Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Where are you with your Faith in God? Faith is the foundational characteristic of the child of God. Without it, not only can one not please God, but one cannot even become a child of God. Faith is the beginning of one’s sonship in the family of God. John said, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). The word “right” in this verse is usually translated power and points to the idea of having the privilege to have or be something. In this case, the privilege of being a child of God came by one receiving Jesus, which points to the initial belief of a person after hearing the gospel of Christ. However, faith is not only the initial action of the heart that gives one the privilege to become a child of God, it is the ongoing action that proves that one is a child of God.

1 John 5:1 (ESV)
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…

The word believes here is not referring to the one-time action of initial faith, but to the ongoing condition of faith. We know this to be true because the word believes is a present active verb which points to continuous action. Initial belief in Christ is a one-time action that happens at a specific moment in time. The point of it is this—while faith is necessary to become a child of God, it is also necessary to maintain a relationship with God. Our on-going faith is evidence to the world that we are children of God. Why? Because proper faith behaves in such a way that proves it. Hebrews 11 is a great chapter that teaches us how proper faith behaves. It behaves righteously like Abel, trustingly like Enoch, obediently like Noah, and sacrificially like Abraham. This is behavior that can be seen by others and leads, not only to our justification, but also to God’s glorification.

When is the last time you examined your faith? Can you say with confidence that you have a saving faith, shown by the practice of righteousness? Righteousness has to do with doing our best to obey the commands of God. In other words, when we are living righteously, we are living by the Word of God. It does not mean that we never sin, but it does mean that we are living blamelessly or without offense. As children of God, we have been transformed by the power of God’s Word so that we are now new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As such, we live above reproach. Paul put it like this:

Colossians 1:21-22 (ESV)
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

As long as we live by faith, demonstrating the proper behavior of an ongoing faith, we appear before God above reproach. However, we must be honest about where we are spiritually. We must examine ourselves regularly to make sure that we are still on the right track to heaven. Again, Paul said, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves…” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Make sure that your faith is active, proven by your every day obedience. This way, when it comes to your faith, you can know just where you are.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.