Faith In Christ?

Ask any Christian in America if they put their faith IN Christ and they will respond “Yes!”

Ask them if they believe that their faith in Christ will save them from their sins and allow them to live in heaven for eternity, and they will say “Yes!”

I know if you had ask me the same question a few years back that is how I would have responded, but I have been shown the importance of one word. It is the difference between ‘in’ and ‘of.’

The Bible is careful in how it describes our journey of faith. There are those who put their faith in God or Jesus, and they are the religious. Then there are those who enter into a completely different level where their faith exceeds that of the religious. Those are the people who have received the gift of faith from Christ.

The difference is to whom the faith belongs. Are we putting our faith in Christ or do we have a faith that belongs to Christ, of Christ, and are we being led by this dynamic faith?

Anything I have made, or any effort I make is always imperfect and will fail at some point. I can create a faith in Christ that I work at with a great deal religious passion. I can stand around all day and say over and over to myself, “I believe, I believe, I believe…” and still be riddled with doubts. The Bible tells me of a man who encountered Christ and said “I believe, help my unbelief.” Man…that is true for me, how about you?

How does Christ help our unbelief? He offers us the gift of faith that comes with His Holy Spirit. He offers to measure it out to us in degrees that we can handle. If we want more all we have to do is be faithful with what we have been given, ask for more and He will give more.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

-Romans 12:3

Clearly faith is a gift of God rather than something we create. In the parable of the talents Jesus shows us that as we use the gift of faith we have been given, we will receive even more according to His purpose, BUT it is Christ who gives faith and in different proportions according to what we can handle and the world needs.

What difference does the articles ‘in’ and ‘of’ make…all the difference in the world! Do we have our own personal faith in Christ, or have we received the faith of Christ in our hearts? How are we relating to this gift and are we using it for the glory of God? The answer may be the difference between more religion and stepping into a whole new world of faith.