The Power of Your Faith
For by grace you have been saved through faith. Ephesians 2:8
Our faith in the finished work of Jesus (on the cross) saves us. Eternal Grace and mercy from Jesus Christ are ours when we place our faith in Him. When this happens, our eyes are on him, our heart is full of Him, our actions are obedient to Him. We are saved. Everything in the Bible explains that the LOVE of God and the GRACE of God are never failing. They will never lapse and there is nothing that can separate us from His love. He loved us before we had faith. He loves us when we have faith. He loves us if we don’t have faith anymore. There is nothing (sin) that the Grace of God can nothing overcome. However, there is ample evidence in life and tons of scripture that show OUR faith in His grace can fail. (see scripture list below)
Check out this passage from 1 Peter 1:3
1 Peter 1: 3 According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In other words, that powerful promise of Salvation hinges on and is guaranteed by OUR faith. It keeps going:
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Our faith will be tested throughout our life. Even God will test our faith! We desire that our faith will pass the test. It will be strong and secure our place in the Grace. All the gospels (Matt, Mark, Luke, John) and the epistles show us how to strengthen our faith. The final verse states that ultimately, the outcome of our faith is the salvation of our souls (or the lack thereof).
If your faith is resting in the blood of Jesus, then you do not have to worry about anything coming in between you and God. Not even sin can take down your salvation. However, if we allow our eyes to shift from Jesus, then we will begin to waver in our faith. We will put our faith in men or religious activities. We will fall. We will be separated from God. We must stay attentive to the Word of God. Read and do. Listen and obey. Worship together. Serve one another. Each of these activities firmly attaches our faith to God and we are secure in Him.
-robin
Romans 11:17-25 1 Corinthians 8:11-13 1 Corinthians 9:27 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 2 Corinthians 7:10 Galatians 2:15, 3:9 Galatians 6:8 Ephesians 2:4 –10 Ephesians 4:30 Ephesians 5:3 Colossians 3:5-6 1 Timothy 1:18-20 1 Timothy 4:1 2 Timothy 2:12 1 Peter 4:18-19 2 Peter 1:10-11 2 Peter 2:4-22 Hebrews 4:6-11, 16 Hebrews 6:4-6, 12 Hebrews 10:26-31 James 2:12-17 James 5:19-20 1 John 2:3-6
Posted on March 4, 2010, in Daily Word and tagged faith, grace, once saved always saved, works. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Robin Steele 
When your faith is in Jesus Christ, you will have amazing works and fruit of the Spirit evident in your life. When your faith is in Jesus Christ and you sin, you are convicted and are quick to ask forgiveness. Your faith in Him keeps you on the right track of ‘straight and narrow’.
When your faith is not in Jesus Christ, you might act ‘churchy’, but your heart is not in the right place. Even if you do good works, will not be saved because salvation doesn’t come by good works. You can drift from God. You can find yourself ‘living in sin’, not realizing the distance you have gone from God.