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I Still Believe

 I Still Believe

Jude 3 – “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

            Jude, the half-brother of Jesus writes to encourage us to “contend for the faith.” The faith encompasses Christianity as a whole. “To contend for the faith is to defend the faith with all your strength, and both by true doctrine and good example of life.” David Guzik in his commentary on Jude defines the faith, “The faith” doesn’t mean our own personal belief, or faith in the sense of our trust in God. The phrase the faith means “the essential truths of the gospel that all true Christians hold in common.”[i]

What is our faith declaration? I still believe. The following statements form a declaration of faith:

·      I still believe the only hope for humanity is Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10 says, “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” 

·      I still believe the Bible is the Word of God. It does not contain the words of God, but is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Paul wrote concerning this in II Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

·      I still believe in the power of prayer to bring transformation. Prayer is not a religious ritual where we earn favor with God, but it is a life-giving discipline that brings transformation. Terry Edwards writes, “Prayer is our power source. It is the way we link up with God and plug into the energy source that allows us to move in the authority that we have been given.”[ii]

·      I still believe there is power in the blood of Jesus. Some would argue that the doctrine of blood atonement is out of date. A modern church has evolved and the teaching concerning the blood of Jesus is no longer relevant to our times. I Peter 1:18-19 says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

·      I still believe in the power of holiness. We are called to live holy in an unholy world. I Peter 1:16 instructs us, “because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

·      I still believe in the power of a Spirit filled life. I believe that every believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit empowers the believer to live the overcoming life. I believe we need to experience an infilling or be refilled with the Holy Spirit until we are changed into the image of God, and we no longer fear the devil.

    What is my declaration of faith today? I still believe. 


[i] Guzik, David, Online Commentary, https://www.blueletterbible.org/geneva-study-bible/notes/jde/chapter-1#s_1167003.

[ii] Edwards, Terry, “The Leadership Challenge,” Christian Equippers International, South Lake Tahoe, California, 1998, Page27.

 

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