Living Faith ( The Victors Mentality 38)

 Glory to Jesus! I welcome you all to another wonderful time of gleaning from the Word through this series. It is my prayer that the Lord will encounter you in a tremendous way as you read, in Jesus’ name.

By God’s grace, we’ll continue from where we stopped in the last article. We’ve been considering the victor’s mentality, taking our insight from Ephesians 6.

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Ephesians 6:16)

Currently, we’re looking at the shield of faith.

We’ve seen what it means for faith to be a shield, and recently, we started looking at the encounters of faith. I said that Christian faith starts at salvation—what we call saving faith—and this same saving faith becomes justifying faith if we continue on the path of faith we began our Christian journey with. I also said in the last article that justifying faith is that faith that receives Christ and His finished work on the cross as the only basis for acceptance.

Today, we’ll look at another encounter of the Christian faith: living faith, or what I call daily faith.

Look at Romans 1:17: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”

At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit infuses faith in us like a seed. But just like any seed, this seed of faith has the capacity to become a mighty tree depending on how we apply it. You remember Jesus said, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain…” It’s not always about debating the size of your faith, because it’s clear that at salvation, we’ve received the faith of Christ. But we need to grow in it and live by it so it becomes great in us.

Going back to this verse, the Bible says we grow in the understanding of the righteousness (the nature) of Christ we’ve received as we continue in faith. A new believer, when Christ encounters him, knows something has changed, but he isn’t completely aware of the kind of life he’s received. As he journeys in faith, the Holy Spirit begins to unveil it more and more until he becomes robust, unmovable, or unshakable by whatever happens around him.

So, I’ll define living faith as the ongoing, daily expression of the faith by which we were justified.

Again, going back to this scripture, the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.” That means there’s no way you can live by faith if you haven’t encountered justifying faith. In other words, if you don’t see yourself accepted simply because of what Jesus has done, you cannot live by faith. It is the just who live by faith!

Let me ask you: How can you rely on a person if you don’t know that he has accepted you? How do you commit your day or look to Him for direction if you don’t believe He loves you—not because of your performance, but because of His? How do you relate to Him about your heartache, desires, doubts, etc., if you don’t believe He cares for you?

Some see God as one waiting for your next mistake to smite you. Relax, beloved—He isn’t waiting for it; He has covered it all in His atonement. You just come to Him who is, and who is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Justifying faith changes our standing before God so that you’re assured that you are welcome, loved, chosen, and accepted—not because of performance but Christ’s redemptive work—then living faith begins to shape our walk with God.

Notice I also call it daily faith because it’s meant to be used daily—whether you feel like it or not, up or down. If faith must grow, it has to be applied daily. You have to learn to live a life that always sets the Lord before you, seeing Him wherever you go, relating to Him every step of the way. Living faith isn’t a dramatic leap once in a while, like those waiting for the water to be stirred at the pool of Bethesda in John 5. It’s a steady walk—step after step, day after day.

You may err today or in a moment—you don’t stay there. You repent immediately; that shifts your focus back to Christ. It may require cross-correction, but the point is you’re not giving up on seeing all that Christ has been made to be manifest in your daily walk. He is our peace, prosperity, health, and life—and more.

You don’t wait for a crisis before knowing you have a God who is always with you. He wants you to relate to Him consistently. 

Living faith is making daily withdrawals from what God has already deposited—grace, wisdom, peace, strength, and more. 

You always want to see these manifest in your life because you’re assured Christ has provided them.

The question is: How do you see yourself? How do you see Christ in relation to yourself?

Do you see a life accepted and loved, which translates into a divine daily walk with Christ?

Brethren, prayerfully meditate on these things.