The Revolution Brigade

Basic Training is a group of teachings designed for the new Christians who are in our midst to get a firm grasp on the most powerful, and most fundamental doctrines of the church. It’s a guideline by which we may use the relationships that we forge with these new converts to disciple them and lead them into the fullness of their spiritual authority in Jesus.

We’re going to start by examining what is arguably the most important tool in your tool bag as a Christian: faith. What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Faith is believing that Jesus is the son of God, that he died for your sins, that he was resurrected and taken to heaven by God, despite the fact that you’ve never seen him and all of this happened two thousand years ago.

Faith is knowing that God will do what the bible says that he will do.

Why do we need to have faith?

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

By reading that scripture we can see that our faith allows us to have access to God’s grace, which is the power from God that allows us to be saved from our sins through Jesus. It is a free gift, and you could never do anything to earn it. However, because you believe in Jesus, God has chosen to give you salvation as a gift. No faith, no grace. No grace, no salvation. Faith, as you can see, is very important.

Faith can also produce miracles. Take, for instance, the following story from the Gospel of Matthew:

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour. (Matthew 8:5-13)

From this story you can see that the faith of the Centurion caused Jesus to heal his servant. The Centurion simply believed that his servant could be healed, and that Jesus was the right person for the job. This kind of faith can turn the world upside down.

How do you get faith?

The bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” There are other ways to develop faith that the bible talks about, but one sure way to develop your faith is to begin to spend time in the bible and learn the message of God. I’m leaving a list of scriptures at the bottom of this post, and you can begin there. Check out these scriptures regarding faith:

Luke 8:22-25

Matthew 17:19-20

2 Corinthians 5:7

Ephesians 3:12

Check out the other Basic Training Articles:

Basic Training: Grace

Basic Training: Justification

Basic Training: Sanctification

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