8014	Forums / Main Forum / Why Faith Is A Must	on: January 18, 2007, 04:04:37 PM
This is where a supernatural choice in will towards a faith that denies us the ability to see the outcome and by default asks of us a trust that our effort towards His will can not be based on our own effort alone. This is where I believe that Christianity most witnesses rather than mere moral effort as an example to the world because it denies ourselves and self preservation in full view towards pure faith and is recognized by those who seek it . Yes we hear that faith is a gift of God. It is not by the will of man, but the will of God. And we believe that being exposed to the word of God increases our faith, it does not return void. Its mainly the glory of Christ in the word that we see that increases our faith. But our experience has something to do with increasing our faith as well. Because apprehending spiritual things is not the method in the initial salvation experience, we believe that salvation was initially brought on by the word of God like a seed that was planted so that it was the origin of the new life. God speaks into existence life, by His word. Gods word is His spoken word, and it is a word that brings light into darkness. We believe the new life was the cause of saving faith. We must have faith in an object that is unseen. That is unseen to the natural eye. And we are seeing the unseen because we have divine knowledge and understanding. So we can trust and obey . And yet in order for us to grow in faith we must be tested so that our faith can be proved genuine. How can you test faith unless there is on the one side a sever trial in which there is a profound sense of hopelessness on the one hand and a trust in Christ that surpasses that hopelessness on the other hand. That is \"hoping against hope.\" Yes and in our experience we are led down the road to this intersection. This is where we come out with an assurance that we have saving faith.