Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

^“6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

⁷ having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”  Colossians 2:6-7.

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Verse 7 answers how we received Christ by stating that we were “firmly rooted” in “faith”.  Verse 7 also answers how we should walk in Him by stating that we are “now being built up in Him and established” in “faith”.  So, we received Christ through faith, and we should walk in faith.

“This is the only thing I want to find out from you:  did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by  hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”  Galatians 3:2-5.

“Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident;  for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”  However, the Law is not of faith;  on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”  Galatians 3:11-12.

Faith is not just a one-time conversion event.  We live by faith.  Every day, we are faced with trials, troubles, and tribulations which will present us with two divergent choices.  Will we just depend on ourselves and do our best?  Or, will we seek God, remember His Word, and trust in Him?

“5  Thus says the Lord,
“ Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6  “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
7  “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8  “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:5-8.

Hebrews Chapter 11 gives us examples of how the righteous walked in faith.  Here are the examples of Noah, Abraham, and Sarah.    “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.  By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance;  and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.”  Hebrews 11:7-11. 

We are “over-flowing with gratitude”, not for what we have done, but because we are thankful for what God has done for us.  “The LORD has done great things for us;  We are glad.”  Psalm 126:3  “For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”  Psalm 92:4