The Higher Christian Life

When it comes to the Higher Christian Life, one of the most important words in Scripture is ginṓskō. In fact, I’m not sure we could overstate that fact. The difference between the lukewarm life …

Our faith, unfortunately, is often based on head-knowledge or mental assent and only becomes real to us when it is experienced, firsthand, in the midst of a tough time or by a trial by fire. And …

There are many questions Christians have about the Lord’s Supper, and not all of them revolve around the nature of the substance of the bread and wine. There is the question about timing, how often …

We have been looking at the three key truths that will allow you to experience the surrender that leads to the Higher Christian Life. Let’s take a moment for a quick review. Truth One – You are incapable of …

When we begin to seek God’s wisdom through a deep study of His Word, it’s good to remind ourselves of exactly what we are doing and how the Bible is unique from all other literature. It’s more than …

Before we actually begin to look at the Proverbs to glean the wisdom of God, we first need to remind ourselves what Bible study entails and how to mine the depths of God’s Word for the treasure often buried …

This past Sunday, we talked about how we as Christians and His church are to respond during the dark times we see encroaching all around. What are we to do? How are we to think and feel? What is God’s …

We have spent the last few sessions unpacking the three key truths that must be believed in order to receive the Higher Christian Life.  By now, these should be second nature to you.  But there are two aspects to these three truths. One, naturally, is the truths themselves.  And the other, of equal importance, is that these truths must be believed.  In a word, faith.  It is the fact you must believe by faith what these truths state.  This brings us to the topic for today, and that is faith.  Abundant faith, achieving faith, overcoming faith, non-wavering faith.  Faith.  So let’s begin with a simple question:  What are the unlimited possibilities of faith?

Let’s begin by looking at a few statements from Christ and see if we truly believe what they say.

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” – Matthew 19:26.

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” – Mark 9:23.

Note, the Greek word translated “all” is pás and means “each, every, any, in totality, the whole, without exception.”  So, for us, all means all.  Literally.  And the second word to consider is dunatós which is translated as “possible” and means “to be able, to have strength, to be strong or powerful.”  This is a form of dúnamis which is primarily translated in the New Testament as power, notably “miraculous” power.  In essence, Jesus is saying with faith or to one who believes, all things, without exception, are possible, or have the power, strength, and ability to be done, even miraculously, in Christ.

Do you believe these words of Jesus?  I hope so.  For “without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6).

But there is something more here that needs to be understood about these promises.  The first statement is a blanket truth about God.  There is nothing impossible with Him, or all things are possible.  But with the second statement, there is a condition.  Jesus begins with a condition “if” and states, “If you can believe, (then) all things are possible to him (condition again) who believes” (Mark 9:23).  So faith or belief is the condition that opens up the floodgates of blessings from the Lord and is the key, not only to our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), but also the Higher Christian Life.

And if that wasn’t enough, we find in Hebrews intimacy and becoming well-pleasing to the Lord is intricately tied to faith.  So much so, the Scripture says “without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6), which is the point of seeking the Higher Christian Life.

So if the words of Jesus are true and faith is the substance that brings blessings and intimacy with the Lord, then what are the possibilities in Him, by faith, in this life we now lead?  Or, is there anything God cannot do to those who believe?