Faith in Christ

Our text is Col 2:5-7.  The Colossians had a faith in Christ that Paul could behold.  Their faith was evident to him.  Their faith wasn’t a religious expression like you hear people say today.

A friend of mine once said, “I need to be more concerned about my faith”.  He was talking about being more faithful to say his prayers and attend to his religious rituals.  Some say, “I need to practice my faith”, meaning they need to go to church more regularly.  Neither of these is the faith about which Paul wrote.

We want the same faith that Paul saw in the Colossians.  This kind of faith in Christ is:

Stedfast Faith in Christ.

Steadfast faith in Christ is firmly fixed in place. We say rock solid.

To have this faith you must first get saved.  “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord”, v.6.  Believe the gospel, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith”, Rom 1:17.  Saving faith is the gift of God, Eph 2:8-9.

And after you get saved, start walking in faith with Jesus.  “For we walk by faith, not by sight”, 2 Cor 5:7.  Christ has a path for your life.  In Ps 25:4-5 David wrote, “shew me thy ways, teach me thy paths, lead me in thy truth, and teach me” (while you’re leading me).

And as you walk in faith with Jesus, get rooted and built up in him.  2 Ki 19:30 describes the Jews taking root downward, and bearing fruit upward.  To get rooted, you need to spend time with the Lord in personal fellowship.  the Lord’s work in you is to build you up, bearing fruit in your life.

Stablished faith in Christ.  This is going to require trials and suffering, 1 Pet 1:5-7, 1 Pet 5:8-10.  Your faith is not going to be established without suffering.  Adversity will prove the strength of your faith and make you stronger.  Matt 7:24-25 heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them… founded upon a rock.

Abounding faith in Christ.  Abounding means possessing a great amount of.  Christ provides a great supply of faith which is more than sufficient for every need.  He’s looking for great faith.  2 Thes 1:3, 2 Cor 8:7.  We abound in faith with thanksgiving because it comes from Christ.  Rom 12:3 says that we are “to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”.

Conclusion: if you are not already saved, you must trust the Lord to save you before you will ever have the kind of faith we have discussed today.  If you are saved, then examine where your faith is along the progress of steadfast, stablished, and abounding faith.  Make sure to keep growing in faith.  There is no plateau in your faith in Christ.