The Strand Study Bible

DEUTERONOMY

DEUTERONOMY

400

THE TIME HAS COME for me to reorganize my life, my peace – I cry out. I cannot adjust my life to secure any fruitful peace. Here I am at sixty-four, still seeking peace. It is a hopeless dream. 3

Lesson #6. Faith alone leads to maturity (Mt 5:48)

This word ( perfect ) is the Greek word τ ελει ο ι ( teleioi ) and means, “ complete, of full age, mature, all grown up .” Just as there are three stages to the human life, there are three stages to the Christian life: 1. Infancy (I Pet 2:2) 2. Adolescence (Heb 5:12 and II Pet 1:5) II Pet 1:5 – Every Christian is commanded to “grow in grace” ( add to your faith ) during the adolescent stage of the Christian life. In order to grow, every Christian is admonished to “add to his faith” ( the willingness to give God the “last say” in his life) the following seven building blocks (in order): * virtue – the continuous want to do right ( Acts 10:35 ) * knowledge – the understanding of what is right; you cannot do right unless you know what is right * temperance – developing the character to keep on doing what’s right * patience – learning to wait on God for the results of having done what’s right * godliness – doing what’s right each day * brotherly kindness – doing what’s right on Sunday * love – doing God right (Jn 14:15) 3. Adulthood (maturity - Colo 1:25-28 and Heb 5:12 - 6:2) Heb 5:12 - 6:2 – Maturity ( full age ) comes from “accepting responsibility” (obeying God’s Word). The more we “obey” (the meaning behind “ even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised ”), the faster we mature. Thus, the exercising of our faith (obeying God by giving Him the “last say” in our life) leads to maturity. The “just” (those who are justified before God) live by faith. Thus, if you want to get to God, you’ve got to go through faith, for faith alone leads to God; Him saving you (Eph 2:8-9) and you serving Him (Jms 2:1-4). There are two classes of people that are contrasted in Habakkuk 2:4: 1. The haughty Babylonians ( Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him ) whom God will use to conquer His people 2. The “just” ones of Judah ( but the just shall live by his faith ) who will appear to be conquered by the haughty Babylonians, but in reality will be the conquerors because of their faith in the Gospel. Just because you die doesn’t mean you’re dead… or defeated (Rev 7:9-17, Eph 4:7-8 and Rom 8:35-37). Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in the N.T.: (1) Rom 1: 16- 17 ; (2) Gal 3: 8- 11 ; and (3) Heb 10: 34- 38 -39. In each case the clause “ the just shall live by his faith ” anticipates the Gospel, which ultimately conquers the Devil, the world, and the flesh (I Jn 5:4-5). NOTE – According to the Bible, there are two kinds of faith: (1) Saving faith (Rom 1:16-17; Gal

Lesson #7. Faith alone leads to God (Hab 2:4)

3:8-11; and Heb 10:34-38-39); and (2) Serving faith (Jms 2:14-26). The beauty of faith is that it applies to both kinds of faith. For example: *No faith – no pleasing God (serving faith)

*No faith – no peace (serving faith) *No faith – no maturity (serving faith) *No faith – no God (saving faith)

IV. The biblical causes for faltering faith

Lesson #8. Why do Christians falter in their faith? (Jms 1:1-6 and II Tim 4:6-8)

God is interested in our faith maturing, not melting. He is interested in our faith flourishing, not faltering, interested in our trials making us better Christians, not bitter ones, interested in our troubles making us mighty Christians, not miserable ones. Faltering faith can be avoided if we know

what the causes are, as we remember a few simple things (II Pet 1:10-15). There are five areas in a believer’s life that will cause his/her faith to falter: 1. When we focuse our attention on worldly circumstances (Mt 11:1-3) 2. When we fear worldly persecutions (Dan 3:4-7,16-18 and Mt 26:57-58, 67-74) 3. When we becomes fond of worldly possessions (II Tim 4:10) 4. When we feel the Word of God isn’t true anymore (Jn 20:24-29) 5. When we fail spiritually (Lk 22:31-32, I Tim 5:14-15 and Eph 4:26-27)

1 Henry Ford Quote (Public Domain) 2 Cory, Lloyd. Quote Unquote , Wheaton, ILL, Victor Books, 1977. Print. 3 H.G. Wells. quoted in Brownlow, Leroy. Better Than Medicine . Brownlow Publishing Company. Ft Worth, TX. 19.95. Print.