“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)
“Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. (Acts 27:25)
“yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Romans 4:20-21)
God has asked you to take and lay up His Word in your heart. The Word is taken and received into the innermost depths of your heart through the avenue of faith. Let the disciple take pains to better understand what faith is. He will, then gain an insight into the reasons why such great things are connected to faith. He will have a perfect belief in the idea that full salvation is dependent upon faith.
Let me now ask my reader to read over the three texts which stand above. Find out what the principal thought is that they teach about faith… First read these words of God and ask yourself what they teach you about faith.
They help us to see that faith always attaches itself to what God has said or promised. When an honorable man says anything, he also does it. So it is with God. Before He does anything, He reveals it through His Word. When the Christian becomes possessed with this conviction, established in it, God always does what He has said. With God, speaking and doing always go together. The deed always follows the Word. “…Has He said, and will He not do it?…” (Numbers 23:19).
When I have a Word of God in which He promises to do something, I can always be sure that He will do it. I simply have to believe the Word and wait upon God. God will fulfill His Word to me. Before I feel or experience anything, I hold onto that promise. I know by faith that God will make it good to me.
What then is faith? Nothing other than the certainty that what God says is true. When God says that something exists, then faith rejoices although it sees nothing of it. When God says that He has given me something, that something in heaven is mine, I know by faith that it truly is mine.With faith, I am able to believe God when He says that something will come to pass, or that He will do something for me. Faith secures those things that are, but that I have not yet seen, and that are not yet, but will come. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith always asks only for what God has said, and then relies on His faithfulness and power to fulfill His Word.
Let us review again the words of Scripture. Of Mary we read, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” (Luke 1:45).
All things that have been spoken in the Word will be fulfilled for me. Therefore, I believe them. It is reported that Abraham was fully assured that God would fulfill what He had promised him. This is the assurance of faith, to be assured that God will do what He has promised. It is written in the Word about Paul, “for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told” (Acts 27:25). It stood fixed with him that God would do what He had spoken.
Fellow Christian, the new and eternal life in you is a life of faith. And do you not see how simple and blessed that life of faith is? Every day I go to the Word and hear what God has said that He has done and will do. I take time to house in my heart the Word in which God says that. I hold it firmly, entirely assured that what God has promised He is able to perform. And then, in a childlike spirit, I await the fulfillment of all the promises of His Word. And my soul experiences, “Blessed is she that believed, for the things that have been spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled.” God promises, I believe, God fulfills. That is the secret of the new life.
Prayer:
Father, Your child thanks You for this blessed life of faith in which we have to walk. I can do nothing, but You can do all. All that You can do has been spoken in Your Word. Every Word that I take and trustfully bring to You is fulfilled. Father, in this life of faith, so simple, so glorious, I will walk with You. Amen.
From The New Life, chapter 4. Original title–“Faith” (with minor editing)
Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was a highly respected pastor and author from South Africa. See his bio here: www.christianitytoday.com/
Honorable Mention
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