We have been talking about faith, what it is and it’s proper object. We have learned that faith is a subjective or personal act. It is the act of putting personal trust in something. And for Christians that something is God, who is Trinitarian—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The thing or Person that we trust is objective, which means that He is outside of us personally, and even outside of us corporately. That means that He is available to every human individual. Access to Him, or the ability to trust Him is universally available when He became one of us.
It also means that the act of trusting God, of having faith in God, is common to all people. It is the same kind of act, the same kind of experience for everyone. And yet this trust or experience is not currently shared by all people. Some people trust God or believe in God or have faith in God, and some don’t. Why not? Why do some people believe and some don’t? This is an important question.
God cannot allow sin in heaven because sin is like an infectious disease. A cure is available, and the cure or vaccine must be accepted. To refuse the cure is to refuse the gift of grace and mercy. The cure is to order your life according to the dictates of God in Christ, or as Paul said: to imitate him, to imitate his faithfulness, which he spelled out in Galatians. It doesn’t happen all at once, but it must begin voluntarily and earnestly. To receive God’s gift of grace and mercy, applicants must practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These gifts are received as they are practiced. There are other fruits, but this list is a good start. The practice of these fruits of the Spirit is the process of sanctification because practicing them will change you. …
