WALKING BY FAITH
“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.” (Colossians 2:6-7a)
There are some Christians whose lives appear to have transitioned from a faith basis to a works basis. They seem to have the attitude that faith alone is essential to salvation but that one graduates from the simplicity of faith into the complexity of works. The Bible does not support this idea. In fact, the Apostle Paul in dealing with the matter of disputed practices gives the litmus test, “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23, b).
In Colossians 2:6 the Apostle Paul is dealing with the commencement and continuance of the Christian life. These are connected by two tiny conjunctions (correlative conjunctions, as and so) showing that the two parts of the verse are of equal importance. There seems to be no doubt that faith is the requirement for receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. But how are we to continue? By faith. In writing to the Corinthians concerning our present life versus our future hope, Paul says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
In choosing a figure to express the nature of the Christian life, the Bible often uses the action of walking. The process of walking requires the transfer of dependence from one leg to another in a sequence of steps. Life for the Christian is a continuous transfer of dependence from self to the Savior.
As an illustration of this principle, we remind ourselves of the account of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 4:25-31). He walked in faith based on the invitation of Jesus, come. However, he took his eyes off of Jesus, turning his attention from the Savior to the storm, and began to sink. His failure was not in continuing as he began – by faith. Pastor William A. Raws was the grandson of the founder of America’s Keswick and wrote this devotional for our book, Real Victory for Real Life
Compass Pointers: Christianity can never come to us as a bargain; it can never be had at wholesale price. We must be willing to pay the full price of surrender and trust. William L. Krutza
Anchored to the Rock: When prayers are strongest, mercies are nearest. Edward Reynolds
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