Faith is a Means and not an End

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls (1 Pet. 1:9 KJV)

The Apostle Peter gives us an important lesson regarding faith in the verse above that the end of our faith is “the salvation of your souls”. Faith in itself is not what God is ultimately looking for. 

The primary purpose of faith is to connect man to Christ, and so bringing man into the glorious place called “in Christ” where we can believe and receive all that Jesus is and has done for us. Faith is a divine device to ultimately save humanity.  The Lord, in His eternal workings, designed man to be saved by faith in a Savior. By grace, He made provisions for the forgiveness of the sins of every human being and for the gift of eternal life. He accomplished this by sending His Son Jesus Christ to become the sacrificial Lamb for all humanity. This was grace at work. All that we have to do is to stretch forth our hands and receive this salvation as a gift. This is what faith does. It receives from God and puts it to work.

God’s ultimate desire is not to fill you with faith and end there. It is to build up faith in you so that your faith will lead to the desired end.  The first part of this salvation is for you to connect to Christ and receive all that He paid for. The second is for your faith to put the salvation to work here and now. True faith always has outcomes or works to show.

MEDITATE

How does faith operate to produce the salvation of our souls?

APPLY THE WORD

Your faith is a means of producing a life of love and righteousness here and now. This is faith’s primary purpose in your life now. Breakthroughs, moving mountains, etc. are only secondary purposes. Is your faith alive and well? See if you have any personal proofs of love or righteousness in your daily walk.

PRAY

Ask the Lord to help you put your faith to work and produce practical results.

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