Faith with truth produces spiritual power

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The Bible says, “. . . but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2).

In chemistry the chemist knows certain chemicals shouldn’t be mixed together.  Alone these chemicals remain passive, totally dormant and impotent.  But mixed together which they may be on certain occasions create a power, an energy, that can if controlled and channeled be used as a propulsion for moving some body.  Alone, these chemicals have no power or energy but when united with the other there’s a reaction that creates a power that can be useful for other things.

In similar fashion the Word of God to the casual reader seems to be a dead book.  For this particular reader the power of the Word was not realized because faith which activates the transforming power of truth was not mixed in.

Truth reacts to no other power than that of faith.  We do a lot of things with Truth but the only one who experiences its power is the one who believes it.

Truth is available to all, but because so few actually have faith in it, its great power is not that widely known.  If all who have the Truth had faith in it, then its power would be evident everywhere.  The power to change individual lives as well as nations is embodied in God’s Word, but that power, that force, that energy is activated by faith and faith alone.

The writer of Hebrews tells us God made a promise of “rest” to Israel which because of their unbelief they never realized it.  It’s by our faith in God and His Word that spiritual truths become a reality.  Rest from all our labors to be saved comes when we put our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary.

The Gospel of Christ has the power to save souls and create new life.  But this power never works apart from faith – “for it (the gospel of Christ) is the power (“strength, ability, inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature”) of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (has faith)” (Rom.1:16).

We by faith put gasoline in our automobiles because the facts are that gasoline ignites when exposed to a spark as say opposed to water.  We must place our faith in the facts if we are going to live in the real world, because it is the facts that play a significant role in our daily lives.  It is by this means that we power through our daily lives and get things accomplished.  If it were not for the facts, we wouldn’t have the reality so essential for our plans and goals to be realized.

As we by faith accept the facts in our natural world and the realities they represent, even so we must by faith accept God’s Word and then the powerful realities represented therein will be realized by us, and we will live in a totally different dimension.

James H. Cagle is a resident of Ray City.