Finishing Faith

The essence of being a Christian is living by faith. We are to be people who see by faith and not by sight. This is an odd thing to say. How can we see what we cannot see? For faith is the essence of things not seen. But we are to see something. What is it? We are to see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And even seeing Jesus is a metaphor because we do not really see Him but we do see Him with eyes of faith.

Now, to say that He is author and finisher is saying a lot. We do not only see Him for salvation. We must see Him for that. That is our first duty. We realize that we cannot save ourselves and so we look to Him for salvation. We believe that He has come, represents the Father on our behalf, calls us to union with Himself, sends the Holy Spirit to be with us always.

But then, He is the finisher of our faith. What does this mean? It means that He is always there. It means that we are to see Him in every area of life. Every doubt, every struggle, every sin, every need, every joy, namely everything and every event is part of what Jesus is finishing in us. We must do it all by faith. When we sin, we must look to Him in faith. When we do well, we must give Him credit in us by faith.

Sometimes you complain and grumble about the life the Lord has given you. Stop doing that and look to Jesus in faith. Sometimes you are discouraged in hard times. Look to Jesus and be encouraged. Sometimes you sin outright, even blatantly. Stop, look to Jesus for forgiveness. Sometimes you do not trust Him to provide for you needs, even though He said that He would. Stop worrying and being anxious and look to Jesus in faith.

We should confess our unbelief. Lord, we believe, help our unbelief, and then expect that Jesus will build us up to believe in Him to finish our faith.