FAITH TO FAITH
Tony Cowan Ministries
"The Relationship of Faith" part three September / October 2011
Acts 26:18
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We have been looking into our relationship with the Father in the past
couple of issues of Faith to Faith, and its effects on our faith towards
Him. First, we looked at the Giving End, which is the Godward part. In
contrast to much of the traditional religious teaching of our day, we found
out that the Father is not withholding His blessings from us for some
mysterious reason. He completely demonstrated His willingness to
supply our every need by not sparing His own Son. The problem is not on
the Giving End. In the last issue, we began to look at the receiving end,
which is our part. We discovered that the Father even did something
about the receiving end, which was lacking due to sin and the weakness of
the flesh. Therefore, our faith can be strong and incorruptible, because it
is all based on God – His willingness to be gracious and generous towards
us, and His work in our lives. Of course, we must receive what the Father
did for us through our faith, and faith requires corresponding words and
actions.
Colossians 1:12 …giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
We are to give the Father thanks because our qualification to receive His
inheritance has already been completed and provided for us. All we have
to do now is received this reality by faith and walk in the light of it. The
reality is that He has already qualified us to be a recipient of His glorious
inheritance. We were previously disqualified by our sin and short-
comings. There was no way we were going to be able to qualify
ourselves. Thanks be to God for His mercy and grace. He did for us
what we could not do for ourselves. It doesn’t matter what the devil or
other people say about you, the Most High God says you are qualified in
Christ.
Colossians 1:13-14 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness
and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Our Father delivered us from the power of darkness and into the
Kingdom of His dear Son. We were delivered from the tyrant of all
tyrant’s dominion, and placed into the same Kingdom of God’s Son. How
did this happen? The Blood of Jesus was applied to our sin and we were
forgiven just like it never existed in our life. There is not even a stain of
sin in our lives anymore. The thing that disqualified us to begin with has
been removed, so our qualification has been restored.
Man-made religion is quick to point out that we have all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God, and that we are still just “old sinners saved by
grace.” The fact is that we were indeed sinners falling short of the glory
of God before we received Jesus and the Father did His work in us. All
of the things that we were in our BC years – Before Christ – have been
changed. Let’s take a look at the verse that has been used to beat the
children of God down in context.
Romans 3:23-25 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood,
through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His
forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously
committed…
Verse 23 would apply to all of us before we received Jesus, and to those
who still have not received Him as their Lord. However, once we
received Jesus by faith, everything changed in our lives and in our
relationship with God. We have been justified freely by the grace of God
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. To be justified means that
we have been acquitted of all charges against us, and we have been
restored to a place of right-standing and favor with God. Jesus redeemed
us from sin and its condemning sentence that was against us. Jesus came
to take our place as our divine Substitute and absorb all of the
punishment that was due to us. This was all a work of grace. The Father
freely gave us something that we could not earn ourselves. Notice in
these verses that our faith is involved. What God provided for us by His
grace, and what the Blood of Jesus did for us, must be received
personally by our faith. Again, our faith is focused on what the Father
accomplished for us in Jesus. There is nothing more that we could do to
add to what He has already done.
As an example, suppose someone – a very rich someone – came up to
you one day and offered to cut you a check to pay off every debt that you
owe, plus deposit a few million dollars in your bank account. You
received the check gratefully, went home and placed it in a picture frame
and hung it on a wall. Then, you got up the next day and went to work
like always. You continued to make payments on all your debts with your
earnings. You scrimped and saved, ate bologna sandwiches to be
“humble,” and lived in less than desirable conditions. Even though you
had received the resources to live debt free, with every need abundantly
taken care of, you never acted on it. The same is true with our salvation.
Our Father has paid off all of our sin debts and promised to meet all of
our needs according to His riches in glory, but many of His children are
living like nothing really changed.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.
Jesus did not go through all that He did for us so that we would remain
the same. When we were born again, God did a radical change in us.
Everything changed. All the old stuff was taken out and thrown in the
garbage. All things became new. We have a new, born again spirit
identical to Jesus, recreated in God’s likeness and image. We are not
remanufactured, refurbished, or second-rate new creations. The Father
did a perfect and complete work in our spirits. There is nothing lacking.
He did not make an unrighteous new man, with the remnants of the old
sinner man that has passed away.
II Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become (KJV: be made)the righteousness of God in Him.
God made us righteous. That is the only way you can be righteous in His
sight. This is the great exchange. Jesus became what we were by grace,
so we could become what He is now by faith. He never sinned Himself,
but identified with us in our sin. We never did any righteousness, but we
identify with Him in His right standing with God. It certainly sounds like
we got the better deal here. God’s grace is indeed amazing.
Romans 5:15 (AMP) But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to
the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if
many died through one man's falling away (his lapse, his offense), much
more profusely did God's grace and the free gift [that comes] through the
undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to
and for [the benefit of] many.
You cannot even compare the grace of God with the fall of man. The
measure of God’s grace with our sin is disproportionate. It would be like
trying to compare a drop of water with all the water in the Pacific Ocean,
or the space in your house with all the space in the universe. These are
not reasonable comparisons, and neither is the grace of God in
comparison with our sin. This does not mean that sin is not significant.
Just consider what Jesus had to go through in paying the price for our
sin. The ransom that our Father paid for us was enormous. The Apostle
Paul is saying that the grace of God is exponentially greater in measure.
Glory to God!
We have developed our faith in sin and its ability to condemn us. God
wants us to develop our faith in something far greater – His grace. What
the Father did for us through His grace in Christ Jesus was far greater
than what satan did through sin in the first Adam. The fall of man left
humanity as paupers and beggars. Our redemption in Jesus restores all
that the Father planned for us before sin entered the picture. We are now
His heirs in Christ.
Romans 5:17 (AMP) For if because of one man's trespass (lapse,
offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who
receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of
righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as
kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the
Anointed One).
God originally gave Adam (and all mankind) dominion in this earth
(reference Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8). He intended for man to rule and
reign in the earth, maintaining order in this realm. He lost this authority
when he bowed his knee to satan, acting on his words of deception.
Through the work of redemption, Jesus took the authority back and
delegated it back to the Church. By the grace of God, we are to once
again reign as kings in this life. (For more information on this subject,
please download the series Authority of the Believer under the Solid As
A Rock Foundational Course on our website. This is a free download.)
God’s good plan for us was far greater than satan’s plan of destruction
for us. The Father did all of this for us through His great grace. What
He has provided for us in grace must be received through our faith. Our
faith is a response to what He has already done for us and given to us.
Because our faith is in relation to the grace of God, it should be strong
and effective. There was nothing flawed or lacking in God’s grace or in
His complete work of redemption. As we grow in God’s grace through
increased knowledge and understanding of what God has already
provided for us in Christ, our faith will also become stronger.
Our relationship with the Father is based on His grace, and on our faith in
His grace which initiated and carried out our redemption. The enemy
would like to distract your focus away from the New Testament realities
of who we are and what we have in Christ – through God’s grace. If he
can successfully re-direct the focus of our faith off of the Father and back
onto us – at least partially – then he can weaken our faith and keep us
from walking in the fullness of our victory and provision.
Colossians 2:6-7 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the
faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
We become established in the faith as we become rooted and built up in
Jesus. We aren’t going to be strong in faith if our identification is in
something other than Him, such as man-made religion, ourselves, our
family genealogy, natural education, etc. While these things have their
place and there may not be anything inherently wrong with them, our faith
must be grounded in something stronger than man. The ability and
resources of humanity without God is very limited. Paul said that our
faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (see I
Corinthians 2:5).
Notice at the end of that verse that we are ending up where we started
out – giving thanks to the Father. Thanksgiving means that we have
received something that has already been made ready and given to us.
We are to abound in thanksgiving for all the things that God has done for
us by His grace in Christ.
Pastor Tony
Editor’s Note: For more information on this subject, please download the
new series of audio teachings from the 2011 Spring Faith and Healing
Seminar, available to you at no charge.
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the New
King James Version of the Bible, copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982, 1988
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from The Amplified Bible,
New Testament copyright ©1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation.
© 2010 Tony Cowan Ministries, Inc., Athens, Georgia. All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is
prohibited.
couple of issues of Faith to Faith, and its effects on our faith towards
Him. First, we looked at the Giving End, which is the Godward part. In
contrast to much of the traditional religious teaching of our day, we found
out that the Father is not withholding His blessings from us for some
mysterious reason. He completely demonstrated His willingness to
supply our every need by not sparing His own Son. The problem is not on
the Giving End. In the last issue, we began to look at the receiving end,
which is our part. We discovered that the Father even did something
about the receiving end, which was lacking due to sin and the weakness of
the flesh. Therefore, our faith can be strong and incorruptible, because it
is all based on God – His willingness to be gracious and generous towards
us, and His work in our lives. Of course, we must receive what the Father
did for us through our faith, and faith requires corresponding words and
actions.
Colossians 1:12 …giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
We are to give the Father thanks because our qualification to receive His
inheritance has already been completed and provided for us. All we have
to do now is received this reality by faith and walk in the light of it. The
reality is that He has already qualified us to be a recipient of His glorious
inheritance. We were previously disqualified by our sin and short-
comings. There was no way we were going to be able to qualify
ourselves. Thanks be to God for His mercy and grace. He did for us
what we could not do for ourselves. It doesn’t matter what the devil or
other people say about you, the Most High God says you are qualified in
Christ.
Colossians 1:13-14 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness
and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Our Father delivered us from the power of darkness and into the
Kingdom of His dear Son. We were delivered from the tyrant of all
tyrant’s dominion, and placed into the same Kingdom of God’s Son. How
did this happen? The Blood of Jesus was applied to our sin and we were
forgiven just like it never existed in our life. There is not even a stain of
sin in our lives anymore. The thing that disqualified us to begin with has
been removed, so our qualification has been restored.
Man-made religion is quick to point out that we have all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God, and that we are still just “old sinners saved by
grace.” The fact is that we were indeed sinners falling short of the glory
of God before we received Jesus and the Father did His work in us. All
of the things that we were in our BC years – Before Christ – have been
changed. Let’s take a look at the verse that has been used to beat the
children of God down in context.
Romans 3:23-25 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood,
through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His
forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously
committed…
Verse 23 would apply to all of us before we received Jesus, and to those
who still have not received Him as their Lord. However, once we
received Jesus by faith, everything changed in our lives and in our
relationship with God. We have been justified freely by the grace of God
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. To be justified means that
we have been acquitted of all charges against us, and we have been
restored to a place of right-standing and favor with God. Jesus redeemed
us from sin and its condemning sentence that was against us. Jesus came
to take our place as our divine Substitute and absorb all of the
punishment that was due to us. This was all a work of grace. The Father
freely gave us something that we could not earn ourselves. Notice in
these verses that our faith is involved. What God provided for us by His
grace, and what the Blood of Jesus did for us, must be received
personally by our faith. Again, our faith is focused on what the Father
accomplished for us in Jesus. There is nothing more that we could do to
add to what He has already done.
As an example, suppose someone – a very rich someone – came up to
you one day and offered to cut you a check to pay off every debt that you
owe, plus deposit a few million dollars in your bank account. You
received the check gratefully, went home and placed it in a picture frame
and hung it on a wall. Then, you got up the next day and went to work
like always. You continued to make payments on all your debts with your
earnings. You scrimped and saved, ate bologna sandwiches to be
“humble,” and lived in less than desirable conditions. Even though you
had received the resources to live debt free, with every need abundantly
taken care of, you never acted on it. The same is true with our salvation.
Our Father has paid off all of our sin debts and promised to meet all of
our needs according to His riches in glory, but many of His children are
living like nothing really changed.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.
Jesus did not go through all that He did for us so that we would remain
the same. When we were born again, God did a radical change in us.
Everything changed. All the old stuff was taken out and thrown in the
garbage. All things became new. We have a new, born again spirit
identical to Jesus, recreated in God’s likeness and image. We are not
remanufactured, refurbished, or second-rate new creations. The Father
did a perfect and complete work in our spirits. There is nothing lacking.
He did not make an unrighteous new man, with the remnants of the old
sinner man that has passed away.
II Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become (KJV: be made)the righteousness of God in Him.
God made us righteous. That is the only way you can be righteous in His
sight. This is the great exchange. Jesus became what we were by grace,
so we could become what He is now by faith. He never sinned Himself,
but identified with us in our sin. We never did any righteousness, but we
identify with Him in His right standing with God. It certainly sounds like
we got the better deal here. God’s grace is indeed amazing.
Romans 5:15 (AMP) But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to
the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if
many died through one man's falling away (his lapse, his offense), much
more profusely did God's grace and the free gift [that comes] through the
undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to
and for [the benefit of] many.
You cannot even compare the grace of God with the fall of man. The
measure of God’s grace with our sin is disproportionate. It would be like
trying to compare a drop of water with all the water in the Pacific Ocean,
or the space in your house with all the space in the universe. These are
not reasonable comparisons, and neither is the grace of God in
comparison with our sin. This does not mean that sin is not significant.
Just consider what Jesus had to go through in paying the price for our
sin. The ransom that our Father paid for us was enormous. The Apostle
Paul is saying that the grace of God is exponentially greater in measure.
Glory to God!
We have developed our faith in sin and its ability to condemn us. God
wants us to develop our faith in something far greater – His grace. What
the Father did for us through His grace in Christ Jesus was far greater
than what satan did through sin in the first Adam. The fall of man left
humanity as paupers and beggars. Our redemption in Jesus restores all
that the Father planned for us before sin entered the picture. We are now
His heirs in Christ.
Romans 5:17 (AMP) For if because of one man's trespass (lapse,
offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who
receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of
righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as
kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the
Anointed One).
God originally gave Adam (and all mankind) dominion in this earth
(reference Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8). He intended for man to rule and
reign in the earth, maintaining order in this realm. He lost this authority
when he bowed his knee to satan, acting on his words of deception.
Through the work of redemption, Jesus took the authority back and
delegated it back to the Church. By the grace of God, we are to once
again reign as kings in this life. (For more information on this subject,
please download the series Authority of the Believer under the Solid As
A Rock Foundational Course on our website. This is a free download.)
God’s good plan for us was far greater than satan’s plan of destruction
for us. The Father did all of this for us through His great grace. What
He has provided for us in grace must be received through our faith. Our
faith is a response to what He has already done for us and given to us.
Because our faith is in relation to the grace of God, it should be strong
and effective. There was nothing flawed or lacking in God’s grace or in
His complete work of redemption. As we grow in God’s grace through
increased knowledge and understanding of what God has already
provided for us in Christ, our faith will also become stronger.
Our relationship with the Father is based on His grace, and on our faith in
His grace which initiated and carried out our redemption. The enemy
would like to distract your focus away from the New Testament realities
of who we are and what we have in Christ – through God’s grace. If he
can successfully re-direct the focus of our faith off of the Father and back
onto us – at least partially – then he can weaken our faith and keep us
from walking in the fullness of our victory and provision.
Colossians 2:6-7 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the
faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
We become established in the faith as we become rooted and built up in
Jesus. We aren’t going to be strong in faith if our identification is in
something other than Him, such as man-made religion, ourselves, our
family genealogy, natural education, etc. While these things have their
place and there may not be anything inherently wrong with them, our faith
must be grounded in something stronger than man. The ability and
resources of humanity without God is very limited. Paul said that our
faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (see I
Corinthians 2:5).
Notice at the end of that verse that we are ending up where we started
out – giving thanks to the Father. Thanksgiving means that we have
received something that has already been made ready and given to us.
We are to abound in thanksgiving for all the things that God has done for
us by His grace in Christ.
Pastor Tony
Editor’s Note: For more information on this subject, please download the
new series of audio teachings from the 2011 Spring Faith and Healing
Seminar, available to you at no charge.
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the New
King James Version of the Bible, copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982, 1988
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from The Amplified Bible,
New Testament copyright ©1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation.
© 2010 Tony Cowan Ministries, Inc., Athens, Georgia. All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is
prohibited.