"Have You Heard" Newspaper Articles Posted with the Permission of the Streetsboro Church of Christ.
Have you ever had anyone tell you, “You've gotta have faith!”? In essence, that is exactly what God has told us as well. In the New Testament, the word “faith” is used in two different ways.
Jesus said that we must believe that he is the Son of God in order to have salvation. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24).
Without this kind
of faith, it is impossible for us to be pleasing to God. “But without faith it
is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6).
Having this belief is the first step that all of us must take in order to obtain salvation. It is the very foundation of Christianity! Simon Peter answered and said, “'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'" (Matthew 16:16-18). What rock was the church built upon? Upon the confession that Peter had just made, i.e. Jesus is the Son of God.
For example, in Acts 6:7, we read, “…a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” What were these priests obedient to? They were obedient to the system of faith that the Apostles had delivered to them. Namely, the Gospel or the New Testament of Jesus Christ.
This system of faith is precious indeed! So much so that Jude encouraged us to, “…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)
-- Ralph Price --
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