Living by Faith

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

There are many verses in the Bible that direct us to living by faith. In this particular verse, Paul explains that Christ is the one who has to live in us. Paul goes further to differentiate his life into two. The first one is spiritual and the second one is of the flesh. If a person is truly spiritual he would understand that he has given everything up to Christ and Christ lives in him.

But the most contradictory thing to Christ is the flesh and for us to live in the flesh, we need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This contradiction is answered by faith that is on a person who is the powerful Son of God and this Person loves us and this love has been showered as Grace up to a level where He gave Himself for us. This unshakable faith makes us survivors in this flesh. Every time we are tested or thrown into trouble, faith helps us stand up and walk.

2 Corinthians 5:6 says that we do not walk by sight but by faith. The context of that verse is where Paul explains the flesh and the heavenly body that God will provide us when we die. Here the warning given is that the earthly tent will be taken away in a particular time and we need to ensure that we should not be found naked. Let us note that Paul uses the term “tent” for the earthly body and “building” for the heavenly body. We long to be clothed in the everlasting building that God will provide us. That promise is not seen.

Even though we are physically absent from God’s complete presence that is heaven, we are still confident about our future because of this faith. Faith removes all doubts and fear. If faith is present there would absolutely be no confusion. The answer to almost all questions is that “Jesus loves me and I trust Him completely”. Whatever disaster may seem to affect us, we would have our concentration on the newer clothing God is going to provide.

We also need to note we, ourselves are going to heaven. It is the same “I” that is being transferred from one body to another at death. This transfer invalidates death and mortality. In this life with a temporary tent, there is no visible proof of the heavenly promise. If things that are seen drive or influence us to progress, we are progressing. Every step we take is a leap of faith. 2 Cor 5:4 says that for life to take over death, we long to have an assurance of the newer clothing while we are in the old clothing. That assurance is the Holy Spirit.

As per Gal 3:7 we are promised all the promises given to Abraham for his generations as we live by this faith. The life given to us is the only real execution of all promises to Abraham. In Genesis 17:8, God promised Abraham that He’ll give Canaan to his descendants forever which did not happen at all. The reason is that the God did not consider Israel as Abraham’s descendants. We are. We will be inheriting the real Canaan or the New Jerusalem and will live there forever. If everything that matters is spiritual then even inheritance comes in spiritual terms only.

In Galatians 3:11 and in few other instances we read that “The Just shall live by faith.” This means that we cannot survive as righteous unless we cling on to faith. As per Phil 4:13, our trust in Jesus Christ gives us abilities to do or withstand anything including hunger. The actual promise of this statement in Habakkuk 2:4 is given as the alternative to being proud. Pride comes from self-confidence and self-exaltation. We need our faith as the fuel for life and not anything else that is of the world.

Faith produces Life. It is not the faith but the person on whom the faith is placed that gives life to us. We believe in Him and He gives us life. This is seen in all the verses including John 14:6 where He said that I am the way, the truth and the life. As in Galatians 3:13,14 the law does its job of bringing down curses, but Jesus Christ is producing life in us and all the promises given to Abraham are fulfilled in us.

With this strong assurance, we need to take every step of our life with faith. We should not be able to imagine a life without Jesus. As per John 10:10, Jesus gives life for the first time to us. We are mistakenly calling this earthly life as actual life. The opportunity of life is given to us only through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And this life is given to us abundantly without looking at what we deserve or qualify. That gesture is grace.