The Layers of Faith ...

Monday, Mar 3, 2014. There are several layers of faith. All of them are important. Only when they all come together, we will be able to live a sustainable faith! With one leg it is difficult to walk. Half a faith is difficult to maintain …

Trust, Knowledge, Wisdom, Ethics, Experience …

Faith, first of all, is trust. We trust the Lord. We trust our life to the Lord. We give our life into his hands. The bible speaks of faith as a new birth. It is something so deep, that it can only be described by death and new life! But it all starts with and is trust. Without trust, without giving yourself fully into HIS hands, there will not be faith.

The trust we have in Christ is linked to what happened at the cross of Calvary. He died there, to open a new door into God's world. He died to generate full justice, to clarify how deeply God loves us, while being the holy God, the pure God, the God who wants full justice for us and for all others! Insight is part of faith, insight into humanity, into guilt, into being lost, into being found. There is no faith without this type of knowledge.

Wisdom and knowledge is often linked in the New Testament. It is about insight into God's deep wisdom, when he acts in this world. It is about his choices, how to save the world, and how to be king of the world. Christ is God's wisdom for us, God's love for us, his salvation and power for us.

Act and See …

We cannot believe without doing what we believe. Faith is not idleness. Faith is about action. It is about doing what you think. I would even say: it is impossible not to do what you believe. What you do is what you believe. What you do shows your belief, either that you trust the Lord, or that you do not trust him - what ever your lips may say.

Only when you do what you believe, you can expect experiences with your faith. Only when you trust and act, you will see what the Lord does. Without the trust, your actions will be void. And without the actions, your trust will be void. To be filled, you need to trust him, in all your weakness. Trust him, and rely on him, and then see. He might not always act immediately. But often, you will see his power in your life right away, when your full trust starts!

We should not forget the layers of faith. They are all there, in the biblical books of the New Testament. Jesus reminds us often enough, and so do the Apostles Paul and John and James. We need trust, and insight (knowledge), and wisdom, and we need to act accordingly, and then see the beauty and love of the Lord come to us, with all his blessings! Great is the Lord, great he is indeed. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts