Breakthrough Faith by Larry Sparks

Author:Larry Sparks [Sparks, Larry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7684-0452-4
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.

WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM?

Faith is not something that we just come up with in our own ability; we received faith as a gift from a gracious God the day we were translated out of darkness into the Kingdom of God and were born again. Each of us received breakthrough faith the day we became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! Ephesians 2:8-9 gives us the clearest picture of how we received faith for salvation: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV).

Faith does not come from us. It is not natural in origin. As human beings, we do not have the ability to just conjure up faith. The first activation of faith that we make is when we trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. To believe the message of the Gospel and actually become transformed by it demands supernatural faith. This is why so many mock the message of the cross.

Paul was absolutely correct in remarking that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18). This verse alone refutes the idea that we can will up enough faith to become a Christian. Apart from God’s invasion, the Gospel remains foolish. You and I are perishing until God supernaturally confronts us and miraculously deposits faith into our spirits. It takes a miraculous act of God for us to believe in the message of the cross. Apart from God giving each of us the “measure of faith,” it is absolutely impossible for us to embrace the liberating truth of salvation and become born again.

Here is the problem then: when we view faith as something we can create on our own, then we will always be striving toward an upgrade, a new level, or a fresh revelation in order to receive more faith. There will always be more faith that we can possess, earn, attain, or build.

In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul is very intentional about reminding us that faith is nothing we can will up using our own strength or willpower. Faith to believe in God’s grace is a wondrous gift of God. Faith is a gift and grace is a gift. We cannot earn salvation. We cannot work for it. We cannot do enough good things to include ourselves in God’s family, and there are not too many bad things we can do to exclude us. God gives you and me supernatural faith to believe in His unmerited, amazing grace. Billy Graham describes faith as “the channel through which God’s grace to us is received. It is the hand that reaches out and receives the gift of His love.”41

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