Besides other functions of faith, I will love to show you two important functions of faith. If you can apply this truth in the order it is presented, you will definitely see results as you exercise your faith.
First, Faith Is For Pleasing God
The first and most important use of faith is for pleasing God. I know this might sound different from what you’ve been taught that faith is for receiving from God. We will come to that, but it is very important that you accept the truth that primarily, the use of faith is for pleasing God.
Going to the book of Hebrews 11 that talks about faith, verse 6 points to the fact that faith is for pleasing God.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
Looking at the patriarch of faith, you will discover that their primary motive of believing and following God was not to receive from God but to please him. Every exhibition of their faith was geared towards pleasing God.
For instance, there was no record that Enoch had a personal need that compels him to follow God the way he did.
Even father Abraham; although he had needs, nevertheless despite his needs, he was willing to forfeit his needs to please God. That was why even when one of his major needs was met (that is, the birth of Isaac), he was willing to sacrifice Isaac just to please the Lord in whom he had faith in. Thus, you can see that Abraham’s faith was primarily to please God.
In the same vein, our faith should be aimed at pleasing God by first of all believing that God is real (that He exists). Next, is to exhibit our faith by living our lives every day to please this God who is real, in accordance with His will.
Therefore, you can’t say that you have faith in God when in secret you can still comfortably break His law. Your action simply shows that you don’t really believe that He exists. If you do, it will affect your conduct both in the secret and in the public.
Thus, when you decide not to do that evil, not because anyone will know, but simply because you have faith that God is real and He sees you even in that dark room; that is faith.
This is the starting point of the function of faith in the life of a believer.
Secondly, Faith Is For Spiritual Transactions
The second use of faith that I will love to share with you is that faith is for spiritual transactions.
You can’t do business in this Kingdom that we have been brought in if you lack faith. That is why God gave us a measure of faith when we got born again (Romans 12:3). This is to enable us to transact effectively in this kingdom of light. And the good thing is that, we can grow our faith so as to do bigger spiritual transactions.
So, what do these transactions entail?
i. To receive anything from God, you need faith.
ii. You need faith to put to fleet the host of darkness that crosses your path.
iii. You need faith to enforce the authority that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.
iv. You can’t effectively relate and walk with the Holy Spirit without faith.
v. It takes faith to obey God even when it does not make logical sense.
Sincerely speaking, you can’t do any of the above spiritual transactions if you lack faith. Even though you have faith, if you don’t know how to transact, you will still be ineffective.
But thank God for the instrumentality of God’s word and the Person of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us to help us learn how to put our faith to work. The more we yield to Him, the more our faith produces results.
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