God promises and gives us grace to live according to His word. The single basic thing God looks for in us to walk in His promises is faith: not mere intellectual belief, but trusting faith in His faithfulness; a kind of trust that honors God through action, knowing that as you do your part, God will do His part—the bigger part!
“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…” (Romans 4:16).
How simple His word is: “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
RELEVANCE
Beyond His word, God has given us His Holy Spirit—His empowering agent that resides in us—to enable us to walk in faith. The disciples experienced this promise on the day of Pentecost. What Jesus taught them about abiding in Him through the Spirit, they applied; and so can you. It’s God’s guarantee for us to experience here on earth until we get to heaven and experience Him eternally!
“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33).
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Truly, the Holy Spirit is God’s agent of grace to be actively experienced. Some see the Holy Spirit as the passive presence of God. To some degree that is true. The Holy Spirit will not intrude. However, the power of the Holy Spirit is accessible and invoked as we actively ask.
Consider how Jesus taught the disciples how to ask of God. In John 16:23-24 Jesus distinguished between two ways to ask. Note the two verbs used:
And in that day you will ask (erotao) Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask (aiteo) the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked (aiteo) nothing in My name. Ask (aiteo), and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
The first verb, erotao, conveys an impersonal type of question. It is basically used to interrogate, ask for mere head knowledge; in essence ask to know information. On the other hand, the LORD wants us to ask in earnest for the sake of transformation. Therefore, He used the word, aiteo, which means to crave, desire, require; or earnestly ask because you really want to know and experience God’s active grace.
Interestingly enough, when the LORD instructed how to ask of God in prayer, He used the same active verb, aiteo.
Ask, (aiteo) and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks (aiteo) receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
For this reason, the LORD and the apostles continuously exhorted believers to have great passionate trusting faith. As we walk and apply God’s word in such manner, our heart will bear witness that we have applied and acted upon God’s word in spirit and truth, giving us the assurance and confidence of our faith, producing inner peace.
REFLECT AND RELATE
How do you know the Holy Spirit is present within you?
How can you invoke or stir the gifts and endowments of the Spirit to flow within you?
God’s word reveals this. His grace has provided it. It simply takes trusting faith to walk in it. See the references below.
REFERENCES
John 14:25-27; 16:5-15; Ephesians 5:15-21; Romans 12:1-21; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11