Hello Everyone,

In Romans 4:20 Paul says about Abrahama:

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

I hope this week to make clear why the church exists and what it means at the most practical level to live by faith in the promises of God.

The very first thing that we need to realize is that all sin comes from unbelief in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

All the sinful states of our hearts come from unbelief in God’s super-abounding willingness and ability in Christ Jesus to work for us in every situation of life so that everything turns out for our good.

Anxiety, misplaced shame, indifference, regret, covetousness, envy, lust, bitterness, impatience, despondency, pride—these are all sprouts from the root of unbelief in the gospel and in the promises of God that stem from it.

Let me show an example from a text that we briefly mentioned before:

When Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” what did he mean?

I think he meant that all the evils in the world come from a certain kind of heart, namely, the kind of heart that loves money.

Now what does it mean to love money? It doesn’t mean to admire the green paper or silver coins. To know what it means to love money, you have to ask: What is money?

Money is simply a symbol that stands for human resources.

Money stands for what you can get from man, not from God.

Money is the currency of human resources.

So the heart that loves money is a heart that pins its hopes, and pursues its pleasures, and puts its trust, in what human resources can offer.

So the love of money is in effect the same as faith in money—belief (trust, confidence, assurance) that money will meet your needs and make you happy.

So, the love of money, or belief in money, is the flip side of unbelief in the promises of God. Just like Jesus said in Matthew 6:24—you cannot serve God and money.

You can’t trust or believe in God AND money. Belief in one is unbelief in the other. A heart that loves money—banks on money for happiness, believes in money—is at the same time not banking on the promises of God for happiness.

So when Paul says that the love of money is the root of all evils, he implies that unbelief in the gospel and the promises of God is the root of every sinful attitude in our heart.

Ouch!

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil