By: Gary L. Hutchens

​     Would you like to change your life?  A great many people would.  There are many specific areas in which people would like to see their lives change.  Many would like to become more secure financially.  Others would like to change jobs or careers.  Some would like to improve their educational status.  Many people have serious relational difficulties they would like to change.  A great many are trapped in the despair of some addiction they would like to overcome.  Some have a self-image problem they would like to improve.  The list goes on and on…

By: Gary L. Hutchens

​   James tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,” (Jas. 1:17).  We’re told further, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from Heaven” (Jn. 3:27).  The apostle Paul asked the rhetorical question, “…what do you have that you did not receive?  Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7).  All blessings come from God!

by: Gary L. Hutchens

​   Jesus said, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).  True faith is not just believing, it is belief put into action through obedience and continued, consistent dedication (Jn. 14:15; Jas. 2:14-26).  Inherent within the New Testament concept of saving faith is repentance (Lk. 13:3; Acts 3:19), open confession of faith in Christ (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9-10) and baptism into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27) for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) in order to be saved (Mk. 16:15-16; 1 Pet. 3:21).  True faith is not a part of a faithful Christian’s life- it is his life! (Gal. 2:20).

By: Gary L. Hutchens

​   By this point in this series of articles and sermons on “Faith,” it should be apparent that true faith is not primarily subjective in nature.  While emotion is a natural result, real faith, as taught in the New Testament, is not a feeling, a wild wish, unrealistic desire or hope, or simply blind belief.  Faith, by definition, is based on “substance” and “evidence” (Heb. 11:1), strong terms denoting a position reached as a result of examining facts and proof. 

by: Gary L. Hutchens

​   When a person develops true faith, based upon the truths he learns from God’s word (Rom. 10:17), he will naturally make up his mind to live in faithfulness.  Jesus instructed, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).  Faithfulness exhibits faith that is being lived.  To live faithfully (synonymous to living in faithfulness) is to live by the teachings of the faith (the word of God Rom. 16:26; Phlp. 1:27; Col. 1:23).  Faithfulness is the outward expression, the active demonstration, of one’s faith.  Faith without faithfulness is “dead” (Jas. 2:14-26)!

by: David Hersey - Granby, MO. (edited)

  ​The Bible defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). Simply stated, this means that faith is the foundation of our hope and a conviction in our hearts of things we cannot see. In fact, the words faith and belief are from the same original root word in the Greek New Testament, pistis, a noun that has to do with being convinced of something. 

By: Gary L. Hutchens

   Countless sermons have been preached by countless preachers over the years about church attendance.  Countless elders meetings in countless congregations have dealt with the challenge of increasing attendance.  The results are almost always less than stellar.  Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that descriptive phrase, church attendance.  It may communicate the idea of responsibility more than need.  As such, it can sound rather cold and formal.  But it’s difficult to come up with a much better expression.  So, let’s approach the matter through a question: What’s The Big Deal?

By: Gary L. Hutchens

   I read an article that depicted a father talking to his young son.  He asked his son if he had given any thought to his future.  He might have been a bit surprised to hear the boy say that he had it all figured out.  The father asked his son to tell him about his plans.  The son proceeded to tell him that after he graduated from high school he would go on to college.  “Fine, son; then what?”  His son stated that after he graduated from college he’d get a well paying job and buy a big house and a nice car.  “Great, son; then what?”  The boy said he’d then get married and raise a family, just like his dad.  “Wonderful, son; then what?”  Well, the son figured that he’d probably work until he was old enough to retire.  “Excellent, son; then what?”  Perhaps somewhat perplexed by this time by his father’s continued inquiries, the son figured he’d live out his golden years traveling and enjoying his grandchildren.  “Splendid, son; then what?”  Realizing the inevitable, the young man said he’d die, of course!  And then his father looked straight into his son’s eyes and asked one last time, “Okay, son; then what??"

By: Gary L. Hutchens

​   Many people don’t know facts that are vital to their personal well being.  Since those facts are vital, not knowing them is a serious matter.  Many people have potentially life threatening health problems that they don’t know about.  They never noticed any symptoms, or they ignore symptoms that present themselves from time to time, discounting them as being no big deal.  Countless individuals have died from illnesses and disorders they did not know they had, though they had them for a long time.

​By: Gary L. Hutchens

​   People talk about faith in a number of different ways.  On the surface, most of those references sound good.  However, when you observe the lives of many of those same people, it becomes obvious that what they say is not consistent with what the scriptures teach true faith to be.  There is a lot of confusion on the subject.  In trying to come to a better understanding of what true faith is, we need to understand what true faith is not.