June 19 – LD 25, Day 2: How God Works Faith
by Rev Arie den Hartog
Read: Ephesians 4:11 to 16
We first believe when we
are regenerated by the Spirit of God. In our regeneration, God gives us the
power to believe. He wonderfully changes our hearts from being unbelieving and
rebellious, to being repentant and believing. God works in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit, renewing our minds, and giving us new
understanding so that we can receive His truth. The heart is the
spiritual center of man. When God regenerates us, He gives us a new heart. He
makes us willing and active in our own faith. All of these are wonderful
aspects of God’s work when He gives us the gift of true faith.
When we are born again,
we are babes in Christ who must be fed and nourished by the Word of God. We
must grow to maturity in the faith. We must be made strong and steadfast in the
faith, able to face opposition and to distinguish the truth from the many false
teachings that are in the world. We need to be edified, to be built up in the
faith. Eph 4:13 speaks of growing up in “the stature of the fullness of
Christ:”
Faith is not a mere
passing emotion or momentary exciting experience. Our faith must be founded on
the knowledge of the truth of God. If this is not the case with us, then
according to the words of the apostle in Eph 4: 14, we will always be children,
‘”tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”
To avoid this tragic end, so common in the lives of many professing Christians,
we must be made strong in the faith.
The preaching of the
Word is not only the means whereby we are first called to faith,
it is also the means God continually uses to build us up and make us strong in
our faith. We must be strong in our faith so that we might be able to endure
the temptations of sins, the trials that God sends us in our lives, and doubts
and fears common to the Christian life. We must be strong in the knowledge of
the truth of the Word of God so that we are not deceived and led away again
from the Lord. The way of the devil is to deceive and thereby to lead astray
those who once believed, by leading them away from faith in God and Jesus
Christ.
Our faith in God and the knowledge of His truth must equip us for a life of
good works whereby we serve our Lord and glorify Him in every part of our
life.
The means of grace are
therefore very important for the Christian. He or she must not despise them in
his/her life. If anyone does this, he/she will inevitably become weak,
unstable, and vulnerable to the work of the devil to destroy him/her.
In Eph 4, we are told
that the exalted Lord of His church gave to her, apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers. All of these men were given the solemn duty
of preaching the Word of God in order to strengthen the faith of the saints of
God, to equip them fully for their Christian life, and for their calling in
turn to edify one another in the love of Christ, building each other up in the
knowledge and love of the truth of the Word of God.
We are greatly in need
of the means of grace and should attend to them faithfully, especially by going
to church every Lord’s Day.