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Feb 25

Session 3 Recap: Greg Gilbert, “Faith”

2017 | by Spencer Brown | Category: Clarus 17

Editor’s Note:  Spencer Brown is the Lead Pastor at Center City Church, Albuquerque, NM. He is a member of the Albuquerque Chapter of The Gospel Coalition. This post is a summary of Greg Gilbert’s message from Saturday morning at Clarus, February 25, “Faith,” from Romans 4:18–22.

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In Session 3, Gilbert explored the source of our faith as found in Romans 4. While our culture may see faith as being weak and childish- an empty belief in the ridiculous—our faith is a strong, confident, trust in God to do everything that He has promised. A strong, confident trust in God does not mean that faith comes easy. God may promise what seems impossible, but our trust must be grounded in the God who makes the promise, not the believability of the promise.

3 Questions About Faith

  • Faith is what? Paul raises the stakes as he adds components to the definition of faith in Romans 4:18-21. The final definition of faith comes at the end of the progression: Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. Paul defines faith as believing in God’s promise in three ways: trusting when everything else around seems impossible, trusting and waiting in that promise for a long time, and believing without wavering.
  • Faith in what? Abraham grounded his faith, not only in the promise of God, but in the kind of God who made that promise. The promise was made by the one God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” What a Christian needs is not more faith, but stronger faith. It comes through increasing your understanding of who God really is, and ultimately making a decision to rest on that.
  • Faith does what? The faith described in Romans 4 should affect change in our lives. Faith increases our love for God and our desire to obey Him. Our view of God is in direct proportion to our love and corresponding obedience to Him. If we see Him as small, we will have small love and small obedience. If we seem Him as great, then we will have great love and great obedience. Faith also gives us courage to defy the world, it produces joyful endurance, and it unites us to Christ- pointing us to eternity.

Conclusion: Greg concluded by reminding us of the hymn, Abide with Me, that reflects on God’s promise that we will abide with Christ in heaven for eternity. When our eyes our finally closed on this earth, they will be opened in heaven. We will watch as dawn breaks, and God fills all the universe with the knowledge of His Glory.