The Law Of Faith

John 11 : 23 - 26, Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" NKJV

I remember the first time I flew on an airplane. To say I was afraid would be a gross understatement. The reason I was so petrified to fly stemmed from a fear of heights and a lack of faith in the law of lift. Being an earthling most of my life I was accustom to the law of gravity and I understood how that law worked. When I owned a drywall business and worked upon scaffolds, occasionally I would fall from them. Gravity was always there to assure me that I wouldn't be suspended in mid-air.

After we had been in the air for a few hours I began to relax "a little." I was growing more comfortable with the fact that the "law of lift' superseded the law of gravity. As long as the aircraft maintained the correct air speed the law of lift would keep us in the air and headed to our destination.

Whenever Adam chose to sin against God's will, his sin placed all of mankind under the curse of the law of sin and death. Here's the good news. Before man sinned God spoke promises over man- both male and female alike. You can find these promises or prophecies in Genesis 1. As God spoke these promises over Adam and Eve He was invoking the principle or the law of faith. You see, God has given every person that has entered the world through the womb of a woman the measure of faith (Ref. Ro. 12 : 3)

When they chose to place themselves and all of mankind under the curse of the law, it was done by them ignoring the law of faith. It would be the same as a pilot on an airplane turning the engines off in mid-flight. Man crashed. In Romans 3 Paul introduces to us a principle called the "law of faith." He didn't introduce faith but he did expound on the principle so that we could know and understand that faith will cause what is impossible under the law to become possible through faith. Jesus said that all things are possible to those who believe.

Here is an example of how the law of faith operates. Before the law of God was handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai, God appeared to Abraham over four hundred years earlier. When God spoke to Abraham through divine promises the Bible tells us that Abraham believed God and was made righteous in God's sight. Did you catch that? Abraham was before the law and was made righteous through faith in God's promises apart from the Law.

Jesus told Martha that if anyone should die who has faith in Him; because they believed in Him, they will also live on the last day. We know that Jesus came to earth as the Word of God incarnate over two-thousand years ago. He was crucified as the Lamb of God and paid the price for all of man's sin for all time. As we look back to the cross and believe on His atoning death, our faith saves us from the power and bondage of sin.

Jesus died for sin two-thousand years ago but what will happen to those Jews who died before that era? Remember what I wrote about the law of faith and how Abraham believed God and was made righteous? Though they died without seeing the shed blood of Christ and though He had not come to earth and obeyed the Father, their faith saved them. The "Law of Faith" supersedes the law of sin and death. This was fulfilled when Jesus died and descended into the bowels of earth. While Jesus was in paradise, He preached to those whom death had held captive since the fall of man. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that when Jesus ascended from the depths that He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.

In other words, though the righteous Jews had died just like Lazarus, they too were brought out of the depths and ascended into the heights where God dwells. No longer do the souls of the "dearly departed" descend but now they ascend and ever live with the Lord. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." The faith of the early Jewish believers saved them from death but they couldn't escape death until after Jesus arose from the dead. They were saved but they were held by death until Jesus' life was given that they (and now us) might live.

If you will read Matthew 27, you'll see where many of the graves in Jerusalem burst open after the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. These saints who were once buried were now walking around the streets of Jerusalem alongside Jesus who had first come out of His tomb. He is the first-born of many brethren.

This is further proof that their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had brought the Jews of the old covenant out of Abraham's bosom which was called Paradise that they might live with Christ in heaven. Has Satan lied to you about the grace of God? Has Satan told you that you're too wretched, too vile, too lost, etc...? Remember, the law of faith gives us victory over the curse of the law of sin and death. ONLY BELIEVE IN CHRIST and you too shall live.

I'm alive because of the law of faith,
Pastor Asa