Worship is Obedience

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching" – John 14:23

Last time we looked at how worship is reverence and service.  We spent most of the time looking at reverence.  Now let’s study up on service.  So look with me, if you will, to the Garden of Eden.  A man and a woman are in perfect communion with God.  And what is the one condition of this communion?  What is the one thing that could maintain this relationship?  What is the one requirement?  Obedience.  Obedience to one, simple command “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  Mankind has one, simple rule.  It’s not complicated.  It’s not difficult to decipher.  It’s not hard to understand.  Just don’t eat from the tree, the specific tree—you  know—the one in the middle of the Garden.  Yeah that one, right over there. 

We all know the story.  Satan deceives Eve into doubt and disbelief and disobedience with one phrase  “Did God really say…”  If only she wouldn’t have…  Now, before you pickup stones, remember “…whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)  Okay, we’re all guilty,  put the stones down,  go ahead,  it’s alright,  God will be the judge.  God will be the judge…and He will be the sacrifice for your sin…and He will be the One extending forgiveness and mercy.

OK, so no big deal right?  WRONG!  Obedience is central to the very core of Christianity.  “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Rom 5:19)  Adam’s sin condemned mankind and Jesus’ obedience provided salvation for it.

Jesus is spending the last time He has alone with His disciples before He “humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8) and what is He sharing with them?  “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” (John 14:23-24) He is sharing the importance of obedience.

He goes on to picture the vine and the branches.  What is the life blood of the vine?  Love.  How do we know we are remaining in the vine?  Obedience.  He shows us His love, and our response should be to obey Him.  “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:10-14)

What is His joy in us and our joy complete if not the reward of obedience?  Let us obey for the joy His Spirit will give to us.  Let us obey because we feel loved.  And because we love, let us obey.  Remember the greatest commandment?  “Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37)  God promises to be our God and we must understand “…he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” (Deut 7:9)  Love and obedience these are the core of God’s expectations of us.  Love is shown or proven by obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; I John 2:3-6; 3:22-24; 5:3; 2 John 6; Rev 12:14).  Obedience requires us to love (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37).  All the law and the prophets hang on loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:40) and there is no commandment greater than these (Mark 12:31).  “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” (2 John 6)  “This is love for God: to obey his commands…” (1 John 5:3).

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)  As Andrew Murray points out in his book “The School of Obedience,”

“Read Deuteronomy, with all Moses spoke in sight of the land, and you will find there is no book of the Bible which uses the word 'obey' so frequently, or speaks so much of the blessing obedience will assuredly bring. The whole is summed up in the words (11:27),

“'I set before you a blessing if ye obey, a curse in ye will not obey.'

“Yes, 'A BLESSING IF YE OBEY'! that is the key-note of the blessed life. Canaan, just like Paradise and Heaven, can be the place of blessing as it is the place of obedience. Would God we might take it in! Do beware only of praying only for a blessing. Let us care for the obedience, God will care for the blessing. Let my one thought as a Christian be, how I can obey and please my God perfectly.”

Our loving heavenly Father, we pray you would help us to obey.  Send your Spirit as you promised and wrought within us the power to obey.  Strengthen our minds, sharpen our will, focus our attention, captivate our hearts until we are so in love with you that obedience is the natural free-flowing expression of our love for you. Help us to obey for the pleasure of loving you and becoming like you.  Help our willing spirit overcome our weak flesh.  Let us learn, we pray, the joy and the blessing of obedience.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Worship is Reverence and Service

"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the LORD your God, and serve him only.' " – Matt 4:9-10

Let’s take a look at the New Testament words for worship.  We looked briefly in on these last month, however they bear the weight of expressing what God Himself means by worship, so a closer look is worth our time and effort.  A couple of the main words used in the New Testament for worship are Proskuneo and Latreuo.

Proskuneo means “to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence, by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication.”¹  One scholar summarizes the meaning as “bow down before someone you revere and kiss the ground.” ² Another suggests the meaning “to prostrate oneself in token of reverence.” ³  This side of worship is where we arrive at the ideas awe, reverence, and wonderment of God for who He is and what He has done.  We sense God is and who He is and we worship Him.

Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matthew 8:2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "LORD, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Matthew 9:18 While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live."

Matthew 14:33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Revelation 19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!"

From the birth of Christ to His throne in the new Jerusalem, people were and are falling down, bowing before God to worship Him.  Jesus walks on the water and those in the boat worship Him.  The leper in need of healing worships Him.  The ruler whose daughter has died comes and worships Him.  They are showing reverence to Him.  They are acknowledging He is the only one who can help them.  The Samaritan woman at the well learns from Jesus that true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth.  She learns He is the Messiah. 

Latreuo means “to serve, to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship.”⁴  Latreuo carries the idea of general, even bodily service “in far more comprehensive sense than that of slavery.” Like being a cup-bearer where your body is used for the king or even in the sense that bodily preparations must be made for service.⁵   

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Luke 2:37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Romans 1:9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

Revelation 7:19 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them

Matt 4:9-10 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship [Proskuneo] me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship [Proskuneo]  the LORD your God, and serve [Latreuo]  him only.' "

Latreuo carries the comprehensive idea of service.  Serving by prayer and fasting, setting apart even our actions to God that our bodies themselves may be holy (set apart for Him).  If Proskuneo is the sense of God, then Latreuo is the service of God.  True worship must be “in spirit and truth, spirit providing the inner energy and feeling, truth providing the outward conformity and boundaries.”⁶  Mary can be seen as a brilliant example of this kind of worshipper.  Mary is seen consistently at the feet of Jesus – a true worshipper.  She sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said (Luke 10:39).  She got up quickly and went to Him and fell at His feet saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother [Lazarus] would not have died” (John 11:29, 32).  Again we see Mary at the feet of Jesus weeping over His feet, wiping His feet with her hair, pouring a pint pure nard (very expensive perfume) on His feet and again wiping them with her hair (Matt 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8).  Mary understood what it meant to worship Jesus, to proskuneo (to sense, to reverence, to fall at His feet) and latreuo (to serve, to wipe His feet, to offer something of high personal value to Him, to serve with her body). “You cannot serve Him unless you sense Him in your life.  It will be a mockery.  And if you just sense Him without serving Him, you are not worshipping Him.  If you serve Him without sensing Him, it will be drudgery.”⁷

Footnotes

¹ Thayer, Joseph. "Proskuneo." Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Hendrickson, 1996.

² Zacharias, Ravi. “Let My People Think.”  Podcast. “Leadership Seminar Workshop.” http://www.rzim.org/resources/listen/letmypeoplethink.aspx.  22 July 2009.

³ Tenny, Merrill C. "Worship." The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Regency, 1975. Print.

⁴ Thayer, Joseph. "Latreuo." Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Hendrickson, 1996.

⁵ Tenny.

⁶ Zacharias.

⁷ Zacharias.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Our Primary Duty is Worship

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” – Romans 12:1

When we think of worship, we have a tendency to think of the songs we sing during the worship portion of the Sunday morning service.  This is what we commonly refer to as ‘worship.’  However, the Scripture portrays a much wider definition than a few songs sung once a week.  Romans 12:1 states, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”   The words act of worship here are really only one Greek word – latreia.  Latreia is defined by Thayer as “1) service rendered for hire 2) the service and worship of God according to the requirements of the Levitical law 3) to perform sacred services.” ¹ 

This helps our understanding immensely.  An act of worship is a service rendered to God, a service which is done in holy and sacrificial manner.   The implication is that our lives are the sacrifice and service God desires.  All that we do is to be our worship unto Him.  There is to be no separation between the holy and unholy in our lives.  All that we do should be a holy, pleasing sacrifice to God.  As Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to god the Father through Him.”  Again in 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul affirms, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  This reminds me of the Westminster Catechism’s answer to the question “What is the Chief aim of man? The Chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”²  Here is the essence of worship.  Continual acts of worship, acts of service, devoted to God.

Author and Apologist Ravi Zacharias gives the following definition for worship:

“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God: the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, submission of the will to His purpose,  all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions.” ³

So we come to see worship is a lifestyle not a thirty-minute once a week church experience.  Worship encompasses the way we live our lives and should influence the why behind what we do.  Worship is the motive for our actions.  “For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.” – Romans 11:36 

The same root word meaning serve is used in Luke 4:7-8 where Satan was trying tempt Jesus, “‘So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’  Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”’”  The word Worship here means to bow down and kiss the ground before someone.^{4 & 5}   So we have two different ideas here, honor (reverence and awe) and service.  When we understand who God is (eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent, merciful, loving, gracious, just, etc) and what He has done for us (redemption, salvation, forgivness,  sanctification, love, joy, peace, etc) then the honor and service of Him should become our way of life.  This reverential honor and service become the basis for a lifestyle of worship – continual acts of worship.  While we do the laundry, make the bed, deliver the product, make the widget, meet with the boss, eat, mow the lawn, all we do becomes an opportunity to serve and honor God.  It is our inner attitude that makes the difference.  “If my life is not consistent with my actions on Sunday morning then I am not worshipping.  Worship is an entire life focus uniting every aspect of life with meaning.  Worship service on Sunday morning is the point to which all of my life converges and the fount from which all of my life emerges.  Two hundred people are not coming to the sanctuary to worship, but two hundred sanctuaries are coming to the building to join together in corporate worship.” ⁶  What we have been doing all week prepares us to come together on Sunday and join together in worship to Almighty God. 

Lord, help us not to just worship, but to be worshippers in all that we do!

Footnotes

¹ Thayer, Joseph. "Latreia." Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Hendrickson, 1996.

² "Westminster Shorter Catechism." Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC.html>.

³ Zacharias, Ravi. “Let My People Think.”  Podcast. “Leadership Seminar Workshop.” http://www.rzim.org/resources/listen/letmypeoplethink.aspx.  22 July 2009.

⁴ Zacharias, Ravi.  Ibid.

⁵ Thayer, Joseph. "Proskuneō." Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Hendrickson, 1996.

⁶ Zacharias, Ravi. “Let My People Think.”  Podcast. “Leadership Seminar Workshop.” http://www.rzim.org/resources/listen/letmypeoplethink.aspx.  22 July 2009.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Physical Posture in Worship

When we talk about worship in Charismatic or Pentecostal circles, what are the first things that pop into our thoughts: Music (what kind of music), Lyrics, Instruments (which ones should be allowed, how many), physical expression (physical posture in worship), etc.  There seems to be a biblical tie between our physical posture in and our attitude in worship.  Look at the third commandment in the scriptures in the NAS, NKJV, and the NIV.

Exodus 20:5-6 NAS

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,  but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 

Exodus 20:5-6 NKJV

you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Exodus 20:5-6 NIV

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

The first word translated “worship” in the NAS is Shackah typically meaning “to bow down, to prostrate oneself.”  Of the 171 times this word is used in scripture 83 times it is translated as some form of the word “worship.” Sixty-four times it is translated as some form of “bowing down” and 17 times it is translated as “lie down” or some form of “prostrate”.

The word translated as “serve” in the NAS is Abad and can also be translated as “worship.”  This word normally means “to work for another, serve another by labor.”  It is most commonly translated as some form of the word “serve.”  This happens 200 times of the 290 it is used in the scriptures.  A total of 16 times it carries the connotation of being a “slave” or “laborer.”  Where it is translated as some form of “worship” only13 times. 

The point is clear.  Imagine God Almighty giving the ten commandments on Mt Sinai.  As the third commandment He shares with Moses, He gives the command to worship (bow down, prostrate, pay homage) and serve (worship, slave, labor) no other god but Him.  Remember, these are the words God Himself chose to describe the relationship He desires us to have only with Himself.  There should be a very real connection between our our desire to worship and an attitude of servant hood.  Equally there should also be a very real connection between our attitude of worship and our physical posture in worship.  God has equated them here with bowing down and prostrating ourselves before Him. 

Picture if you will, the servant of a great king entering into his presence and bowing down to paying homage to the king and then asking him how he would like to be served.  Here is our place in worship as God describes in the third commandment.  Now we must ask ourselves, do I desire to submit to God or just sing to Him?  Am I willing to show God my servant attitude by the way I physically worship Him?  These questions are a challenge to all of us.  Let us remember to treat God as the High, Holy King of All that He is!  Let's remember our humble place of servitude in honoring the Great King of Heaven not just with our songs but with our physical bodies and our lifestyles of servant hood!

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Spiritual Act of Worship

 

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” - Romans 12:1 

Paul wrote this to a people who understood sacrifice.  They saw it daily and participated in it often.  They understood the need for sacrifice and how to do it.  Let's take a moment and look at this.  In view of God's mercy, His pardoning of our sin and His declaration of righteousness on our behalf, we should offer ourselves as a living sacrifice.  We must understand the nature of sacrifice if we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices as an act of worship.  First let's look at the verbs use to describe sacrifices: to slaughter (done by the worshiper), to present (to bring near) a present, to prepare, to bless, to offer up, to burn up, and to vaporize.  Are we worshiping God as living sacrifices?  Are we asking Him to prepare us?  Are we bringing to death those things in our lives which do not please Him?  Are we presenting ourselves to Him as a present?  Are we a blessing to God?  Would others say our life is being spent in pursuit of God, that it is being burnt up (vaporized) pursuing Him?  Is our life a suitable offering to Him?  Remember the animal for sacrifice had to be without defect, blemish or spot. 

Let's look at the types of offerings in the order they were to be presented: sin, guilt, burnt, cereal, drink, peace, wave, thank, votive, free-will, and ordination.  The sin offering was given for the unintentional braking of the Lord's commands.  The guilt offering was given for braking the law concerning the treatment of God's holy things.  This offering was also given for unfaithfulness, deceit, lying, cheating, stealing, extortion, or losing someone's property and required the full payment and a 20 % return above that.  The burnt offering was a voluntary act of worship, an atonement for unintentional sin or as an expression of devotion, commitment and complete surrender to God.  The cereal and drink offerings were given as voluntary acts of worship in recognition of God's goodness and provision.  They also were used to show devotion to God. 

The fellowship offering was also a voluntary act of worship that was used to convey the desire for fellowship and to express thanksgiving.  This sacrifice included a meal to be eaten in fellowship with God.  These sacrifices were also called offerings of peace, wave offerings, thank offerings, votive offerings (given upon taking a vow), free-will offerings and ordination offerings (used in consecration to divine service).  Here is the pattern for approaching God through the sacrifices demanded in the Old Testament: asking forgiveness of unintentional and intentional sin, expressing our  devotion to Him, committing and completely surrendering to Him, recognizing His goodness and provision, desiring His fellowship, thanking Him, choosing to follow Him of our own free-will, living at peace with Him, vowing to serve Him, consecrating ourselves to His service. 

These are the spiritual acts of worship Paul had in mind when he urged us to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices” as our “spiritual act of worship”.  Are we following the pattern of sacrifice which God has prescribed?  Ask yourself “Is this really how I come to church ready to worship or am I trying to work through all of this during worship?  More than that, am I continually presenting myself to God as a living sacrifice as an act of worship to Him?”

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God's Love - Part 1

Why do we worship God?  There is the simple answer: the Bible tells us we should.  The complex answer is: we worship God for who He is and what He has done.  One of the best things He is is LOVE and one of the best things He has done is LOVE US.  God describes Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands [of generations] and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin...” Ex 34:6.   Because of His love He created us, redeemed us, and gave us the Holy-Spirit (power to live according to His covenant of love).    So what about God's love...How do we know God loves us?  How much does God love us?  What can separate us from God's love?  When did God start loving us?   What about when we sin, does God still love us?  What does God do with our confessed sin?  How important is it that we love him?  We will endeavor to answer these questions from the scripture itself this month and next.

How do we know God loves us?

He sent His Son to die for us, in our place so that we could know and love Him.  He knew before He created the world it would cost His Son, yet He created it anyway.

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1John 4:9-10  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

1John 4:19  We love because he first loved us.

How much does God love us?

As much as He loves Jesus!  He sacrificed Jesus for us (Rom 8:31-32)!  John 17:23  I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me..

Eph 3:16-21  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The word rooted in verse 17 means “become stable,  to render firm, to fix, establish, cause a person or a thing to be thoroughly grounded.”  God wants His love to be our stable, fixed and firm cause of grounding in who we are and why we are important.  The word grounded in the same verse means “to lay a basis for, that is, (literally) erect, or (figuratively) consolidate, to lay the foundation, to found, to make stable, establish.”  God wants His love to be our foundation upon which we lay the basis for who we are as a person, to erect a stable view of our intrinsic value based on His love for us.

Paul uses four words here to quantify a three dimensional object.  He describes the width, length and height of  God's  love but then adds the word deep.  Why?  The word deep is defined as “ profundity, that is, (by implication) extent; (figuratively) mystery” or the “deep things of God.”  Paul is describing a three-dimensional love, an experiential love, a love far beyond knowledge,  infinite love.  Love that God wants us to build our foundation upon, keep on growing in, and resting upon.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.



Worship is Having Faith God is Who He Says He Is

If you are like me, you have heard Hebrews 11:1 quoted, preached on and you probably have it memorized.  You have thought, “This is the only place in the Bible I know of where faith is defined.”  You have tried to understand it, but alas, you still feel like you don’t really understand what it is to “have faith.”  You have marveled at Jesus’ statement with the faith of a mustard seed you can command a mountain to be moved into the sea(Matt 17:20).  So what is faith?  We know faith is essential to the Christian walk.  In fact, you cannot, by definition, be a Christian without it (Romans 10:9).  We know also the Christian’s walk is referred to as “the faith” in many passages of Scripture as well.  So again, just what is faith?  Let’s find out.

Heb 11:1

(ALT)  Now faith is [the] assurance [or, substance] of [things] being hoped for [or, being confidently expected], [the] confident assurance [or, proof] of things not seen.

(ASV)  Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

(CEV)  Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.

(KJV)  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the assurance and substance which makes us sure of things we hope for, the conviction of evidence that gives us proof of things not seen.

Heb 11:6

(KJV)  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The word assurance is defined by Strong's as “persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself.” 

Thayer's Definition is:

1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it

1a) relating to God

1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ

1b) relating to Christ

1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God

1c) the religious beliefs of Christians

1d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same

2) fidelity, faithfulness

2a) the character of one who can be relied on

Webster's Dictionary defines faith as “to trust; Gr. to persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey. In the Greek Lexicon of Hederic it is said, the primitive signification of the verb is to bind and draw or lead, as signifies a rope or cable. But this remark is a little incorrect. The sense of the verb, from which that of rope and binding is derived, is to strain, to draw, and thus to bind or make fast. A rope or cable is that which makes fast. “

Easton points out there is a unique difference between knowledge and faith.  “....faith includes in it assent, which is an act of the will in addition to the act of the understanding.  Assent to the truth is of the essence of faith, and the ultimate ground on which our assent to any revealed truth rests is the veracity of God.”

Fausset comments on Hebrews 11:1, "the substance of things hoped for (i.e., it substantiates God's promises, the fulfillment of which we hope, it makes them present realities), the evidence (elengchos, the 'convincing proof' or 'demonstration') of things not seen." Faith accepts the truths revealed on the testimony of God (not merely on their intrinsic reasonableness), that testimony being to us given in Holy Scripture.”  He goes on to comment, “But faith, apart from the spirit of faith, which is LOVE (whose evidence is works), is dead.” as evidenced in I Cor 13:1-3

Vincent's Word Studies gives us the following comments: “Faith apprehends as a real fact what is not revealed to the senses. It rests on that fact, acts upon it, and is upheld by it in the face of all that seems to contradict it. Faith is a real seeing.”

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown comment that faith “... substantiates promises of God which we hope for, as future in fulfilment, making them present realities to us.”

So faith chooses to see and believe in what is not seen.  It chooses to possess a moral conviction that its subject is true.  Faith chooses to believe in, to substantiate, to have confident assurance in, to count as the evidence, demonstration, and convincing proof of what God has promised.  This takes a renewing of the mind.  It means we count things as true because He who said them is true.  In fact, He is the truth.  We must choose to see His Kingdom and its promises as real fact even though they are not revealed to our senses.  We must act upon these truths and count them as absolute fact though they remain unproved to our physical senses.  We must, as I Cor 2:9-16 points out, choose to understand these promises with our spirit and the mind of Christ, which has been given to us.  We cannot and should not expect to fully understand them in our natural mind.  Who can comprehend God?  However this should not lead us to toss all reason aside.  Our faith is logical and it makes considerable sense once one looks at the body of evidence that suggests the existence of God and counts this fact as true.  When one looks at the order of creation, the different species of plants and animals and their complexity, the exact distance we are from the sun, the moon which orbits the earth and controls the  tides and reflects the light of the sun at night, the vastness of space and all the stars, the moral absolutes all successful civilizations live by, the source for truth, the source of  original origins etc one makes a small logical leap of faith that God does indeed exist.  Given this proposition, our faith is in His Faithfulness.  He is the Truth so His Word is truth.  It cannot be other than the truth.  He is the source of life, creation, truth, absolute principles.  He does not change so we can count all He says as absolute truth!  His character (omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence) should lead us to count as truth and fact all He has promised.

Neufeldt, Victoria, and David Bernard Guralnik. "Faith." Webster's New World Dictionary of American English. Cleveland: Webster's New World, 1988. 1436. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

ALT, KJV, ASV, CEV Scriptures;  Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary; Fausset's Word Studies, Easton's Bible Dictionary, Vincent's Word Studies, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries and Thayer’s Greek Definitions from Meyers, Rick. E-Sword. Computer software. E-SWORD the Sword of the LORD with an Electronic Edge. Vers. 9.0.3. Web. http://www.e-sword.net/.

Do Not Enter - Casually

Heb 9:7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance….

Heb 9:12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption….

Heb 9:24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…

Here is the perfect, spotless, sinless, high priest BECOMING the sacrifice for us, once and for all.  Jesus death was the greatest sacrifice ever made; sinless man dying for the sinners.  Allowing holiness to be marred by our shame, He who is the truth taking on our lies.  Perfect love traded in for absolute fear, the humblest man ever to live bearing our selfish pride. He who knew the wonderful joy of heaven filled with depression and sadness.  He who defined loyalty completely abandoned, in short, the perfect example of living the fruit of Spirit now enduring the utter lawlessness of man, infinite power submitted to the finite power of man.

In light His sacrifice, even in light of who He is alone, we must ask ourselves about our attitudes in worship.  Do we stroll casually into the presence of God, treading on the immeasurable sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf?  Are we more concerned about the kind of song, the rhythm, the music, and the words than we are our sacrifice of worship to the Almighty God?  Does it matter what the person next to us will do or will think?  Have we abandoned ourselves in worship to the only Worthy One?  Does the lighting, temperature, style, sound system, etc really matter all that much?  Here, in the depths of our souls, does God reign supreme?  If He does, all these other things really don’t matter much.  If He doesn’t, these things become our focus and we loose sight of the fact that He is worthy no matter the condition in which we find ourselves.  Let me encourage you to be prepared to enter into worship, to come with your heart ready to enter in, with your mind made up to worship no matter the distractions.  Consider His sacrifice on our behalf, on your behalf.  Let us come ready to enter into the most holy place of His Presence anticipating the wonderful things that can happen only in the place of full surrender.

Worship is Renewing Your Mind

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that we should present our bodies as living sacrifices for this is our “reasonable service of worship”.  He goes on to show us one of the most important ways we can offer our bodies as living sacrifices—the renewal of our minds. 

Rom 12:1  I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.   2  Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

Paul urges us to “continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”  Thayer's Greek Definitions for the word translated as “transformed” are “to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure.”  The same word is used here in the following scriptures referencing Jesus' transfiguration where his whole being changed.  His very likeness was wholly different.  They could not help but be dazzled by the complete transformation which had occurred.

Mat 17:2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Mar 9:2  And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

The same word is also used to describe our process of transfiguration as we behold the Lord and ask Him to change us by His Spirit:

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Next we should look at the word renew.  Thayer's definition is “a renewal, renovation, complete change for the better.”  We can grasp the concept here by thinking about a home renovation.  The home is often gutted leaving the structure but renovating the decor.  Sometimes even the structure itself is moved around.  We may move,  create or destroy a wall to change the function or decorum.  So too, we must renew or restructure our thinking to line up with what God would have us to think.  Remember the old saying?

“Be careful what you think; your thoughts become your words… Be careful what you say; your words become your actions… Be careful how you act; your actions become your habits… Be careful how you behave; your habits become your destiny"

The Scriptures confirm this also.  Pro 23:7  “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he”  Jesus also put great weight on thoughts.  He extended the law and the prophets to include the thought life.  (See the sermon on the mount where he equates thinking evil of someone as the same as murder or to think lustful thoughts the same as committing adultery.  Matthew chapter 5)  He also answered the question of what is the greatest commandment like this:

Mat 22:37  Jesus said to him, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  38  This is the greatest and most important commandment.  39  The second is like it: 'You must love your neighbor as yourself.'  40  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

Jesus states here that loving God with our mind is part of the greatest commandment.  We must then ask ourselves these questions.  How does God want us to think?  What should we set our minds upon?  Where should our thoughts come from and return to?  How do we keep our thoughts in check?  What would Jesus do?  How would Jesus think?

Phi 4:4  Keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times. I will say it again: Keep on rejoicing!  5  Let your forbearing spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near:  6  Never worry about anything, but in every situation let your petitions be made known to God in prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.  7  Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  8  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.

Here we see the kinds of things God would have us to be thinking about and spending mental energy on.  Notice the lack of our current stressors here: job, finances, relationships, hurts, failures, negative self image.  Think about praiseworthy things.  In short, think about God and how He is thinking about you and those around you and how He thinks about each situation in your life and the lives of those around you

Phi 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.  4  Do not let each man look upon his own things, but each man also on the things of others.  5  For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6  who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 7  but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.  8  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus had in mind the things of the Spirit.  He had a humble attitude and submitted fully to God's will even to the point of death.  So we too should think about and be concerned about the problems facing those around us-- not just our own problems.

2Co 10:4  For the weapons of our warfare are not those of the flesh. Instead, they have the power of God to demolish fortresses. We tear down arguments 5  and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey Christ.

Are we forcing our thought life to come in line with the Word of God?  If Jesus were standing in front of you, would you openly discuss your current thought patterns with Him?  Do you really believe and act like God knows all or do you believe and act like your thoughts are your own?

Eph 4:22  Regarding your former way of life, you were taught to strip off your old man, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires, 23  to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24  and to clothe yourselves with the new man, which was created according to the likeness of God in righteousness and true holiness.

Stripping off the old man and being renewed happens when we are in communion with God, through relationship with Him and His Word.

Romans 8:5-17 Tells us the mind should be set on spiritual things not set on the flesh.  The mind set on the flesh cannot please God.  We have an obligation to live according to the Spirit because we are children of God.

Rom 8:26  In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes with groans too deep for words, 27  and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will.  28  And we know that he works all things together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

The Spirit can pray through us when we do not know how to pray.   The Spirit prays the perfect will of God when we do not know how to pray.

1Co 2:16  For "Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can advise him?" However, we have the mind of Christ

Through the Spirit we  can have the mind of Christ.  So we should renew our minds with prayer (conversation with God – both ways), praying in tongues, worship in song, scripture reading, reading books which help us think correctly about God, ourselves and the things He has given to us as our inheritance.   This allows us to recognize God's will based on hearing from Him directly and the principles we have studied from His Word.

All people view life from the grid of their experiences, thoughts, and beliefs.  Our goal is to heal bad past experiences through the grace of God and bring our thoughts and beliefs in line with God's view of things.  When we completely understand who God is, what He has done for us, what He has stored up for us as our inheritance, and how He views us, then we will boldly ask for our inheritance knowing that God delights in giving it to us!  Then we will experience our inheritance  as He intended, with power and the  presence of God!   Our thoughts will be lined up with His thoughts and it will not be difficult to tell what His will is because we are being renewed by His Spirit constantly in our thinking.  When we start thinking from the Kingdom perspective, things change.  People get healed, restored, set free.  God is seated firmly on the throne of our lives and our ambitions, goals, and desires are straight in line with God's view of things.  We start thinking of the long-term, eternal benefits.  We start having faith for what God has purchased for us.  We start appropriating the promises of God for our lives and the lives of those around us.  We are changed to be like Him.  We begin to see what a great God we serve and we begin to believe what He says about us.  We begin to believe He has wonders stored up for us which we cannot image.  We begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.