Focus: Transforming Faith

Text: Rom.10:8

"But what saith it? The WORD is nigh thee, even in thy MOUTH, and in thy HEART: that is, THE WORD OF FAITH, which we PREACH."

The 'word' here refers to the RHEMA of God. In 1Tim.4:6, Paul calls it, "the words of faith," which in Greek refers to the LOGOS of faith. In Eph.1:13, Paul refers to it as "the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." That is the logos of truth. Faith and truth belong together, for faith is founded on the bedrock of truth. You cannot have faith without truth, except it is the wrong kind of faith. 

We believe because God has spoken. Our faith is anchored to truth as revealed in the holy Scripture and communicated and committed to our hearts by the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ prayed to the Father for us, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (Jh.17:17). 'Thy LOGOS' is truth. 

Our faith possesses justifying and sanctifying power. Total transformation of our lives results where truth and faith connect, interact and mingle together.

The writer of Hebrews says, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but THE WORD preached did not profit them, not being MIXED WITH FAITH in them that heard it" (Heb.4:2). The word does not produce any effect where faith is absent. We must actively, earnestly and passionately receive the word for us to experience the reality and power of it in our lives.

Our text tells us that the word is very close to us, and that it is in our heart and on our lips. What is the word doing in our heart? 

The heart is the center of our personality. It is the seat of our will, mind and emotion. From the heart flows all the issues of life. It is with the heart, not the head, that we believe.

The word enters our heart and we believe it from there. Our faith is a thing of the heart. The mouth is the organ of expression. What is in the heart comes out from the mouth. Our whole being is regulated from the heart. The heart is the seat of power for our entire being. The logos and rhema of faith resides in and presides over us from the heart realm.

Life flows from the heart. The whole body is saturated with life from the heart. The heart is the seat of power, reason and passion. Jesus Christ asked, "What reason ye in your hearts?" (Lk.5:22). Luke talks about "the thoughts of many hearts" (Lk.2:35). Truth only begins to rule over us and produce fruit in our lives when we let it take root in our heart.

Our faith in Christ is meant to shape our lives in every respect. Our faith is not a mere appendage or attachment but an integral part of our existence. If our faith doesn't change us, then it is not real faith. Our faith in Christ is meant to alter our belief/value system and behavioral patterns.

In the Christian faith creed and conduct are intertwined. We behave our belief.

Our FAITH in Christ:

*Frames our mentality and forms our character.

Our faith is connected to the word of truth, and the word of God is the divine apparatus for character formation and development. By faith we receive the mind of Christ. Our mind is daily being renewed by the intake of God's word. By faith in God's word we constantly cultivate a godly character.

*Adorns our lives with beautiful attitudes.

Faith is more than what we do; it is an attitude. Peter writes, "And beside this, giving all diligence, ADD TO YOUR FAITH virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" (2Pet.1:5-7). These are beautiful attitudes that form the moral structure of our faith. They are the pillars of faith. They stand on the foundation of faith.

*Informs our beliefs and influences our behavior.

We do not believe one thing and do another. Paul says, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, TEACHING us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Tit.2:11-12). We believe in the truths of Scripture and live by them.

*Touches our lives visibly, tangibly and totally.

Paul says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2Cor.5:17).

*Heals us holistically - spirit, soul and body.

In Titus 1:13 and 2:2, Paul talks about being sound in faith, and the word 'sound' refers to a holy and healthy faith. The word of God medicates our whole system. Jesus Christ says, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (Jh.6:63). The psalmist says, "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Ps.107:20). The curative power of the word is activated by faith. The word works when it is applied by faith. Application of the word means obeying what the word says. It means to faithfully and addictively adhere to the diagnoses and prescriptions of the word of truth. The fruit of the word truly received and faithfully applied is a sound mind.

I pray that you experience the transforming power of the Christian faith. It is the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Our faith is meant to change us from the inside out. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for the change You bring into our lives! Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter