“By Faith Ye Stand”

II Corinthians 1:19-24

19) For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

20) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

21) Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

22) Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

23) Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

24) Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

W

hen Man hears the word “faith,” he immediately attempts to make it understandable. However, with God and indeed, all things of the Spirit, what one does not understand, he must accept.

Particularly today, many profess “scholarship” of the Word, chiefly, through knowing hermeneutics and Hebrew or Greek. This, indeed, may be true, but knowing all of these things has no bearing on actually knowing what the Word says! How could none of these things be said to help? Because the Word is not understood by “word,” but rather, by faith!

Actually, the Lord has done us a favor by giving us the privilege of operating “in faith.” You see, when one chooses to live his life this way, it “frees” him from needing any human ability to do anything! And a “good thing,” too, for even human beings have no ability of themselves.

Through faith comes the much sought after “blessing.” But simply believing (believe it or. not), is not enough. One must “believe” and accept that what one needs has already been done through the sacrifice of Jesus!

Because of the way that Man is “hard wired,” he believes that we have something to do with everything! Hence, we believe that we have something to “do” with salvation. However, since salvation has been here many years, who “ran the show” before the collective “we” arrived?

How does one really know if or “what” he has accepted? The answer is deceptively simple—one will operate in whatever has been accepted. This is “deceptively simple” because though all one must do is “do,” the “doing” is what “stumps” us.

Too many are “stopped” in their tracks by the fact that they feel that what they have “accepted,” they have a “right” to “see.” But, this embodies the essence of the concept of “faith,” for faith is only faith because one accepts and believes without seeing. Without faith, there: is no benefit (through God) to salvation.

We will stand in the Lord only through faith, for when we choose to believe Him, we no longer need to stand on our own. We will not have the advantage of One to “help us up” unless we are joined with Him. But, that “joining” must be spiritual. Obviously, since “God is a Spirit,” it would be illogical to think that we could be joined to Him any other way.

No doubt, the word “spiritual” exists because of the word “flesh.” All that is diametrically opposed to the Lord and all that He stands for has an opposite, and the opposite of what He is, is what we are—without Him.

Because of the stench that flesh leaves in the “nostrils of God,” He has no intention of making life “in the flesh” better for one He loves. His intention is that we have a “better life”—and this is possible only through the Spirit.

God stands “with” us not to shield us from difficulty, but to make us “strong enough to take it.” Only He can “make a difference” in our lives, because only through Him can we be changed. You see, this is crucial, because the difficulties that we have, we have because of the fact that we are “born” as human beings. Therefore, there is no such thing as “self-help” for us. If we will be helped, we are going to have to have Jesus-Help.

Salvation is designed to bring us to the point of recognizing that all that God allows to come to us is allowed in order to develop us into what we are to be. “Standing in the Lord” is the only way to get there.

Anything less than a “corporate mentality” will not work in the service of the Lord. You see, when one looks for what God can do for one individually, he is separating himself from the “whole.” This is something that cannot be done in salvation or in marriage. In order for either to be successful, all that is done must be done in the best interest of both.

The Lord gave us everything that He had because of His love for us. Why then, can we not accept that when we stand “on faith,” we are accepting that “God is with me in every situation?” We will never be placed “in harm's way” just to be destroyed. Should we be placed there, we can rest assured that it always will be for the glory of God.

Frequently, we make the decision to attempt to stand on our own because we feel that we are best-equipped to shield ourselves from “hurt.” Well, do you know what the worst hurt really is? It is the “hurt” of ending up in hell. Everything else on the face of the earth can be borne.

If we would “stand by faith,” we will have to make the choice to accept that Jesus has done for us everything that we need to be done. when one looks for what God can do for one individually, he is separating himself from the “whole.” This is something that cannot be done in salvation or in marriage.

Apart from this, we will never realize the “greatness” of how we have already been blessed.