A Faith That Saves
Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Sometimes I feel sorry for people who are learning English, because we have words that sound the same but have different meanings. For example: None and nun. Are you talking about a quantity of zero or a religious sister? That’s confusing! Clicks and cliques. Are you referring to a type of sound or an exclusive group? You can’t tell without context. Mrs. and misses. You don’t know if that is a basketball game or a wedding. Maybe the wedding is happening at the basketball game, who knows.
In Romans 4 Paul tries to clear up confusion around a word that is central to the Gospel. Faith. In this chapter, Paul shares the story of Abraham and how he continually trusted God. One primary indicator of saving faith is saying, “yes” to God. Abraham trusted God enough to leave his home and follow God before knowing the destination. Jesus often did the same thing with his disciples. If we want to grow in our faith we need to first trust in God’s promises. God is for you. He wants what is best for you. Secondly, we need to rely on God’s mercy. Abraham did not follow God perfectly. In fact his journey was rather messy, but God was merciful.
How about you? Is there an area of your life where you need to trust God? Maybe a relationship or move that God has been calling you to but you just haven’t had the courage to take the step? Do you trust God fully with your future, finances, and time?
Take a moment to read and reflect on Romans 4 and trust God with something new this week. Remember God wants what is best for us and when we trust Him he grows our faith and gives us a life that is abundant.
God Bless,
Mike