We can have strong faith because we are righteous in Christ, acceptable to God

“The righteous shall live by faith” is such a core truth of the new life of Christ. Everything of the heavenly world is accessed by faith. When we’re in water, swimming is the way we move; as we walk life’s steps on this planet, breathing is the way we fill our lungs minute by minute with oxygen. Speaking is the way we communicate with people. To interact with God, we must believe. Like lungs to breathe and tongues to speak, men have hearts that are capable of faith and like with arms that learn to swim, our capacity for faith grows as we train it.

This is perhaps mankind’s most beautiful ability – the capacity to believe – to choose to know something without first experiencing it. It’s how we come to know and experience God. We’re not deluding ourselves, we’re exercising a spiritual organ to interact with our Creator.

But there’s a condition to deepen faith: you can only exercise faith in a vibrant living relationship with God if you know you’re acceptable to Him – if you know you’re “righteous”. That’s the power of this truth, “the righteous shall live by faith”.

When you trust and believe you’re making yourself hugely vulnerable to God’s response – it’s like you’re stepping off a cliff and needing Him to catch you. You’re not relying on the physical ground under your feet, you’re relying on the hands of God to hold you.

Faith makes us righteous but that’s just where it starts: now, because we are righteous (acceptable to God), we can really have faith. Knowing our acceptance by with God enables faith to thrive. An action of faith – trusting Christ as savior – is all that it takes to receive the new birth as God’s sons. For strong faith to grow, we must know that we’re beloved sons, righteous in the Father’s eyes and acceptable to Him. He hears and responds because we’re hidden in Christ’s righteousness, so we know our trust in Him cannot fail.

Son and daughter of God, let faith rise more strongly from your heart to access Heaven’s sweetness and Christ’s presence in every challenge of life. Your faith can be rock solid because Christ has made you completely acceptable to God, righteous, so His strong hand is there when you step into the air. Take the risk and make yourself vulnerable to God.

Stepping off a cliff is the only way eagles learn to fly.