Navigating Spiritual Failures for a Better Understanding of Faith

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Without faith it is impossible for one to please God. Faith must move!

Introduction

Has your profession of faith become a confession, or is your profession just that – a profession?  As we will see in our lesson this week, faith is more than just saying you believe in the Lord.  We must answer the question: Do our works show that we truly believe in God in our hearts? In this week’s Sunday School commentary from 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 10:13, faith continues to be defined for us in what we should and should not do in our faith.

Faith and Obedience

Faith is living, breathing, moving, and it is active.  Faith brings to life what one believes in their heart.  So, if you say that you believe in God, then your actions will show that you believe in Him.  Those who say they believe in God must come to understand how important their actions are.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul spoke of the importance that discipline plays in our walk of faith.  He spoke of the importance of a believer being disciplined in their works, to that of one who competes in athletic competition.  Paul spoke of how the one who trains with discipline is often the one to win the prize at the end of a competition.

Some of the greatest athletes would certainly agree with this notion.  Someone like Kobe Bryant always spoke of his need to be disciplined, calling it the “Mamba Mentality” to winning.  I follow quite a few athletes and Olympians on social media, and it is truly amazing to see their daily routine of strict training just to compete in events that last, at times, only for a few short seconds!

Of course, our journey can last for years.  Every day, we are met with tests that challenge us to move according to what we believe in our hearts.  The sincere believer will put forth the effort of discipline because it is that discipline which is rewarded.  

Faith without discipline isn’t faith at all.  Faith without discipline is merely a profession of believing in something.  

The scribes and Pharisees said they believed in God, yet their actions were far from the Lord.  Jesus warned the people not to follow the ways of the scribes and Pharisees because their way was wicked (Matt. 23:1-3).  While they said the believed in God, what their actions (their faith) showed was that they truly believed in something different in their hearts.

James said it best in James 1:19-20.  James wrote, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe … But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

A Profession Won’t Save Anybody

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 opens us up to a very important point of discussion.  For years, I have preached, taught, and explained that just because one goes to church, that doesn’t mean they are saved.  Just because one has been baptized, that doesn’t mean they are saved!  Without faith, one does not have salvation in the Lord.

Paul explained this thought really well by referencing the children of Israel.  Paul explained that the Jew’s forefathers were “under the cloud” and “passed through the sea”.  This is a reference to when God parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel and guided them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21; 14:21-22).

Paul explained that the children of Israel were “baptized into Moses”, and how they all ate the same “spiritual food”, and drank the same “spiritual” drink.  No doubt about it, all of the children of Israel had endured hardship to reach Mount Sinai.  At Mount Sinai, all of the children of Israel chose to enter into a covenant with the Lord and receive His law (Ex. 19:7-9).

While the children of Israel said they would live according to God’s way, they immediately broke their covenant when they worshiped the calf of gold (Ex. 32).  They made a profession, but their profession was empty— they didn’t have faith.  If they had faith, then they would have waited for Moses to come out of Mount Sinai with God’s law.  Their actions showed that they had very little interest in God’s way.

Many have “joined the church” by making a profession of believing in God, but don’t back up their profession with faith (obedience).  Many have been baptized into the faith, but don’t back up their baptism with faith (obedience).  The profession of belief, verbally and outwardly through baptism, is made meaningless when there is no faith (obedience).

The Christian Expectation

One should understand that Paul’s focus was on the intent of the heart – what lies within us.  I repeat to you that what truly lies within us is what comes out from us, and will either defile or lift up (Matt. 15:11).  1 Corinthians 10:6-10 references the evil intentions of the children of Israel, which led to wicked acts.

Now, is the expectation for us to be perfect?  There are many today who don’t follow God because they believe that He expects them to be perfect.  There are many so-called believers who love to portray themselves as being perfect while forcing others to live in such a manner.

God knows that we are fallible creatures, fully capable of falling into temptation and sin.  Why do you think God gave the world His only begotten Son?  God gave the world His only begotten Son so that we can be lifted into those moments of our major setbacks.  If anybody portrays themselves to being already being perfect, they are doing nothing but deceiving themselves from the truth (1 John 1:8, 10).

However, just because God knows that we are fallible and sinful creatures, that does not make it OK for us to willingly participate in sin.  No, we must put forth the effort of faith— being disciplined.  When we do wrong, we must acknowledge our wrong and seek to make correction by going to the Lord.

One thing that consistently plagued the children of Israel was putting forth the effort of faith.  For example, when Paul spoke of complaining, in Numbers 11, the children of Israel weren’t grateful with God’s providence of manna.  Sure, the Lord gave them so much other food to eat, but the people ended up getting sick from all of the other food.

Many of us aren’t grateful for God’s giving, and many of us won’t turn to Him for His mercy and grace.  Whether it is our sexual immorality, giving in to lust and to temptation, one who puts forth the effort of faith ought to acknowledge their wrongdoing.  One who puts forth the effort of faith will see God’s mercy and grace so that they are lifted up from sin.  

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:11, the examples of the children of Israel are for admonishing us so that we can do better.  While we aren’t perfect today, we can do better by turning to the Lord, who will certainly aid and help us on this journey.  It is when we refrain from going to God that we hurt ourselves the most.  Yet, God is faithful and those who seek Him, even in their imperfection, will be blessed.