The gift of salvation and eternal life which God offers to all as a result of the atoning death and
resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is received individually by faith. "For by grace
are ye saved through faith" (Eph. 2:8); "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved" (Acts 16:31); "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). It is by
belief, trust, or faith (these terms are synonymous) in the finished work of Christ alone, and not
by trusting in our own works or goodness, that we receive God’s salvation.

But it was never God’s intention that our faith should have its beginning and end with the
acceptance of His gift of life. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye
in Him" (Col. 2:6); "We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7); "The life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20); "Your faith groweth exceedingly" (2
Thess. 1:3); "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).
These verses are saying, in various ways, that our entire lives as Christians should be
characterized by the exercise of faith, that is, trust and dependence upon the Lord. Just as we
received Christ into our lives by faith and have the blessed confidence that we are saved and
bound for heaven, so we with equal confidence are to entrust Him with every matter and care of
our daily lives, to count upon His guidance and supply for our every need.

There are many things in this Me which naturally tend to cause us concern, and to worry and
upset us. A few examples of these are the inflation which is eating away our life’s savings; the
rampant lawlessness which makes us afraid to walk the city streets or to leave our homes because
of the risk of burglary or vandalism; the economic recession which brings with it the fear of
unemployment; the immorality, drugs, and alcohol which are so commonplace among young
people and adults alike.

Also, we each have our own special personal problems-some small, some large and
overwhelming, some short-term, some ever-present_which upset us. One may be concerned about
finding a wife or a husband "before it is too late"; another may wonder how his family will ever
be able to get out of debt; another may be irritated and disappointed because the promotion he
expected was given to someone else instead; a mother and father may be worried about their son
or daughter who should have been home an hour ago; a student may be apprehensive about an
approaching examination; a gospel worker may wonder why he seems to be getting no results; and
so the list goes on and on. In all of these matters of our daily lives we can either act as if we are
on our own, and thus go on living in a fearful, worried, fretful state, as if our God were off
somewhere meditating, or on a journey, or perhaps sleeping (see 1 Kings 18:27 JND). Or else
we can live by faith, trusting in the Lord to provide for us, to keep us and our loved ones in
safety, to do what He knows is best for us, to give us whatever we need_even if it may not be
what we want or what we think we need (Phil. 4:19), and to guide us into the full knowledge of
His will with regard to decisions which we must make.

"The fruit of the Spirit is … faith" (Gal. 5:22). As the Spirit is allowed ever increasing control
over our lives as Christians, our faith_our ability to trust God for every detail of our lives_will
increase in proportion. While God always knows how much faith we have, He often tests us in

order to provide us with a kind of barometer to tell us how well we are growing in our walk of
faith:"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:2-4); "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6, 7). The Bible gives
accounts of many of God’s people whose faith was tried_Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Rahab,
David, and Ruth, to name a few. Hebrews 11 provides a kind of "Who’s Who" of men and
women of faith in Old Testament times (though it is by no means complete ).

However, not every trial recorded in the Scriptures resulted in a triumph of faith. Consider the
children of Israel who wandered in the wilderness for forty years because they feared the giants
in the land of promise (Numbers 13 and 14); consider Elijah who went from a major triumph of
faith into a condition of fear and depression the next day when a new trial arose unexpectedly (1
Kings 18 and 19); consider David who put his trust in the size of his army rather than in the Lord
(2 Samuel 24); and consider Peter who denied the Lord three times in order to protect himself
(Luke 22:31-34, 54-62). How immense is the loss in spiritual and other blessings, both to
ourselves and to our families and neighbors and brethren in Christ, when our faith fails and we
are defeated as a result of some testing!

We may, like Peter, have great confidence in our faithfulness (Matt. 26:33). But the Lord, we can
be sure, will soon test to show us whether we have confidence in ourselves or confidence in Him
alone. Often our time of least faith comes, as it did with Elijah, on the heels of a great victory of
faith. How we especially need the ministry and control of the Holy Spirit at such times!

Our faith and trust in the Lord is a moment-by-moment affair. We must not rely on past or present
manifestations of faith in our lives to get us through the trial that will come next. To live a life of
victory is to live in continual trust and dependence upon the Lord, "forgetting those things which
are behind [whether successes or failures], and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
[pressing] toward the mark for the prize of the high calling [or calling on high] of God in Christ
Jesus" (Phil. 3:13,14).