The Marks Of True Faith: 3.Total Dependence Upon God - Zac Poonen
Summary
True faith requires total dependence upon God, meaning one relies entirely on Christ's sacrifice for forgiveness, not on personal works. This principle must extend to the entire Christian life, requiring constant reliance on the Holy Spirit for growth in personal, family, and ministry areas. A lack of this total dependence leads to stagnation and inability to function correctly, much like a body part disconnected from the brain.
Outline
The message in plain words, in the order it unfolds. Select a time to jump the video to that moment.
What is total dependence?Having faith in God means being totally dependent on Him rather than partially dependent on oneself.
Why believers live substandard livesMany Christians start their life by depending on Christ for forgiveness, but fail to depend entirely on the Holy Spirit for daily living.
Every member has a functionEvery part of the body of Christ has a function, but it can only function when it is one hundred percent dependent on the head.
The true mark of faithThe fundamental mark of true faith is total dependence upon God, with zero reliance on our own efforts.
The lesson of the two treesAdam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because they wanted to decide right and wrong on their own without depending on God.
Jesus as the vine and us as branchesJesus explains that apart from Him we can do nothing, picturing a branch that is completely dependent on the tree for fruit.John 15:5
The link between faith and humilityScripture contrasts pride with living by faith, showing that genuine faith always goes hand in hand with true humility.
Living by the Holy Spirit's sensitivityThe modern equivalent of the tree of life is being filled with the Holy Spirit and listening to His sensitive promptings.
Abraham's example of faithAbraham looked at his own dead body and Sarah's dead womb, yet grew strong in faith by trusting fully in God's promise.
Trying to help God outWhen waiting became hard, Abraham tried to help God out by producing Ishmael through human effort, which God rejected.
Waiting to be reduced to zeroGod waited until Abraham was ninety-nine and physically incapable so that the child of promise would come entirely by God's power.
Spiritual discernment through the anointingBelievers need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to discern deception and approve what is excellent rather than just what is good.
Paul's thorn in the fleshGod allowed a thorn in the flesh to keep Paul from pride, teaching him that God's power is made perfect in human weakness.
Why God allows difficult circumstancesDifficult people and tight circumstances are allowed by God to break us and bring us down to zero.
Staying plugged into the sourceThe secret to the christian life is keeping constantly plugged into God, recognizing we have no spiritual electricity within ourselves.
