Genuineness of Our Faith

How genuine is your faith? To a good southern Christian that could be offensive and might even ruffle a few feathers. I am not doubting your salvation or your faith in Jesus Christ, I am simply asking “how genuine is your faith?” Let us breakdown the question; “Genuine” is defined in the dictionary as “truly what something is said to be or authentic.” Faith is defined in the dictionary as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” I prefer Hebrews 11:1 NKJV definition “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Now that the question and your feelings are out there, let’s perform a self-examination of our Salvation. Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” To have Salvation you must have faith that Jesus Christ (a man born of a virgin) died with all of your sins (past, present, future and every other living soul’s sin that will ever walk this earth) and was raised from the grave in three days by GOD the FATHER. Now how easy was that?  You simply have to believe in someone who lived a long time ago and that person died for all of your acts of evil that you will ever execute in your earthly lifetime.

However, the very word Salvation is defined in the dictionary as “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.” My Bible’s concordance has Salvation defined as “deliverance from slavery or from great distress by GOD’s Intervention.” That is our reward for our faith, to be delivered from our eternal damnation caused by our sins.  But I asked you “How genuine is your faith?” and to better understand the question, I would like to look at 1 Peter 1 for a better understanding.

In 1 Peter 1, Peter is writing to the Jewish Christians who are scattered all over and are being persecuted for their faith.  

“Blessed be the GOD and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NKJV)

Peter knew what it meant to suffer. He was often threatened, beaten and jailed for his beliefs and preaching. But Peter knew Jesus and had been there throughout Jesus’ ministry. And now Peter was trying to encourage fellow believers to remember what GOD has done for them and to hold on for what GOD will continue to do for them, if they would continue in faith. In verses 3 through 5, we see Peter giving thanks to GOD the Father for giving us salvation through Jesus Christ and how that salvation can never be taken away or damaged, but is our guarantee into Heaven. That is GOD’S grace, to give us everlasting life that through our faith can never be taken away. PRAISE BE TO GOD. As inspiring as Peter wrote in these versus, it is the next series of three versus that struck my heart.

In verses 6, Peter is telling us that “if need be” (I interpret that to mean, “If GOD’S Will) we will be grieved (suffer) various trails. To me, this is where the “genuineness” of our faith is measured. How much grief have you suffered for your faith?  Maybe you have been excluded sometime because you are deemed too “judgmental” as a Christian to participate, maybe you have been accused of being “narrow-minded” in believing there is only one way to everlasting life, or maybe you are ignored because you are not “enlightened” enough to be objective to other beliefs. No matter what you have been told, have you ever suffered because of what you believe in?  I have not been strung up by my fingernails or experienced water boarding for my faith either, but look at the world around us today.

If you look at the news today, you are blasted with injustice and sufferings of our fellow Americans and our fellow human beings throughout the world. We have watched how a gross act of injustice has sparked a nation to raise up in genuine unity to say “no more” and “we need change.” Although I could never condone those individuals who want to spark violence, I truly believe the majority of protesters want to see a change in our law enforcement tactics and are willing to stand up for that change. These are our trials and we need to be genuine in what and who we believe in.

In verse 7, Peter is reminding the Jewish Christians that their genuineness of their faith will be tested by fire and that process will be rewarded when Jesus returns someday. In other words, it is the sufferings (trials) we face that reveal what and who we believe (have faith) that will save us from our hardships. When we are marred down in our fear/anxiety over who may infect you or where the next protest will be, that is when our faith should be the most evident in our lives. We should be genuine in Who we believe in and we should be confident in where we will spend our everlasting life. Peter continues in verse 7 by telling us that our genuineness in faith should demonstrate the praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ. Peter continues in versus 8 and 9 by expressing that by our faith in Jesus Christ, we should be rejoicing with joy “inexpressibly” and we are to be “full of glory” in our love for Him Who we have never seen, yet we believe in Him.

I am anxious for this nation and I know I am not alone, but I believe Jesus has “ripened” the fields for the picking and the time to harvest is now. Even though we may be angry with the senseless violence happening in our towns, we must express our faith to those who are hurting and lost around us. Even though we are scared for the future, we must rejoice with joy inexpressibly and full of glory that Jesus Christ is coming again to take those who choose to believe to the Promised Land. Even though you may wonder where GOD is in all this chaos; we must praise, honor, and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ for saving our souls from eternal damnation.

With all we are seeing around us, what is stopping us from telling everyone who will listen about the “Good News?” I believe our nation is ready to listen.  Are you willing to speak up for Who you believe in?