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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: O'Hara who wrote (9233)	11/3/1997 4:09:00 PM
From: O'Hara	Respond to of 39621

><>...FAITH...><> A belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one's life. According to <Hebrews 11>, faith was already present in the experience of many people in the Old Testament as a key element of their spiritual lives. In this chapter, the various heroes of the Old Testament (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses) are described as living by faith. In addition, the Old Testament itself makes the same point. Abraham "believed in the Lord" <Gen. 15:6>; the Israelites "believed" <Ex. 4:31; 14:31>; and the prophet Habakkuk taught that "the just shall live by his faith" <Hab. 2:4>. In the New Testament, "faith" covers various levels of personal commitment. Mere intellectual agreement to a truth is illustrated in <James 2:19>, where even demons are said to believe that there is one God. Obviously, however, they are not saved by this type of belief. Genuine saving faith is a personal attachment to Christ, best thought of as a combination of two ideas-- reliance on Christ and commitment to Him. Saving faith involves personally depending on the finished work of Christ's sacrifice as the only basis for forgiveness of sin and entrance into heaven. But saving faith is also a personal commitment of one's life to following Christ in obedience to His commands: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" <2 Tim. 1:12>. Faith is part of the Christian life from beginning to end. As the instrument by which the gift of salvation is received <Eph. 2:8-9>, faith is thus distinct from the basis of salvation, which is grace, and from the outworking of salvation, which is good works. The apostle Paul declared that salvation is through faith, not through keeping the works of the law <Eph. 2:8,9>. Finally, in the New Testament, faith can refer to the teachings of the Bible, the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints <Jude 3>. In modern times, faith has been weakened in meaning so that some people use it to mean self-confidence. But in the Bible, true faith is confidence in God or Christ, not in oneself. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

To: O'Hara who wrote (9233)	11/3/1997 4:10:00 PM
From: O'Hara	Respond to of 39621

><>...HOPE...><> Confident expectancy. In the Bible, the word hope stands for both the act of hoping <Rom. 4:18; 1 Cor. 9:10> and the thing hoped for <Col. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:3>. Hope does not arise from the individual's desires or wishes but from God, who is Himself the believer's hope: "My hope is in You" <Ps. 39:7>. Genuine hope is not wishful thinking, but a firm assurance about things that are unseen and still in the future <Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:1,7>. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

To: O'Hara who wrote (9233)	11/3/1997 4:12:00 PM
From: O'Hara	Respond to of 39621

><>...LOVE...><> The high esteem which God has for His human children and the high regard which they, in turn, should have for Him and other people. Because of the hundreds of references to love in the Bible, it is certainly the most remarkable book of love in the world. It records the greatest love story ever written-- God's unconditional love for us that sent His Son to die on the cross <John 3:16; 1 John 4:10>. Love is not only one of God's attributes; it is also an essential part of His nature. "God is love," the Bible declares <1 John 4:8,16>-- the personification of perfect love. Such love surpasses our powers of understanding <Eph. 3:19>. Love like this is everlasting <Jer. 31:3>, free <Hos. 14:4>, sacrificial <John 3:16>, and enduring to the end <John 13:1>. Two distinct Greek words for love appear in the Bible. The word phileo means "to have ardent affection and feeling"-- a type of impulsive love. The other word agapao means "to have esteem" or "high regard." In the memorable conversation between Jesus and Peter, there is a play upon these two words <John 21:15-17>. Jesus asked, "Simon, do you love [esteem] me?" But Peter replied, "You know that I love [have ardent affection for] You." Then Jesus asked, "Simon, do you love [have ardent affection for] Me?" And Peter responded that his love was agape love-- a love that held Jesus in high esteem and which was more than a fleeting feeling. The warm word agape is the characteristic term of Christianity. This word for love is used several different ways in the Bible. 1. Agape love indicates the nature of the love of God toward His beloved Son <John 17:26>, toward the human race generally <John 3:16; Rom. 5:8>, and toward those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ <John 14:21>. 2. Agape love conveys God's will to His children about their attitude toward one another. Love for one another was a proof to the world of true discipleship <John 13:34-35>. 3. Agape love also expresses the essential nature of God <1 John 4:8>. Love can be known only from the actions it prompts, as seen in God's love in the gift of His Son <1 John 4:9-10>. Love found its perfect expression in the Lord Jesus. Christian love is the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus in the believer <Gal. 5:22>. Love is like oil to the wheels of obedience. It enables us to run the way of God's commandments <Ps. 119:32>. Without such love, we are as nothing <1 Cor. 13:3>. Such Spirit-inspired love never fails <1 Cor. 13:8> but always flourishes. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)