Rooted In Faith: Living By Faith

Have you ever been called “religious” or a “fanatic” because of your faith in Jesus? Those a just a few of the words people use to describe someone who claims to be a Christian.  Here are some other words people might use to describe you:  spiritual, holy, believer, devout, churchy, godly and Christ-follower.  But what you rarely hear people say are phrases like: he’s a person of faith or she lives by faith. And yet, it’s this last description that God uses to describe those who have trusted in Jesus.  He declares in Romans 1:17, that “The righteous will live by faith.” 

Now, most of us know what’s involved in coming to faith in Jesus. Faith comes by hearing the good news about Jesus. We hear that our sin offends a holy God and separates us from life with Him.  We hear that there’s no amount of good works we can do that will take away our sin – and that apart from God’s mercy we are under judgment.  But then we hear the good news that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son Jesus, to die in our place, to take away our sins, and reconcile us with God.  And upon hearing this, God asks of us is to turn from our sin and turn to Jesus and put our trust in Him.  So those who hear the good news and respond by putting their faith in Jesus become children of God. We become Christians.

But the question we need to ask this morning, is that once we’ve been saved by faith, how are we now to live by faith?  What’s that look like? After all, if living by faith is the description God uses to describe us, shouldn’t we have a clear idea of what that lifestyle looks like?  Shouldn’t we know what’s involvedin living by faith?

Well, that’s what we’re going to look at today as we return to Hebrews 11. So if you brought your Bible, let me encourage you to find Hebrews 11:7. For it is here, that Noah shows us what’s involved in living by faith.  In fact, in this verse, God’s Word reveals three characteristics of a faith-fueled lifestyle.   So, if you’ve found verse 7, lets look at this description of faith together:  By faith Noah, when warnedabout things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

Now the first characteristic of faith-fueled lifestyle is this:

Living by Faith Includes Believing All of God’s Word  Noah believed all of God’s Word.  He believed the good things about God.  He had a relationship with God. Genesis 6 tells us that Noah walked with God.  But we also see that Noah believed the hard teachings of God.  For in Hebrews 11:7, we see that Noah believed God’s warning of things not yet seen – His warning of judgment upon the wicked. This warning was given to Noah in Genesis 6: Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. Genesis 6:11-14

Noah did well.  But how do we do? Some of God’s Word is not popular; especially the parts that speak of God’s judgment to come. People don’t want to believe that God would destroy the wicked.  People don’t want to hear that they are sinners and that God hates sin.  And people don’t want to hear that there is such a thing as hell.  They would rather create a God in their own image, then take God at His Word.  Even Christians tend to pick and choose what we want to hear and ignore the hard teachings of God, especially teachings about God’s coming judgment.  But that’s a dangerous way to live. And Noah, well He didn’t live that way.

He lived by faith. He believed when warned of things not yet seen.  He had never seen rain, never seen a flood, and never seen God’s judgment, but he took God at His Word and so He obeyed God and began building the ark.

Noah’s situation is not that different from what we face today. Our world is becoming more and more corrupt and more and more violent, just like in the days of Noah. Sin and evil practices are now considered normal. The killing of innocents is made law and celebrated; gender bending is creating confusion and conflict in our culture; police officers are disrespected and just last week some were told they’re not welcome at Starbucks; and those who stand up for what is right are often slandered and sometimes beaten.  Our world is becoming more corrupt and violent. As a result, we can become dismayed and fearful with all the evil that seems so prevalent, or we can live by faith.

You see, like Noah, People who live by faith are willingto obey all of God’s Word, not just the parts that are easy.  People who live by faith believe God is loving, but they also believe He is just and will bring about justice for those who refuse His mercy.  So people who live by faith believe that the same God who judged the wicked in Noah’s day will one day judge all people; and as a result, we live differently.

God’s Word declares a coming day of judgment. That’s the message of Revelation: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15

The Book of Revelation is God’s warning of things not yet seen.  And since God is true and faithful in all He says and does, you can be assured that what is written here will happen. One day every person will be judged. You and I will be judged. We will either be judged by our works, or by our faith. Those who chose to be judged by their works, believe they don’t need God’s Savior.  But those who believe they need a Savior and trust in Jesus will have their names written in the book of life and will be saved.

This is God’s warning of things not yet seen. And just as God offered a way of salvation to Noah, by building the ark, God still offers a way of salvation, by trusting in Jesus.

That’s why living by faith involves believing in all of God’s Word.  We don’t pick and choose what parts we want to believe.  We live and act in light of a judgment that is yet to come.  And that begins with trusting in Jesus.  But it doesn’t end there.   It also means trusting that God is in control when it seems He is not.  It means trusting that God will right all wriongs.  Maybe not today, but someday. And it also means obeying Him with reverence no matter what others may say or do against you…  And that leads us to the second characteristic of a faith-fueled lifestyle:

Living by Faith Includes Reverent Responsiveness to God’s Word  What I love about this second characteristic is this is how Noah went about building the ark. Hebrews 11:7 says, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  This verse tells us his obedience was based on his inward devotion to God.  That’s what this phrase “holy fear” means.  Noah didn’t build the ark because he was afraid of judgment.  No, he built it because he had a reverent relationship with God. Noah had a history with God.  The Bible tells us that Noah walked with God, and this phrase “holy fear” tells us that Noah had it in his heart to please God in all that he did. He had an inner devotion to God in His walk with God.

This is such an important part of living by faith.  The beauty of Christianity is that it is not a religion.  We don’t have to perform religious ritual to gain God’s approval. No, God first loved us and we get to respond to His love with our acts of obedience.  So what we see here is Noah’s heart.  He wants to obey God because He loves God. And I would submit, we can’t live by faith without this same inner reverence. So like Noah, Genuine Spiritual devotion is what fuels obedient faith.

Noah built the ark because He loved God. He’d walked with God for a long time and had obeyed God over and over throughout his life.  His faith was fueled by his inner devotion to please God – that’s holy fear.  He had been faithful in the little things, so God entrusted Him with a big thing.  And God will do the same with you.  Jesus said it this way: “Whoever can be trustedwith very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Luke 16:10

You want to fuel your faith?  Then start obeying God in the little things. Walk with God.  Learn how good and faithful He is.  Remind yourself daily of how much He loves you and all He’s done for you in Christ, and you’ll grow in your reverence for Him.  True faith is grounded in your reverence for God.  That’s a faith that acts and a faith that lasts.  That’s the faith seen in Noah, and the faith God wants to grow in you.  Because the more you obey Him in the little things the easier it will be to obey Him in the bigger things.  And the more you obey Him the easier it will be to obey Him when your faith is challenged by the world we live in.  And that now leads us to the next thing that’s involved in a living faith:

Living by Faith Includes Faithful Obedience in anUnfavorable World  Noah had been faithful in the little things, but what God commanded Noah to do in building the ark would challenge his faith.  He would take 120 years to build this ark. So then, every tree he fell, every board he secured spoke to the unbelieving world that there’s a God of judgment. That meant he had to endure jokes, criticism and even opposition as he faithfully obeyed God’s command.

That’s why Noah’s faithfulness preached judgment on all those around him, because they refused to believe God was going to judge them.  2 Peter 2:5, calls Noah a preacher of righteousness.  He preached righteousness by his faithful obedience to God’s command in building the ark. He annoyed and angered his neighbors because God’s message of judgment was sitting there day after day and year after year, staring them right in the face. And he preached righteousness by telling anyone who asked, that God was going to judge the world with a flood.  So day after day, Noah’s faithfulness condemned a watching world.

That’s what happens when we live in faithful obedience to God’s Word. Our Faithfulness expresses belief in contrast to the unbelief of those around us. Thus, our faithfulness will condemn others due to their unbelief.

Perhaps that’s one reason some chose to keep their faith private today. We all struggle with this.  It’s not popular to be an outspoken Christian today. It’s not popular to live out your faith in such a way that people know you follow Jesus.  Sometimes our fear of what others will think trumps our fear of God. Sometimes our fear of offending or loosing a friend tempts us to compromise our faith, so that we live and act in ways that are no different then those who don’t believe. We all want to be liked and accepted, but when you live by faith, when you continually obey God and don’t compromise your faith, you will make people feel uncomfortable, threatened and even judged by your faith.

In fact, the longer you obey Christ, the more likely you will be criticized, mocked or even hated for your faith.  This should come as no surprise to us. For Jesus said this would happen: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19  Perhaps its time we let our love for God trump our love of the world.  We are not of this world.  We are citizens of the kingdom of God.  God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.  God did not call us to be popular but to live by faith before a watching world.  People are watching to see if your faith is real because they are looking for something genuine to trust in.  And people are watching so when you mess up they can tear you down, or tear down Christianity so they can feel better about themselves.  This is the way Noah lived for 120 years in front of an unbelieving people.  And for that God rewarded his faith. And that’s the last thing we see from Noah’s life today:

Living by Faith Results in God’s Favor  Noah is a remarkable model of what it means to live by faith.  He believed God’s Word concerning judgment about things not yet seen, so he responded in obedience and built the ark.  But he didn’t build the ark out of fear of judgment, but out of his reverential fear of the God he knew.  And he kept at it for 120 years even though no one else believed.  He lived by faith.  And so God rewarded him.

God rewards true faith.  God’s righteousness is only given by God to those who trust in Him. Noah lived by faith and it was credited to him as righteousness. He is the first person in the Bible whose faith was credited to him as righteousness. He trusted God, God rewarded His faith. Too often, we get it backwards.  We think that righteousness can somehow be achieved by keeping the law, by doing good works or by living a moral life.  But that’s not how righteousness is received.

Listen again to how righteousness is received.  God’s Word says: No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness isgiven through faith inJesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:20-23

The righteousness of God has been made known.  For Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God.  And when you believe in Him, God graciously gives you His righteousness. He fills your life with the righteousness life of Christ and you are now perfect in His eyes.  That’s the reward of faith.  And that is why, the righteous live by faith.

Lets pray!