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In Galatians 3:1-4, the Apostle Paul identifies three reasons we backslide. Today, we will consider the second of these three.
Whereas, the first reason we backslide, given in v.1, is that we lose sight of Jesus' cross, the second, found in v.2, is we forsake a life of faith.
Paul writes, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?" Faith has always been the basis upon which one is made righteous in the eyes of God. In fact, Romans 4:3 reads, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” And, in Hebrews 11:6 we read, "without faith it is impossible to please God."
Faith is the only human thing that pleases God. Yet, faith is the primary responsibility of God in the life of the believer. The key for the believer is receiving, perhaps the hardest thing we can do. The Greek word for faith is "pistis" which means to persuade.
Our trust in God is not based on our efforts to hold on to God, it is based on His persuasion. God persuades us through revealing Himself to us and showing His goodness to us. So, faith is a gift, and it is not the product of those who are stronger or better in any way.
The issue is the object of our faith. Jesus said, "no one gets to the Father but through me." Believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross and the fact that He was buried and He rose from the dead results in what life is really about. Real life, the life Jesus died to give us, produces everything we all long for in this life. And the more we respond to Him, the more He persuades us to believe bigger. And He is big. In fact, our understanding of Him is way too small, due to our lack of faith.
I am told the African Impala can jump up to 11 feet up and 30 feet out. If we were to go to our local zoo to observe the Impala, we would notice that the walls containing the empala is only 4 feet tall.
Naturally, we question, " why do the Impalas stay? Why do they not just jump the short barrier before them? The answer? The African Impala will only jump to the spots which he can see with his eyes. This illustrates why we do not take leaps of faith. We have lost sight of where to jump.
God is holy which means He acts consistently with His character. He does for us what we can not do for ourselves. It is impossible to please God without faith in His Son because His Son has measured up for us who have placed our faith in Him.
Years ago I coached varsity baseball at a local high school. One day, after a big region victory, my four year old son (at that time) climbed up the bleachers behind me. I was not aware of him being up on the top rung, about five feet off the ground. When I noticed him, he said, "Daddy catch me." I walked over to him, about a foot away and I told him to "jump." He then said, "back up, Daddy."
I tell you this story to illustrate this point: to the degree that we know how good and how big God is, we will want to show off His ability to catch us. Now, if my son was illustrating his ability to jump, well, that's another story. But, for the sake of our subject today, I accentuate my son's Daddy's ability to catch him. If I, his earthly Daddy, delights in catching my trusting little boy, how much more does God want to display His ability to do the same for His trusting child?
Finally, I am glad that God does not quantify the amount of our faith that we need to be "acceptable" by Him. No, He accentuates the object by saying, "Come unto ME."
