Grace & Faith
Questions:
What is grace?
What is faith?
Romans 11:1-6 (NIV):
1 I ask then: Did God reject his
people? By no means! I am
an Israelite myself, a descendant of
Abraham, from the tribe of
Benjamin.
2 God
did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know
what the Scripture says in the passage about
Elijah—how he
appealed to God against
3 "Lord,
they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars;
I am the only one left, and they are
trying to kill me"?
4 And
what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself
seven thousand who have not bowed
the knee to Baal."
5 So
too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
6 And
if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace
would no longer be grace
Hebrews 11:1-24; 30-40 (NIV): By Faith
1 Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see.
2 This is what the
ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand
that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what
is seen was not made out of what
was visible.
4 By faith Abel offered
God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended
as a righteous man, when God spoke
well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks,
even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken
from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could
not be found, because God had taken
him away. For before he was taken, he was
commended as one who pleased God.
6 And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that
he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when
warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save
his family. By his faith he condemned
the world and became heir of the righteousness
that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when
called to go to a place he would later receive as his
inheritance, obeyed and went, even
though he did not know where he was going.
9 By faith he made his
home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign
country; he
lived in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder
is God.
11 By faith Abraham, even
though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was
enabled to become a father because
he considered him faithful who had made the
promise.
12 And so from this one
man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as
the stars in the sky and as
countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were
still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the
things promised; they only saw
them and welcomed them from a distance. And they
admitted that they were aliens and
strangers on earth.
14 People who say such
things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking
of the country they had left, they would have had
opportunity to return.
16 Instead, they were
longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for
he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when
God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had
received the promises was about to
sacrifice his one and only son,
18 even though God had said
to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be
reckoned."
19 Abraham reasoned that
God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did
receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he
was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as
he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when
his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from
23 By faith Moses' parents
hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw
he was no ordinary child, and
they were not afraid of the king's edict.
24 By faith Moses,
. . .
30
By faith the walls of
days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with
those who were disobedient.
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to
tell about Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah,
David, Samuel and the prophets,
33 who through faith
conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was
promised; who shut the mouths of
lions,
34
quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of
the sword; whose weakness
was turned to strength; and who
became powerful in battle and routed foreign
armies.
35 Women received back
their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and
refused to be released, so that
they might gain a better resurrection.
36 Some faced jeers and
flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
37 They were stoned; they
were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They
went about in sheepskins and
goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—
38 the world was not worthy
of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in
caves and holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended
for their faith, yet none of them received what had been
promised.
40 God had planned
something better for us so that only together with us would they be
made perfect.
Questions:
What is grace from God?
What is faith in God?
References:
The following websites was
accessed on June 01, 2007: http://www.biblegateway.com
http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer?pagename=page_not_found
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=pic+prayer&forward=1