Living by Faith in Christ Jesus!

“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” – 2 Corinthians 5:6-10  NIV

If we have eternal life and the kingdom of God as our first priorities in our lives, then we ought to live not by sight but by faith. This is because seen things are transient and unseen things are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) In addition, living our lives by faith is what pleases the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Furthermore, Ephesians 2:10 states, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This means that by believing in Jesus Christ, we are created to do good works for the Lord and others. Therefore, we have to be the light of Jesus Christ to the world as well (Matthew 5:14-16), since all of us have been called to be ambassadors of Him (2 Corinthians 5:18-21) and created to be the image of God (Genesis 1:27). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7-10)

Hence, we ought to overcome (1 John 5:1-5) and crucify our worldly nature with repentance before the Lord (Matthew 3:2). “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) In other words, instead of abiding the worldly nature, we have to abide in the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:3-11), especially if we are sure that we have eternal life within us (Galatians 5:24-25). This means that we have to change our mindset as well into heavenly things and what the will of God is in our lives (Colossians 3:1-4; Romans 12:2)  This is part of the reason why the word of God declares, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17)