God Responds to our Faith

Mark 6:1-5 “And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6, NASB). Having completed the sermon the pastor extends an invitation for discipleship. At our church people come forward to become a member of the church. Also, members come to ask for prayer. On this particular Sunday a young person came for prayer. When the prayer was completed the pastor said to me, “You can’t tell these young people anything. You try to tell them but they don’t believe you.” Pastor looked very disappointed and hurt. This young person had been in the church all of their life, but like many of us, this young person had decided that they could do things their own way. I responded by saying, “Yes, but we have to do a better job of setting an example for our kids.” He said, “I did not have anybody to set no example for me.” I responded, “God does not respond to what a person does. He responds to our faith. Faith ought to help us to do better, but it is our faith that God responds to.” In this article I will discuss bible passages that I hope will help us to understand this truth: God responds to our faith. First, we are saved from our sins by our faith. ‘“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned’” (Mark 16:16, NASB). Paul tells us that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16, NASB). Since God responds to faith the gospel is preached so that people can come to faith. All people have the capacity for faith. Paul is not talking about the capacity for faith. Rather, he is talking about the object of our faith. God responds to those who make Him the object of their faith. Paul writes, ‘“The word of God is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9-10, NASB). The Christian’s righteous standing with God is established because of their faith. The apostle Paul uses the word “justification” to describe our right standing with God. He says that justification gives us peace with God. The word justification is a legal term. It means that God has pardoned our sins and declared us righteous; and we are no longer enemies with God. Justification is God’s response to our faith in Jesus Christ as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Paul writes, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1, NASB). Abraham is called the father of those who have faith in God. In Genesis 12 God calls Abram (Abraham) to leave home and go to a land that God will give to him and his descendants. God promises Abraham that He will bless him with an heir from his own body and he will have descendants too numerous to count (Gen.15:4-5). After God makes the promise to Abraham “he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (v. 6, NASB). Before Abraham does anything God declares him righteous because he believes God. The apostle Paul explains that Abraham and Sarah are too old to bear children, but they are able to do so because they believe that God is able to keep His promise (Rom. 5:16-25). Abraham believes that he does not have to rely on his own strength because God can do all things. God accomplishes great things through people who have faith. For example, Hebrews 11 is written to encourage us to have faith in God regardless of the circumstances. The writer gives examples of people who were able to overcome great obstacles and accomplish great things for God by their faith. The writer tells us that faith is necessary for approval by God. He writes, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6, NASB). Faith is not seeing what you believe. Faith is evidence when we cannot see what we believe (v. 1). Indeed, some die in their faith without seeing what God has promised to them. “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40, NASB). What is this “something better” that God has provided? It is the resurrection of the dead that Jesus will return to take unto Himself to be with the Father and Him throughout eternity. Since God responds positively to the one who has faith we might ask, does God respond when we do not have faith? Let us look at a story recorded in Mark’s gospel. In Mark we read about the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. On one occasion Jesus is teaching in Nazareth, His hometown. Apparently, most of the people do not believe in Him because he is from their hometown and the people know His family. Jesus responds to their offense at Him by saying that a prophet is less honorable among his relatives and his community. Mark makes the following statement: “And he could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6, NASB). Does this mean that Jesus did not have the ability to do miracles? If we believe that God is sovereign we believe that God is able to do what God wants to do regardless of anything we may say or do. Here, it is not just a matter of what God can do. It is really a matter of what God will do. “Jesus could have done greater miracles in Nazareth, but he chose not to because of the people’s pride and unbelief. The miracles he did had little effect on the people because they did not accept his message or believe that he was from God. Therefore, Jesus looked elsewhere, seeking those who would respond to his miracles and message,” (Footnote 6:5, Life Application Study Bible, [Wheaton, IL: Tyndale Publishers, Inc., 1996], 1494). It is reasonable to say that God responds negatively when we do not have faith. When I was talking with the pastor I said that faith ought to make us do better. Faith is acting on what God says. Faith is not limited to believing that there is a God. Faith believes that God’s word has power. It believes that God’s word has authority. It is the belief that God has the ability to cause to be whatever He says will be. Faith motivates us to act according to what God says because we are sure that His words are true.