirit can live within you. God cannot be near sin and so you first must be forgiven for all your sins. Jesus illustrated this in two parables saying: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17) If God were to put His Spirit into you without forgiving your sins, then His Spirit would tear your soul worse than before. Your soul would be ruined by the Holiness of His Spirit. Knowing this, Jesus waits for you to come in repentance. Then He may cleanse you with forgiveness and help you with His Spirit.

God has said, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22) Before we can stop sinning and live a new rich and meaningful life unto God, we first need to be born again. But how is this possible? How can we be born again?

How We Are Born Again

When Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again,” a man named Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

A person born of water comes from the mother’s womb and has flesh. A person born of the Spirit comes from God’s womb is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person we cannot see or control. The Spirit comes and goes as He pleases. We may see the affects the Spirit has on people, but we cannot tell where it came from or where it’s going. This means we give this blessing to ourselves. We cannot earn it or work for it. We cannot create it. Only God Himself can bestow such a gift and so it is to Him we must turn. Understanding this, Nicodemus then asked, “How can this be?” How is it then a person can be born again?

Jesus replied “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:3-16)

In the desert, the people of Israel had sinned against God. As a result, venomous snakes came and bit them. The people realized what they had done and so they repented asking God to save them. God instructed Moses to “make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:4-9) Jesus was foretelling of His death on a cross. Jesus, who came down from Heaven, would be lifted up on a wooden pole. Everyone that looks to Jesus with eyes of faith may be born again. The key that unlocks this wonderful gift of God, Jesus says, it so to “believe in him.” Those who do will be filled with the Holy Spirit giving them eternal life. The flesh of a person may die, but their Spirit will live forever with God’s Spirit in eternity.

What is the work God requires of us to receive His wonderful gifts? “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29) God requires that we must have faith in Jesus before we can receive anything. Faith is the key that unlocks God’s gifts. If we desire His gifts, we must have faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in the Son of God live forever. Jesus said, “He who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

It is important to understand that faith is the work God requires of us. This is what God asks of us if we wish to receive His gifts and have a relationship with Him. Nothing else will help us in this; not good works, religion, philosophy, or morality. We can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

Many try to earn God’s favor, His grace, through good works. We all have sinned against God. This is quite apparent. Very few will argue and say, “I am perfect person.” We are all quite aware of our imperfections that plague us. However, there is a false idea that we can balance our wickedness with self-made goodness. For all the good things we do, we keep a tally thinking that these good works balance out our bad works. However, what we don’t realize is that our good works are worthless in the eyes of God. They are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) because we are sinful. Our good works are man-made. They did not originate from God and are not pleasing to God. Our motives and intentions are not based upon a love for God, but are corrupt. By doing good works to earn God’s favor, we are not doing works out of love. Our works are driven by a selfish desire to earn our way rather than being built on love. Therefore, God finds them disgusting. God wants our love. This is made apparent in the greatest commandment which says to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) When we offer God good works based upon a selfish desire, then we break God’s commandment. We do not love God; we are using Him to get what we want. Rather, good works should flow naturally out of love. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) This means our obedience flows out of our love. Love comes first. Then because we love God, we obey Him. We don’t earn anything by our good deeds. We just do them naturally out of a deep desire to love God. Then, and only then, are our good works pleasing to God.

In addition, to think we can earn God’s favor belittles God’s love. God’s favor, which may also be called God’s pleasure or God’s grace, is a gift given in love. Doing good works to earn God’s favor is like saying we can earn God’s love. However, this is a contradiction. If we could earn God’s love, then it would not be love at all. God would be selling Himself at a cheap price to selfishly gain our good works. To think that such a thing is even possible is a most horrendous offense to God because the person is calling God a lair. God has declared, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) If this is true, then God’s grace can only be a free gift. We cannot earn it. We cannot earn God’s love. He gives it freely because God is love.

This is why the apostle Paul said to the believers at Ephesus, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The grace of God is a free gift being offered to us through faith. A gift is not something we earn, it is freely given. If we try to earn it, then it is no longer a gift. And so, grace cannot be received if we try to earn it. If you are trying to earn God’s favor through sacrifices or works, then you have failed. You have called God a lair who has said, “I love you.” If God truly loves you, then you cannot earn His gifts. You must accept His gifts without trying to earn them.

At the same time, does this mean nothing is required of us? Does this mean that we just accept God’s gifts and we have them? This is partly true and partly misleading. We must accept God’s gifts, but we must do so on God’s terms. As established by the above, we must come to God by faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot come any other way. God has carved out a road for us to receive His grace, but this road is narrow and difficult to walk. This road is faith in Jesus Christ. At this, however, you might wonder: ‘Why faith? I thought we could not earn God’s grace. How then can you say we must have faith in Christ?’ Before we can answer this question, we must first understand what faith is. Then we may better understand why God desires faith.

What is Faith?

Jesus defined faith most clearly for us by saying, “If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24) Faith means believing that something is what it claims to be. For example, a chair claims to be an object for holding a person upright off the ground. To have faith in a chair means believing that it will hold a person upright. If we need to sit down and see an empty chair nearby, we will have to decide whether or not it will hold us upright. If we believe in the chair, we will sit. If we don’t believe in the chair, we will not sit. Another example is that of a teacher. A teacher claims to be one who instructs us in truth to the best of their knowledge. If we believe in a teacher, we will listen to what they have to say, accept what they teach, and apply it in our daily life. If do not have faith in our teacher, we will not listen, accept their teaching, or apply it. A teacher may tell us that eating chicken is dangerous to our health. If we don’t believe in our teacher, we will not listen and refrain from eating raw chicken. From these examples, we can easily see that faith embodies trust. When we place our faith in something, we trust in it. We trust that it is true to what it claims to be.

This leads us to ask: What did Jesus claim to be?

Here are some of the claims Christ made concerning Himself: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23) “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11) “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25) “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.” (John 13:13) “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

Jesus claimed to be God in flesh. He claimed to be the way: the one who dictates how we should live. He claimed to be the truth: the one who created existence and established truth. He claimed to be the life: the one who gives life. He claimed to be Lord and King: the one who rules over everything. To have faith in Christ means that we believe He is the one and only true God that rules everything in righteousness and peace with love. It means we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy One of God. And if we truly believe this, then we will chase after Him for He is the one who has everything we need. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:38)

It is important to note that many have confused faith with simple belief. If you notice, Jesus said not only “believe” but “believe in.” There is a great difference between “believing in” something versus “believing” something. When we “believe” something, we believe it is true. This involves an acceptance. When we “believe in” something, we place trust in it. This involves an investment. If Jesus has said, “believe me,” then all we would need to do is accept his words as truth. This would not require giving anything of ourselves to Him. However, Jesus said, “believe in me.” Jesus is asking us to put trust and confidence in Him. This includes believing that His words are true, believing He is true, and giving of ourselves to Him. This requires more than simple belief, it requires a call to action. If we truly believe in Him, we will follow Him.

To illustrate this, imagine a neighbor of yours comes knocking on your door with exciting news. He has just finished building the fastest car in the world and he wants you to see it. As friendly as you are, you follow him to his garage. Upon seeing the car, you are quite amazed. It has a nice sporty look and the engine roars with power. He then gives you a demonstration by squealing the tires and zooming down the street. The car accelerates faster than any car you have ever seen. Upon his return, he then says, “See, it’s the faster car ever built.” You believe him, and so you shake your head in agreement. While you are standing there, he says, “Hop into the second seat. I’ll give you a real taste of its power.” To this, you pause and say, “Let me drive it and I’ll go.” He then replies, “Sorry, can’t do that. You don’t have the knowledge or experience to drive this car that fast. It’s very sensitive. One small mistake and you’ll kill us both.” In reply, you say, “Well, I believe that car is the fastest ever built, but I don’t believe it’s safe.” He tries to convince you otherwise. He tells you of his spotless driving record and how he used to race sports cars professionally. He takes you into his house and shows you all the medals he has won. He even has a friend come over and tell you about how great of a driver he is. To this, however, you say, “I believe you. I really do. But I just don’t trust you. I am not getting in the car no matter what you say or do.” In this scenario, if you had believed in your neighbor, you would have sat in the car and rode with him.

Faith means depending on Jesus Christ to do what we cannot. We cannot give ourselves life. We cannot overcome sin. We cannot please God. However, Jesus can and will do these things for us if we trust Him. This means we have no confidence in ourselves, but have every confidence in Christ. We look to Him to make us right with God. When we look at ourselves, we see a sinful person whose every thought is offensive to God. However, when we look to Christ we see love and forgiveness. He died on the cross for our sins. He overcame the power of death by bringing Himself back to life. Who has ever come back from the dead? And yet, Christ did. He is able. We are not. By having faith in Him, we turn to Him for power. We cannot stop sinning by our own power, but if we have Christ, then He can be the power we need to stop. He can set us free from the power of sin, and help us live a good life.

Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) The greatest claim He has made is that of Savior. Humanity is lost and dying to the disease of sin that plagues our soul. We have been separated from God and enslaved by sin. We suffer and die spiritually because of this. Christ came to save us from this. He came to help us overcome sin and be reunited with God. Being separated from God, we are lost without Him. We are like young children who have been separated from our parents. Children need their parents to care for them. We also need God to give us life. Christ came to give us life.

Having faith in Jesus Christ means trusting Him with our entire life. By having faith in Him, we crown Him Lord and God over our life so that He may reign over us with love. We depend on Him to give us life, to sustain us and keep us, and to help us in our time of need. We look to Him for guidance and assurance. We offer ourselves to Him that He might do with us as He pleases. We surrender to His complete power and authority. Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) When we lose our life for Christ, meaning that we give up claim to our life, then He is able to fill us with new life.

Why Faith?

At this point, we are lead to ask: Why faith? Why does God demand faith? Why doesn’t He just give this to everyone and be done with it?

As shown previously, we cannot earn God’s grace. We need God to give us life and this life comes to us by faith in Jesus Christ. All of God’s gifts come to us by faith and we cannot receive anything unless we have faith. This was demonstrated by Christ through His miracles. Only those who had faith could be healed. But why?

In answering this question, it is important to reiterate what it is God wants from us. As said many times previously in this book, God desires our love. He wants us to love Him. This was the first and foremost command, that we love God. Love, however, cannot be forced upon anyone. Love is something we give willingly. Because of this, God is not seeking to force or impose Himself upon anyone. He doesn’t want to force anyone into submission. He wants willing worshippers. He wants people who delight in Him, not people who begrudgingly bow down in fear or selfishness.

This truth should be obvious to us as we look around us. If God wanted to force people into submission, then we would all know God and see Him. We would all be doing exactly as He wanted. There would be no question about His existence or about which God is the right one. God would be ruling over us like an evil dictator and we would not have any choice. But is this what we see? There are a multitude of religions and philosophies about God and truth. There is no visible or tangible sign that God even exists. We all have the ability to go our own way and deny God all together. Obviously, God is not forcing Himself upon anyone. In addition, if God wanted to force everyone into righteousness, then we all would all be doing good works. Like a programmed robot, we would automatically be doing exactly what God wanted. But is that what we see? People disobey God’s commands and openly attack His person without reprisal. The world is filled evil, violence, and suffering; and God does nothing to stop it. He allows us to do whatever we want. Obviously, God is not forcing Himself upon anyone. Instead, we see people trying to take God’s place by forcing others into submission. We see people who are oppressed and victimized by others. This is not the way of love. This is not the way of God.

Rather, God has given us all the freedom of faith. We may choose what we want to trust and what we don’t want to trust. And faith, which embodies trust, is an investment of oneself upon something else. When we place our faith in something, we submit ourselves to it. When we submit ourselves to God, this opens a door for God to give us what we need. For example, when we have faith in a building, we enter into that building and enjoy all the comforts a shelter bring. However, if we did not have faith in the building, we would not enter. By having faith in God, we are able to receive His gifts. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Christ demonstrated this while on earth. He did not force Himself on anyone. He had all the power of the universe, and yet He never used that power to force someone into obedience. Rather, He always called people by invitation. People came to Jesus seeking Him. They came with requests and He answered them. “As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you’; and their sight was restored.” (Matthew 9:27-30) Christ said, “according to your faith will it be done to you.” They received their sight according to their faith. If they did not have faith, they could not have been healed.

In this scenario, it was important for the blind men to have faith because, as Jesus pointed out, they had to believe He could heal them. Obviously, they came believing this already. If they did not believe Christ could heal them, they would not have sought after Jesus. Because they believed, they called out to Him. Therefore, faith was essential because without it they will not turn to Jesus for help.

Right now, Christ is sitting on His throne in Heaven waiting for people to turn to Him. He has the power to help them and heal them of their spiritual illness. All they need to do is come in faith believing that He can and will help them. He can help us overcome sin and live for God. He can and will fill our deep spiritual need. Many are quick to recognize and pray for our physical needs. However, our greatest need is spiritual. When Christ comes down from Heaven and heals our broken heart, then we are free to live to our fullest potential. We are no longer weighed down by death, but are filled with life. Christ is offering life to everyone. However, it requires that we have faith in Him to receive it.

Faith is essential because in faith we turn to Christ for help and submit ourselves to His power and authority. It is in our humble submission that He is able to help us. In our current state, we are fallen sinners infected with the disease of sin. We are slaves to sin. Our human nature is sinful. The human heart is wicked. Because of this, we do bad things. Christ came, not to force people into doing good things by placing a law over us; He came to change the root of the problem. He came to change people’s hearts and give them a new birth. He came to make dead people live. This involves a transformation that only God can produce. In this, we receive a new nature that is like Christ Himself.

Christ wants to give us a heart transplant. Our sinful heart is weighed down with guilt and wickedness. This is easily seen by our thoughts. What is in your thoughts? Do you think about doing good things, things that are pleasing to God? Or do you think about evil things? What things do you obsess or worry about? What things would you say or do if you had no restraint?

The wickedness of the human heart is becoming more prevalent as we engage in imaginary worlds created in books, movies, and video games. The human heart does not crave pleasant and peaceful worlds. We do not watch movies or play video games that are filled with pleasant and harmonious societies. Rather, we engage and interact in violence, lust, and greed. Video games are an excellent example of this. The majority of video games are focused on violence and killing. We are restrained from acting out like this in the world due to fear and consequences. However, in the imaginary world anything is permissible. We can shoot a person down in cold blood without facing any repercussion. If inwardly, we were good and loving, even this would disgust us. However, because the human heart is wicked, we find pleasure in these games. We play them for fun and pleasure. We enjoy violence, warfare, and conflict. We like to engage in contest, competition, and sports. It’s fun for us to fight against one another.

Christ wants to change this. His desire is that we live together in love, peace, and harmony. He wants to change our hearts and fill us with love. He is offering this gift to anyone who wants it. He isn’t forcing change upon anyone; however, if you are willing to come He will give you new life. We can enter into this wondrous gift by faith. When we submit ourselves unto His power, then He is able to transform us according to His will. When we melt in His hands, He is able to pour us into a new shape. We can become something that is pleasing both to God and ourselves. We can find the true fulfillment of life.

However, this can only come when we surrender completely to His power. We must invest ourselves in Him. Only then can Christ shape us, mold us, and change us according to His desire. Only then can we become all that God has intended for us to be. When we close ourselves off to Him by becoming rigid and demanding, we stop Christ from being able to work in us. All that we hold back from Him remains sinful and corrupt. That is why Christ said, “according to your faith may it be done unto you.” Christ could do no more than what a person allows Him. Christ wants to give you many good things. But you can only receive in proportion to your faith. Faith makes a way for God to work in us.

It is important to note that faith is not a work of our own. Faith is not something we do, it is something we give. We do not work hard at having faith. We do not produce faith. Rather, faith is simply an act of submission. We submit unto Christ. We bow down before Him. We make Him Lord and God over us. Faith is something we offer unto God. We say, “I believe in you Jesus that you can save me just as you claimed.” By doing this, we give God the authority and power to work in our lives. Christ becomes the vine (the root of the plant), and we become branches. The vine supplies the branch with all it needs to grow fruit. Likewise, when we are connected to Christ as Lord, He gives us all that we need to become Godly people.

It is also important to note that faith by itself is nothing. Many parade faith as though it were a power in itself. They try to use faith like it is a power to command. However, if faith were a power in itself, there would be no need of God. It is important to understand that faith alone is nothing. Faith does not produce anything. It is not a work. Faith, apart from the thing it trusts, cannot do anything for us. Rather, faith is a portal that connects us to something else. For instance, faith is like a fire hose. Without water, the fire hose is useless against a raging fire. The hose by itself is powerless. Only when water is pumped through the hose does it become useful against a fire. At the same time, the water could not be channeled against the fire without the hose. If the firemen did not have the hose, the water could not be directed at the fire. The water would splash all over the ground without reaching the fire. Likewise, faith without God is useless. It is God who works in us, not our faith. Faith only makes it possible for God to work within us.

We need to have faith for God to work. By placing our trust in God, we open a door for God to do amazing things in our lives. In addition to this, however, it is important to note that we cannot have faith in any God. We must have faith in God as He has been revealed to us. Otherwise, we are not placing our trust in the truth.

There is only one and true God in whom we trust. This God has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We cannot have faith in any god or create our own ideas about God. We must specifically have faith in God as He has been revealed. Therefore, if we are to be saved, we must have faith in Jesus Christ. As Christ said, “he who believes in me will live.” (John 11:25, emphasis added) We must believe in Jesus Christ and no other.

And so, this raises another question: why Christ?

Why Christ?

We need Christ in us or our faith is in vain. Our faith is made perfect when Christ puts His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, in us. When the Holy Spirit comes, we have God with us. This means God cleanses our heart and becomes the source of our life and being. In this way, we are able to live out our true purpose which is to love God. Christ gives us a new heart to love and desire God. He helps us to carry out God’s command to love other people. Christ Himself becomes the power or driving force behind us. In this way, we can live in peace. Without the Spirit of God within us, our faith is useless. We are like a firehouse with no water. We try to please God only to find our good works are like dirty rags. We do not have God to help us. We have not received God’s help or blessings. Without the Spirit in us, we do not know God and cannot worship Him in spirit and truth. Therefore, we need Christ living in us to make our faith true. Then we can live a life of faith which is a life committed to following Christ. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Jesus Christ is the author of our faith. This means that Christ pioneered our faith by exhibiting faith Himself. We can have faith because Christ lived a life of faith. He was the first to live out a life totally committed to God. He never once sinned. He made no mistakes. Rather, He lived as we should. Christ set an example that we should follow. This means we can look to Christ and know what to do based upon what He did. We can ask, “What would Jesus do?”, and this is what we should do. Christ had complete and total faith in His Father. He relied and depended upon His Father for all things. He did whatever the Father asked. He sought to please the Father. Christ did what we could not do. He lived a life without sin. He kept the whole Law of Moses. He denied Himself, His own pleasure, living out a life of love to the point of death. He gave His life so that others could live. Truly, He was God in flesh.

We can have faith in God because Jesus Christ has revealed God to us. He came down from Heaven and said, “This is who God is.” We can look at Jesus and see God. When Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life, His follower Philip said, “‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’“ (John 14:8-9)

Without Jesus, faith would not be possible. God would not have been revealed to us. We would be having faith in something we had never encountered which would not be faith, but fiction. For example, let’s say we were hiking and came to a gorge that we needed to cross. We look to our left and then to our right, but saw no bridge. We believed a bridge did exist having heard about others who had crossed it. Since we could not see the bridge, we used our reasoning to imagine a bridge. Then we stepped out into the empty air to walk across the bridge we imagined. To our horror, we did not land on a bridge, but fell down to our death. Having faith without a revelation of God is like trying to walk across a bridge that doesn’t exist. It isn’t faith but simply a belief based upon a personal preference rather than truth.

Jesus Christ is the revelation of God. He is the bridge to God. When we look to Christ, we are looking at a bridge across the gorge. When we come to the gorge, we see the bridge. We may not understand how to cross it, but we see it. This means faith is not blind. We have the Scriptures testifying to Christ. We have Christ’s followers who have His Spirit living in them testifying to Christ. We also have the Holy Spirit convicting of us of our sin causing guilt to weigh us down. God is not asking us to believe in something far fetched or impossible. Faith has been made possible by Christ. God has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We can have faith because we fix our eyes upon Jesus.

Throughout His life, Jesus showed God to us. Because of our sin, we were fearful of God. The Law of Moses showed us that we were sinners. We broke God’s commands. We should be afraid of God. The presence of evil and suffering in our lives causes us to question God. If God is truly supreme, then why does He allow so much evil? And yet, Christ answered this by showing that God loves us. God has a plan for us. Though we have sinned against God, He is offering forgiveness. This comes to us on the cross. Though the world is filled with evil and suffering, God is offering us hope. This comes to us in the resurrection of Christ. Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and because He lives we may also live. Christ will give new life to all His people. He will help them in this dark and evil world to live good and loving lives. He will also raise them up at a future date with a new home and new body.

Christ is the perfecter of our faith because our faith is made true when Christ lives in us. Building on the previous illustration; this is like coming to the gorge, seeing the bridge, stepping on it, and crossing to the other side safely. We placed our faith in the bridge and it held us up. Likewise, when we place our faith in Christ and He holds us up with His Spirit, then we our faith is perfected. We believe in Christ, and He answers. This means we truly feel forgiven, we truly feel at peace with God, we are able to conquer sin, and we are able to live a life pleasing to God. It is not something we imagine, it is something that truly happens. This is not a blind faith, it is a fulfilled faith. It is Christ in us.

All the gifts of God become ours when Christ sends His Spirit to live within us. He gives us the power we need to overcome sin and live meaningful lives. We know God in truth, not because we have an idea about Him, but because God lives within us. We have hope because the Holy Spirit gives us confidence. This is the truest knowledge we could ever have because this knowledge is embedded within us. We do not have to rely on external sources to tell us what to think or believe. We have the Spirit of God in us to lead us and guide us into truth. This makes all things possible. When God is truly with us, we can have peace in the greatest adversity, know love amidst the greatest suffering, and have hope to endure any hardship. This is the perfection of our faith: to know God in truth by having His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, living within us. We need the Spirit of Christ to possess the gifts of God.

Faith in Action

What has been written thus far may seem confusing and abstract. It may even seem like nonsense. Being separated from God, we are lacking in spirit. This means spiritual things are difficult for us. Scripture says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) Without the Spirit, much of what is being said may seem like foolishness to you. Certainly, it is difficult to understand.

This all leads, however, to a single question. It is the call of Christ: an invitation to join in the Kingdom of God. Having heard the good news of the Kingdom, the question becomes: Do you want it? Do you want to be saved and possess all the gifts of God? Do you want to believe in Christ?

If you do, then read on to the next chapter. If you are unsure, then spend some time pondering these things. If you don’t, then I am sorry.

The good news message of the bible has been offered to all people, regardless of nationality, gender, or race; however, it cannot be received unless it is first sought after. If you don’t want it, then you can’t have it. It’s really that simple. The choice is yours. God has given us all this freedom and this choice. He will honor, respect, and love us no matter our choice. God will remain the same despite what we say, do, or believe. The question is: Are you willing to change?