Resting in True Faith
Understanding and embracing true faith is the cornerstone of Christian freedom. This faith is not a self-generated quality but a gift from God—it is Jesus’s faith residing in the believer. This reality liberates believers from the struggle of trying to perfect their own faith or earn God’s favor. The fundamental message is to stop striving and start living, rooting faith in truth, not effort.
This summary and rewrite draws on the core concepts of “Resting in True Faith,” emphasizing the finished work of Christ and the resulting identity of the believer, all while adhering to modern SEO standards and remaining under the 1500-word limit.
The Nature of True Faith: Finished, Perfect, and Complete
The faith available to believers is fundamentally God’s faith, which is manifested through Jesus Christ.
God’s Perfect Faith
- One Faith: There is only one faith, which is God’s faith. This faith is finished, perfect, and done.
- A Gift, Not a Work: This faith is a gift from God to mankind. When you receive Jesus, you receive His faith—not some customized, personal faith that needs constant work.
- Complete Provision: Because God gave His Son, He gave everything else. Everything Jesus has done is God’s gift to mankind.
This means the believer has a faith that cannot be improved upon. It is not the type of faith that performs well one day and lets you down the next; it is perfect.
Living in the Realm of the Finished
To experience true faith, the believer must adopt the mindset of living in the realm of the finished.
The Finished Deal
Everything related to salvation, righteousness, and victory has already been completed by Jesus Christ.
- Salvation is Finished: You are saved by faith, and your salvation is a finished deal.
- Healing is Finished: You are healed by faith, and your healing is a finished deal.
- Righteousness is Done: You are the righteousness of God; righteousness is done with you.
- Victory is Secured: If you have problems, your victory over that problem is already done.
This finished state means believers should stop struggling to make something happen that Jesus has already made happen. Instead of seeking rules or performing to accomplish what has been done, you rest in His finished work.
The Practical Application of Rest
When you internalize that everything is finished, it changes your internal dialogue:
- You stop worrying about it.
- You flush the mindset that asks, “Do I have enough faith to do this?”.
- You realize that whatever scripture you read that says “by faith,” you already have it, because it is finished.
When “what’s finished” moves into your personal dimension, you begin walking in the manifestations of what you decided to stand on.
Your New Identity: Co-Alive and Joint Sonship
True faith establishes the believer’s identity as crucified with Christ and co-alive in Him, leading to a glorious entanglement with the finished work.
Dead to the Law, Alive to Christ
- Dead to the Old Me: The believer is dead to the law—the system of rules and regulations that tried to govern behavior and morals and failed miserably. The “old me” was trying to accomplish things through obedience.
- Alive to the Real Me: The believer is co-alive with Christ. The life currently lived in the flesh is lived by the faith of the Son of God—a perfect, completed faith.
- Christ Lives in Me: It is no longer “I who live, but Christ lives in me“.
Joint Sonship and Acceptance
Under this New Covenant, believers share a joint sonship with Jesus.
- Same Love, Same Status: God looks at the believer as Son—not as a lower-class son or a stepchild—just as He looks at Jesus.
- Everything is Offered: There is nothing God promised Jesus that the same promise is not offered to the believer.
- God Believes in You: God says, “I believe in you“.
This identity is defined by the fact that you are accepted into the Beloved. Grace frees the believer from the lies believed about themselves under a performance-driven system and defines their authentic identity in Christ.
Freedom from Striving and Performance
The New Covenant life is administered by the Holy Spirit, moving the believer into a relationship with the Spirit rather than a rigid structure of rules and regulations.
- Rejecting Rules: Living by the law—a set of rules and regulations—is replaced by living in Jesus. Being content with merely staying with rules is what believers have been missing.
- Holiness as a Person: Holiness is not a behavior, but a person—Jesus is your holiness.
- Rest, Not Work: Since faith is finished and perfected, there is only one response required: rest. You realize the truth, submit to it, and rest in it.
This truth empowers believers to let go of guilt, release the fear, and experience the freedom that grace makes possible, knowing they are already loved, accepted, and free.