Faith II ...

Wednesday, July 23, 2014. Faith is the core of Christianity. Faith is much more than an abstract belief - much more than thinking that some things are true, others are wrong. It is more than ethics, though it contains a lot of ethics as well.

Joy where joy is difficult …

Paul writes about faith in a special way. In Romans 5 we have read about the justification through faith in Christ Jesus. But there is much more written here, read the second part of the passage:

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Ro 5, 1-5)

It is not that suffering by itself would have any value! No. But when suffering generates endurance, endurance generates character, character produces hope, then there is value coming from the whole process. Paul sees the end, and that generates joy already at the beginning, when there seems to be no real reason for joy - in the middle of the suffering.

Not put to shame …

What is this all about? It is about God's love. It is about hope - since he will not let us down. It is about his presence, and his wonders. He is the almighty God, nothing is impossible for him. It is about faith - about an attitude, which is putting its full trust in him!

When you are a part of the normal society, it might be quite difficult to put your full trust in him. We are used to putting our trust in many different things. We trust our posessions. We trust our skills. We trust insurances. We trust the state, particular companies, other people. We trust a lot, day by day, and we build our life on this trust. But nothing will hold, except for the Lord's grace!

He is the beginning and the end. He is the only point in this world where trust has a sound basis. He is the only reasonable fundament we should rely on. And he will not let us down in our challenges and our suffering. His arm is not too short to help us. His hope is not too weak to become the driving force in our life. And in all of this, we will gain endurance. We will gain character. We will gain hope - and then in this hope experience him, his help and his guidance, his presence, his love, which has long been poured into our hearts. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts