2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (18) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
I mentioned in an earlier section that faith resides in the spirit of the individual. The apostle Paul teaches us, that when we are born-again our old man dies (Romans 6:6). The old man that Paul is referring to is the spirit of the individual. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul teaches us that we become new creations when we are born-again. It is our spirits that are born-again, and so that is the part of man that becomes a new creation. So what happens to our faith when we are born-again? The above passage of scripture teaches us that old things have passed away. One of those things would be the faith that resided in the spirit of the old man that has now died. What is also mentioned in this passage however is that all things become new for the saint who is in Christ, and because faith resides in the spirit of the individual that would mean that the faith they receive is also new. The apostle Paul calls it a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).
2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Peter confirms the truth for us that all believers receive the gift of faith, for He tells us that we all have obtained like precious faith. Clearly every believer has received the gift of faith from the Lord, and for believers to say that they don’t have faith is to declare their ignorance of what the word of God says on the subject. It is therefore not unjust for God to expect His saints to live by faith, because He has given each one of us the gift of faith (Romans 1:17).
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments