Our freedom in Christ doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do everything we can to say no to sin. It would be foolish to let sin run rampant in our body while waiting for change to happen within our heart. Only when we renounce sin in our flesh and then couple it with the pursuit of healing and change in our heart do we stand a chance of genuine transformation. These principles work hand in hand with each other.

God hates sin because of its destructive power in people’s lives. A fungus on a tree doesn’t simply live its life innocently on the bark. It feeds on the tree, invading it within while draining the life right out of it. This is precisely what sin does in people. Sin’s festering presence has the invasive power to bring about death, robbing God of the lives He holds so precious, and for which He has created such wonderful purpose.

We often get hope confused with faith in our thinking. Hope is different. Hope is first born in our heart when a promise is given. Hope is defined as a desire with some expectation of fulfillment. We only hope for what we want. Anticipating something you have no desire for would be senseless! And so would expecting that which has no chance of ever happening. Hope is the great motivator; no accomplishment—or even action—in life is possible without it first being there.

Hope first comes alive through the promise of the Gospel. Then God gives us the gift of faith by which we are able to act on that hope. We receive His promise through faith. Justification and redemption are ours solely by the grace of God as we act on His promise by receiving Christ. But ultimately the fullness of God’s promise is obtained through a lifestyle of obedience—the proof that our faith is genuine.

Faith is at the very heart of God’s plan for us. By faith alone we are saved. Through it we obtain His free gift of righteousness. But faith doesn’t come naturally to us. The problem is that God doesn’t reveal Himself in a way that our physical senses can perceive Him. I’m not suggesting that God doesn’t allow us to be aware of His presence; He does. But our experience of Him comes by spiritual means—not physical.

Why would God keep Himself hidden at all? Wouldn’t it be much easier to simply appear and tell us what He wants? Well, that wouldn’t require faith, would it? Our inability to grasp God by our natural senses makes faith indispensable. The Bible says that it’s impossible to please God without it. Yet because faith is so contrary to everything instinctive to our nature, believing God the way He wants will never be all that easy. Apparently He never meant it to be!