There is no Substitute for Faith

Title :	There is no Substitute for Faith
Preacher :	Dr. 'Tunde Bakare
Main Texts: 1 Timothy 1:1-7; 2 Timothy 2:11-18; Luke 18:1-8; Romans 12:1-3 “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses] (Hebrews 11:1) (AMP). It is pathetic and increasingly alarming that those who profess to have strong faith and absolute trust in God’s word as far as their situation and circumstances is concerned are not getting the expected result of their faith. It is perturbing that in spite of their consistent confession and ‘claiming’ of the things they are expecting; they do not have anything significant to show for their faith. Why is it so? What is the reason or the cause of this unwelcome development in a believer’s life? This message unveils the problem and proffers solution to it. Every individual believer is endowed with a measure of faith at conversion (Romans 12:1-6). Subsequently, this measure of faith must be maintained with a pure heart and a good conscience. A pure heart and a good conscience are the foundations of sincere faith. In other words, your faith will not produce any positive or noteworthy result if it is not a sincere faith that is rooted in a pure heart and a good conscience. A pure heart and a good conscience do not have unbelief and every element of skepticism as far as the word of God for your situation is concerned. It is thus imperative for you to get rid of anything that promotes impurity and undermines good conscience in order to see a working faith. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, faith is not a ‘knowing’, rather, it’s a ‘belief’ that is followed by corresponding action. That is, it is not just having a pure and a good conscience coupled with your ‘knowing’ of the fact that will propel your faith to produce expected result—you must back up your faith with corresponding action. The reason why many people’s faith is not working for them is the lack of the corresponding action. You may be consistently professing and steadfastly claiming your blessing from now till eternity; nothing will happen if your faith is devoid of corresponding action. The woman with the issue of blood would have remained perpetually in her terrible situation if she had not backed up her faith with corresponding action. Zacchaeus, the rich man and chief tax collector, would have died in his sins if he had failed to take a giant step by climbing to the top of a sycamore tree in order to receive Jesus into his life. The ten lepers would have remained in their inglorious condition if they had not backed up their faith with action at the command of Jesus (Mark 5: 25-34; Luke; 19:1-10; 17:11-19). The Bible is replete with instances of those who received significant results by backing up their faith with corresponding action. Your faith ought to be used as a conviction of what is yet to manifest, but not as the substance of the expectation. That is to say, you must not use your faith as the substitute for what you expect to happen; you are to use your faith to get what is to happen. You must back up your faith with corresponding action. This message also admonishes you to grow in faith, because when your faith is not growing and your responsibilities and challenges are mounting, there is likelihood that you will depart from the faith. Hence, you will look for substitutes. You will look for quick fixes and shortcuts, which are not short in the long run (1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:9, 10; 2 Thessalonians 1:3).
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