TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
WHO IS THE OBJECT OF YOUR FAITH?
10th June 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello
KEY SCRIPTURE/MEMORY VERSE: Colossians 1:4(ERV)
We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people.
As life progresses with its twists and storms, its easy for a believer’s faith to be like fireworks- hot today when it’s activated but fizzled out tomorow when we don’t see the fulfilment or manifestations we’ve believed for.
The scriptures give a necessary reminder about the quality our faith is made of. Our faith, the faith the gospel produces is faith that perseveres till the end.
Do you remember the story when Jesus was talking to his disciples, the seventy, who had come with the testimony of how they had cast out demons, healed the sick and other spiritual gymnastics in Luke 10? What did Jesus say to them?
He said don’t rejoice in your ability to do this, rejoice in the fact that your names are in the book of life.
What does this tell us? Jesus was saying that spiritual experiences, the move of the Spirit etc. are not the markers to establish whether is genuinely saved or not.
Even though while you are saved, you have been given the authority to cast out demons, what is the main point is genuine faith. Faith that lasts the end.
Also, something very significant I want you to note about faith is that the object of faith is Christ. In the first place, believing in the gospel is believing the good news of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins.
And if you go back to Colossians 1:3-4, Paul gave thanks for the church at Colosse because he had heard of their faith in Christ. IN CHRIST.
It’s not just a general belief in God. Because the world today has no problem believing in God, but not everyone believes in Christ. And that’s a subtle deception.
This distinction is important because God can’t make sense to you without Jesus(Hebrews 1:1-2).
Christ is the power of God(1 Corinthians 1:24), He is the expression of God’s intention for mankind, His love and His age-long, mysterious plan to save the world.
So the object of your faith is faith in Christ Jesus, not faith in faith. Not faith in believing the fact that you are saved.
It’s not about believing in the fact that you are saved that gets you saved, it is believing in a PERSON that gets you saved.
There’s a story of a great evangelist who once asked a guy if he was born-again, and he said yes. When the evangelist asked how he knew or what was his conviction, he said “Because I believe.”. So the evangelist probed further “What do you believe?”. And the guy answered, “I believe what my church believes.”
And as the evangelist kept asking more questions to find out what really believed, the guy couldn’t say what he or his church believed.
Wow.
Look friends, there’s nothing like an unthinking Christianity.
This thing we call faith in Christ has to be understood. How can you believe in the gospel and be unaware of whom you have believed in?
You must have an answer for your faith(1 Peter 3:15).
You must know the object of your faith.
REFLECTION
Who/In What is the object of my faith?
DECLARATION
-I believe in the gospel, therefore the seed of the gospel produces fruit in my life.
-This gospel produces the genuine markers of authentic believers; of Faith, Love and Hope in me.
-My faith is not just a firework of emotions that burns and fizzles out. It perseveres till the end.
-I not only believe the gospel, The hearing of the gospel stirs up faith in my heart in the person of Christ who died and resurrected for my forgiveness and salvation.
-The object of my faith is Christ. I know whom I have believed.
-My Christian faith is not unthinking, I am equipped to communicate the person in whom my faith is.
-As the gospel produces enduring faith and love for all saints through me, God is glorified and the gospel is testified of.
Hallelujah!
HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)
Listen to Fruits of the Gospel 2 >> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud
