FAITH

By A. W. Tozer

    Faith as the Bible knows it --- is confidence in God
and His Son Jesus Christ; it is the response of the soul
to the divine character as revealed in the Scriptures;
and even this response is impossible apart from the
prior inworking of the Holy Spirit.  Faith is a gift of
God to a penitent soul and has nothing whatsoever to
do with the senses or the data they afford.  Faith is a
miracle; it is the ability God gives to trust His Son,
and anything that does not result in action in accord
with the will of God is not faith but something else
short of it.

   Faith and morals are two sides of the same coin.
Indeed the very essence of faith is moral.  Any
professed faith in Christ as personal Saviour that
does not bring the life under plenary obedience to
Christ as Lord is inadequate and must betray its
victim at the last.

   The man that believes will obey; failure to obey
is convincing proof that there is not true faith present.
To attempt the impossible, God must give faith or there
will be none, and He gives faith to the obedient heart
only.  Where real repentance is,  there is obedience;
for repentance is not only sorrow for past failures and
sins, it is a determination to begin now to do the will
of God as He reveals it to us.
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Yours in Christ,

Paul N. F.