So now that we’ve established who the Godhead is, we come to the first principle of the Gospel.
As Latter-Day Saints we have 13 articles of faith. The fourth one says:
4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This post will be about Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As stated in a previous post, Jesus Christ is God the Son. He is Jehovah of the Old Testament. He is perfect. He is eternal. He is omnipotent. And He loves you.
Jesus not only knows all things but he has felt all things. In a sacred but unexplainable way, he suffered for the sins of all people. But he didn’t stop there. He also suffered all of our pains, our infirmities, our sicknesses, and in short every trial that we or anyone else will ever suffer.
The Book of Mormon says:
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:12)
Jesus not only paid the price for our sins, he also experienced each of our trials so that he could empathize with us and heal us from the effects of sin and trials.
He completely understands us. He has if you will, ‘walked in our shoes’. That important work was completed by Him because He will be our Judge. He knows the full extent of our circumstances. He is the Perfect Judge.
He not only knows what we have done, but why we did it. And what is even better, He has the complete power to change us.
My brother Jared told me a story yesterday. When he was young, he decided to take his bike apart. He wanted to understand how it worked. The only problem was, when he was finished taking it apart, he didn’t know how to put it back together.
Jesus is different from us in that way. He knows how to put us back together. He understands how we work. He created the heavens and the earth. He knows how we were created.
So why Faith?
First let’s define Faith:
The greek word that was translated in the Bible into English as “Faith” is “PISTIS” it’s derivative PISTEUO was translated in the Bible as “Believe”
Unfortunately, the English language doesn’t have words that actually mean what the Greek words mean.
The first one PISTIS means Trust, Faith, Persuasion, Confidence,
Assurance, and Loyalty.
PISTEUO: in passive sense: Faithful, Trustworthy, Genuine, and in the
active sense: Believing, Loyal, and Obedient. (These are all Liddell and Scott
definitions).
So when we read John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The word “believeth” in the Greek was PISTEUO. So John is talking about something much more here than just believing in Jesus Christ. He was saying that who ever is faithful, trustworthy, genuine, believing, loyal and obedient in Jesus Christ will not perish, but have everlasting life.
It’s human nature to want to anchor ourselves to something we believe in. We want to find solid ground to stand on. When we are children we usually put our trust and faith in our parents or those who take care of us, but as we get older, we realize that they are fallible.
Some turn to science for answers to the questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? And why are we here?
Some people look to themselves for those answers, while still others have decided that answers to those questions don’t exist.
As Latter-Day Saints, we put our complete trust and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, Hebrews Chapter 11 first verse it says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And in verse 6 it reads:
“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.”
Notice the faithful are those who diligently seek Him and who believe in Him. Faith is an active pursuing of God. As the scripture says, we can’t please God without being diligent in our pursuit of trying to obey Him the best we can.
There this is Pistis faith. In the book of James give us some clues and further defines the kind of Faith that Paul was talking about in his epistles.
In James chapter 2:17 it reads: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Another way of reading this would be “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is not real faith”
I once spoke to a man who was not a Christian. After sharing much of the Gospel with Him he decided to give me a little story to illustrate his point of view. He happened to be a Sik.
His Guru taught that we are like ants approaching a large tree. One ant is on one side of the Tree and the other ant on the other side. Both ants have a good view of the tree, but both are seeing different sides of it. And that is the way different religions are. One of the ants might describe the tree in one way, and the other a completely different way… but both are right.
While this story is true from the perspective of any finite human being, it doesn’t hold up if you consider the perspective of God. God is the one that created the tree. He (Jesus) can see the past, present, and future all at once, from every angle of the universe and completely comprehend it all… Not only that, but through His incomprehensible atonement, he has experienced it all.
So who would you like to put your faith in? If you put your faith in science, remember that even if every scientist in the whole world was working on the same project and looking at it from every angle that we know of, it still would not be the same perspective as God.
Do you put your faith in the Bible? I would submit that is better, but remember this also it’s been through the hands of many men before it has reached us today. I would say that it is mostly profitable, but we are still approaching it from OUR perspective. That is why there are over 12,000 different Christian denominations.. all with the same Bible… they all see it from the perspective of Man.
So how do we get the perspective of God?
Incidentally, the Bible tells us how in very plain words:
James 1:5 says: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
If you want to know what God thinks about ANYTHING. Including the scriptures, just ask Him. He has promised He will answer. It’s called Revelation. And it’s the same way all of the prophets and apostles in the Bible received their answers (before the Bible existed as we know it).
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we do away with the Bible. I’m just saying that asking God is the key to understanding it, and everything else in this world. I love the Bible and believe it contains the word of God. But I also believe that God can answer anyone directly.
If you put your Faith in Jesus Christ and ask the Father in Jesus name, He will answer you. You can know for yourself if what I’ve been saying is True. Don’t just trust me, my personal perspective is no better than an ant or a scientist or a philosopher or a preacher of a different faith…. Put your Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ and ask God. His perspective is perfect.
In my next post I want to tell you a story of a farm b
oy who did just that. He had enough Faith in Jesus Christ to ask Him his questions.
I testify that Jesus Lives. He is our Savoir. He is the creator of both the heavens and the earth. He is the way the truth and the life, and no man can come to the Father but through Him. He can save you. He can heal you. He can make more out of you than you will ever do yourself. Put your Faith and Trust, Loyalty and obedience (Pistis Faith) in Him.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.