What does it mean to live by faith?

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Greetings my friends from Steemchurch.

Now, until this moment we have been talking about the saving faith that leads us to a correct relationship with God, but the story does not end there. On the contrary, from the moment we become and are born again, a new life that must be characterized by faith begins for each one of us. The prophet Habakkuk described it this way: "The just shall live by faith" (Hab 2: 4).

1.The man of faith is misunderstood in the midst of society

As Habakkuk pointed out, the ungodly and the man of faith are totally different, and therefore, they are not on the same path. The Lord Jesus Christ had the same idea when he said that the door and the path that leads to life are not the same ones that lead to perdition. And he wanted to point out that those who travel the path that leads to life, are few and often alone (Mt 7: 13-14).

The case of Noah in the Old Testament illustrates well how living according to faith in God exposes us to loneliness and ridicule. Noah and his family were the only believers of his generation, and there is no doubt that it is very difficult to persevere in the faith when we do not enjoy communion with others, but we are alone. But not only that, faith led Noah to be confronted with all his unbelieving generation, to whom he had to announce a harsh message of judgment from God. Most likely, his neighbors would make fun of him and treat him as crazy. After all, being in the middle of the arid plain of Mesopotamia, hundreds of kilometers from the sea, who would spend years and years of his life building an immense ship? And to announce a universal flood when it probably had never rained on the earth yet? All this made him look like a crazy and unbalanced man in the middle of his generation. And in the same way, if we live by faith, believing and announcing His Word, we can be sure that the same thing will happen to us. But let's not forget that finally everything that Noah announced in the name of God was fulfilled with complete accuracy.

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2.The man of faith does not always receive immediate answers

Faith leads us to trust God no matter what happens. This means that even if we live by faith we will not always receive affirmative answers to everything we ask for. Faith is not trust in God while he does everything we expect.

Some think it is so, but the Bible offers us many cases of the opposite.

The reason is very simple: if every time a believer gets sick, he is immediately healed by the mere act of believing; if every time he finds himself in financial difficulties, God will send from heaven the money he needs; if every time you have to face persecution, God will eliminate the persecutors; if God will automatically provide you with material goods, health, employment, spouses, children, everything you want; then everyone would be a believer. But not with biblical faith. Faith in such a case would be comparable to self-centeredness, and God, instead of being the Lord of all, would be the servant of all. And unfortunately, that is the emphasis of the so-called "prosperity gospel".
But authentic faith in God leads us to persevere in his ways, not because God intervenes constantly to eliminate any obstacle that comes before us, but by helping us overcome them.

Faith sustains us and helps us to continue forward when we suffer unjustly and are not vindicated immediately. In fact, the Bible makes it clear to us that on many occasions the vindication of God will not always come before our death.

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Source of this work the biblical school following the teacher.
Reference Reina Valera 1960.
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