Faith, Hope, and Love – God’s Armour

    As we continue our study of Bible references that make mention of the vital trio of faith, hope, and love, we arrive now at this passage:

“But let us who of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV)

    Looking at the surrounding context and other bible verses we quickly learn that “us who are of the day” refers to Christians, brethren who are not in darkness* (5:4), nor of darkness or the night (5:5). People who once were darkness but now are light in the Lord and walk as children of light, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-10).

*Side Note: “darkness” always refers to sin and “works of darkness” to sinful activities, because God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5-6). Read 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 and 1 John 2:9-11 and consider the efforts of the devil to blind and keep souls in darkness. Jesus states the difference between light and darkness in John 3:19-21. God calls us out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9) through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, Romans 10:17) so that He can deliver us out of darkness (Colossians 1:12-13). He commissioned the apostle Paul to preach the gospel “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God…” (Acts 26:18). Everything that is opposite or against God and His way is ‘darkness.’

    We who are of the day must be sober. This means that we must be watchful, alert, careful (circumspect), and self-controlled; it also means that we are prepared to face the Light (the day of Judgement). Read and think on Ephesians 5:15-18, Matthew 24:42-44, 1 Corinthians 15:58, 16:13-14, 1 John 3:1-3, and Matthew 5:8.  One who is drunk is unaware, even oblivious, and recoils from the light. “We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5b-6, NKJV)

    Christians who are watchful and self-controlled, who work at preparing themselves to meet the Lord, will put on the breastplate of faith and love – Whoa! Wait a minute… I thought Christians were supposed to put on “the breastplate of righteousness”? That’s what Ephesians 6:14 says! – Okay, think of it this way: Faith in God (Romans 10:17, Luke 6:46-49) and love for God (John 14:15, 1 John 5:3) will motivate us do what is right in God’s sight, which is righteousness (1 John 3:7-8). Developing a deeper faith and increasing our love for God will guard our heart, so that we do what is right and are shielded from the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16, James 4:7). Faith mixed with love leads to righteousness!

    So, we are to be alert and prepared by wearing God’s armor (Ephesians 6:10-18), guarding our vital inward parts (heart) with faith and love (righteousness) and also protecting our mind when we wear, as a helmet, the hope of salvation! This hope can safeguard our minds as we press toward the goal (Philippians 3:12-15) because it keeps our minds focused on God’s glorious grace and His abundant blessings. Wearing this “helmet” means that we also are prepared and ready to talk about/share our hope through Jesus (1 Peter 3:15, Titus 2:11-14)!

    Faith, hope, and love are all part of the essential armour of God. They are all needed to be adequately prepared and protected as we walk as children of light in this world of darkness!

   Do you put on God’s armour each and every day? You need to put it on daily so that you can become familiar and comfortable in it, learn how to use it, and realize its best benefits! Only then will you be prepared to meet the Lord!! It is worth every effort to put on faith, hope, and love every.single.day!!

You can do it! So can I!!  

Faith + Hope + Love = Fruit Bearing

    Paul opened his letter to the brethren in Colossae with a prayer.

“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and the grace of God in truth…” (Colossians 1:3-6 NKJV)

    He was thankful to God for their faith in Christ Jesus, their love for all the saints, and for the hope that was reserved in heaven for them.

    The lovely thing was that Paul had heard of their faith and their love for their fellow Christians. Both their faith and their love had become known and evident to others – consider Paul’s instructions to Timothy:  “…be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity… Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all…” (1 Timothy 4:12, 15 NKJV). They were living their faith (James 1:21-27) and putting their love into action (1 John 3:18), because of these, Paul knew they were assured of the hope laid up in heaven for them.

    Their faith, love, and hope, from the day they heard the gospel, was bearing fruit; they were flourishing in their development to maturity and their growth became obvious to others! Read and consider Galatians 5:16-26 and the awesome power of the gospel in Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

    Do you want to bear fruit? Anchor your hope in God’s promise of eternity with Him, build up your faith through study and obedience, and let your love for God fuel your love for fellow Christians who are walking the narrow path alongside you! Do what you can to help and encourage them, remind them of God’s grace, and show them by your humble example how to live in faith, hope, and love!

You can do it! So can I!!

A Worthy Walk Requires Faith, Hope, and Love

    As we continue our study of New Testament passages that mention the vital trio of faith, hope, and love we find ourselves this week in Ephesians 4:1-6.

"I, therefore, as a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (NKJV)  

    Paul urgently begs Christians to “walk worthy of the calling in which they were called” (4:1). What does that mean?  First, we are called by God through the gospel (2 Thessalonians2:13-14). When we hear the gospel we are hearing God’s words for us. In God’s word, the Bible, is all that we need to know to become His child (for example: Acts 2, 8:26-40, 9:10-19, 16:11-34; 22:1-16) and all we need to know to keep growing and developing properly as a Christian all the days of our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:14-18).

    Why does God call us? He calls us because He created us to seek AND find Him (Acts 17:26-27), to proclaim His praises (1 Peter 2:9) and to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). He calls us because He desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4), so much so, that He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God loves us, so He calls us, through His word. In that Word He tells us what we must do to walk worthy of His calling! So we have a real responsibility to read/study and faithfully obey His instructions (James 1:25).

    God is calling us to eternal life – obeying His commands/instructions will keep us on the narrow pathway that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14), eternal life with Him, so you can see why ‘walking worthy of the calling’ is of paramount importance!

Love:

    Ephesians 4:2-3 makes mention of several ways in which we should walk/behave that befits a child of God: “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (NKJV) Consider also the description of a Christian given in Colossians 3:12-17.

    Love (agape) seeks the best for another. When we ‘bear with one another’ it means we hold them up when they are weak, we endure the exertion of helping them while they are strengthening their faith and gaining understanding (young/new Christians, Christians during trials, etc.).

    Love will take the time needed to help others gain clear understanding on what we all as Christians must agree – this is the unity of the Spirit – that there is: one body (Christ’s, which is the church, Ephesians 1:22-23), one Spirit, one hope of your calling (eternal life with God), one Lord (Jesus Christ, the Son of God), one faith (God’s way is the only way), one baptism (for remission of sins), one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6).      

 Hope:

    We see mention of “one hope of your calling” in Ephesians 4:4 – we can have confident expectation of eternal salvation when we walk worthy of the calling! Paul wanted the Ephesians brethren, and us, to know the hope of God’s calling (Ephesians 1:15-23), to know of God’s promise of eternity and to anchor our soul’s to it (Hebrews 6:19), believe in it (1 Timothy 4:6-8), and strive toward it (Philippians 3:12-16)! That is why God told us of it in His Word! He wants us to be in eternity with Him!! He wants us to live in hope!! This hope keeps our mind focused on God (Colossians 3:1-3) and keeping our minds focused on Him will develop our hope as we in love and increase our faith through humble obedience to His Word!

 Faith:   

    There is one faith. The conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and through Him we gain eternal salvation. We cannot be saved through any other name (Acts 4:10-12), Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:1-6).

    We must be careful that we are obeying God’s Word and not men’s words (books, doctrines, creeds, ideas/notions, philosophies, etc.). Read and consider Matthew 7:22-23; Acts 17:11-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Mark 7:6-9, Colossians 2:6-10, and Hebrews 11:6 – we must seek HIM – GOD – no one else! He has provided all that is needed in His word. It can be understood, it can be obeyed! We do need a degree from a seminary school to understand it, we simply need God’s word, the Bible, and a heart ready and willing to receive the instructions found within it (Luke 8:11,15)!

    To walk worthy of our calling – to show God our absolute appreciation for His love and provision – we must bear with one another in love (help others to grow and strengthen), agree that there is one hope of our calling (eternal life with God), and one faith (Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only through Him can we have our hope of eternity)!

    Are you ready to walk in a worthy way? God’s calling is worth every effort and every sacrifice to do just that!!

You can do it! So can I!!    

Walking in the Spirit: Faith, Hope, Love

 "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
avails anything, but faith working through love." (Galatians 5:5-6 NKJV)

    Last week we looked at the first mention of the vital trio: faith, hope, and love. Let's take some time to look at the next mention (as seen above) found in Galatians 5:5-6.

    It is beneficial to this study that you take the time to read the whole of Galatians 5 as the command to "walk in the Spirit" has as much to do with the beginning of the chapter as it does with the end of the chapter.

    Christians, those who follow Christ (1 John 2:6), are to "walk in the Spirit" so that "you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). It is only when we are so walking by faith - trusting God and His way - that we can eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness!

    What is this 'hope of righteousness' that we can eagerly wait for? 

    It is the confidence and assurance of God's promised eternity with Him if we diligently seek to do what He has declared to be right (righteous).

    The apostle Paul was writing to the Galatian brethren who were struggling with their faith (under the New Covenant) because they were being told by others that they needed to become like Jews and keep the Jewish laws (Law of Moses, Old Covenant, see 1:6-10 and chapters 2-4).

    Paul declares to them that in Christ Jesus (the body of the Christ, the church, Ephesians 1:22-23), being circumcised in the flesh (Jewish custom from OT Law) or uncircumcised (often used to denote a Gentile, anyone from outside) doesn't matter; what now matters is faith working through love. 

    We, as Christians, have conviction that there are certain things that are proper for a Christian to do and we do these because we love God first and foremost, and because we love mankind and our fellow brethren. We honour God through obedience and exhibit a good example to those who may observe us (Romans 12:1-2, 1 Timothy 4:12-13, 15-16, Matthew 5:14-16). 

    Faith leads us to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26). The fruit of the Spirit is developed in us when our faith works through love. When we have faith working through love we will diligently seek God and do what God has commanded us to do (and avoid what He has told us to avoid) and we can build confident hope/assurance that we are right and pleasing in His sight!

"But 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 diligently seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)  

    Are you flourishing in faith, walking every day in the Spirit, because you love God and those around you?  Do you have hope and confidence because you are doing what God has declared to be righteous? If you do, then keep going, keep doing His what He has commanded - live in faith with love and hope!! It is worth every effort to do just that!!

You can do it! So can I!!