Faith: The Pillar for Spiritual growth

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“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

When God created man, He said “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us..” – Genesis 1:26 (NLT). This is the first verse in the bible to indicate that God is not a single entity. Many verses show that He is triune (consisting of three parts in one).

It is therefore obvious that human beings have similar image and some, likeness just like God (Gen 1:26). We know that the triune God is the Father, Son, and Spirit. Human beings are tripartite (consists of three parts) as indicated in Gen 1:26. These three parts are body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonian 5:23).

The word image in Gen 1:26 refers to the outward appearance of a human being (the body), while the phrase “to be like us” or word likeness in other translations, refer to the inward parts (soul and spirit)

Many bible scholars use the word mind instead of soul when describing the second part of a human being. However, the mind is part of the soul. The soul also consists of three parts (mind, emotion and will) and the mind is the leading part of the soul (Witness Lee).

The spirit is the part we use to communicate (either through prayer, worship or praise) with God (John 4:24, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth).

As human beings, we already resemble the image of God outwardly, but few looks like Him inwardly (life, nature, expression and function). The prime purpose of spiritual growth is for us to be like Jesus Christ in life, nature, expression and function (https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/285/4).

Spiritual growth by definition is the process of personality transformation towards a spiritual desired character in order to become more like Jesus Christ. Christ is the embodiment of all the positive things in the universe and the bible describe Him as kind, holy, gentle, pure, loving, trustworthy, etc. God’s greatest desire is for human beings to be like his son, Jesus Christ.

Faith, on the other hand, is the pillar for our spiritual growth. In Christianity, it all start by a belief in Jesus Christ as the Lord and saviour. Faith is the belief, conviction and confidence that someday we will receive all our desires in relation to Christ and an assurance of receiving all the things we hope for.

The bible tells us, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we get saved and receive His life.
Through faith, this life we receive inwardly, grows and take Christ nature and replaces the human nature of judgmental into understanding.

Through faith, the life that changes our human nature enable us to express Christ effortlessly.
Through faith, the life that makes us express Christ effortlessly, afford us to function like Him as loving, caring, gentle and non-judgemental, holy, forgiving and so forth.

In Luke 17:5, the apostles pleaded with Christ and said “Lord, increase our faith” - because the concept of forgiveness, understanding, and loving others despite repenting seemed impossible for them. Jesus replied and said “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you (NIV).

In closing, I pray that the word of God in Roman 12:2 makes a very good impression in your hearts – “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 5, 2019 at 5:44 AM

    Wonderful man.Thank you for such reviving information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. steinger23November 5, 2019 at 11:35 PM

    It's a pleasure :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownNovember 7, 2019 at 3:35 AM

      Just as small as a mustard seed, the Lord doesn't require much from us to perform miracle for US.

      Delete
    2. steinger23November 8, 2019 at 2:52 AM

      Hallelujah!!!

      Delete

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