It is impossible to please God without faith.[1] Only through faith may we
receive his grace that brings salvation.[2] And according to faith we receive
the Sprit of adoption as sons by which we cry, Abba! Father![3] Indeed, God has
provided a way that we may become his children through faith in his Gospel.[4]
No title of God more fully expresses our relationship with God than that of
Father.[5] We consider God to be our Father not only in the sense that we are
his creation, but also with great intimacy as children being taught, raised up,
and provided for under his care and protection. Through faith God takes custody
of us; as our Father desires that we trust and submit to him as his children.[6]
Thus, our general purpose towards God is obedient faith.
The
greatest commandment is, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”[7]
God is loving and he expects us to love him and abide in his love. God expects
us to have mercy as he has mercy, to forgive as he forgives - even to be holy as
he is holy.[8] And this holiness is perfected in the fear of our God.[9] Our
reverence gives us conviction to follow his commandments and sorrow in our
disobedience. By sanctifying ourselves in the truth of God’s word, and by the
Spirit that he has made to dwell in us, we are to become one with the Father,
even as Christ was one with the Father.[10] For those who are led by the Spirit
of God, these are the sons of God.[11] To be truly his worshippers, we must
worship God in Spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to worship
him.[12]
This church is thus organized to facilitate worship
and devotion to God. We shall pray to the Father at all times and rejoice always
in our giving thanks.[13] We are to praise the Father in word, song, and dance.
As sons of God, we are to grow in our relationship with our Father as we
increase in his wisdom and in his favor.[14] We are to be taught and encouraged
by the preaching of his word as we subject ourselves to the authority of God’s
truth. Surely, to be transformed as sons of God, we must be committed to
repentance, discipline and sacrifice in faithful obedience. May we be formed and
shaped by our Father as we manifest the glory of the Most High!
[1]
Genesis 26:4-5, Habakkuk 2:4, Mark 11:22, Acts 14:22, Rom 1:16-17, Rom 3:23-31,
4, 5:1-2, Gal 3:7-9, Heb 10:38-39, 11:6 [2] Gal 3:7-9, Ephes. 2:8 [3] Rom 8:15,
Gal 4:5-6 [4] Gal 3:26 [5] Luke 11:2, 1 Cor 8:6, Heb 12:7-9 [6] Rom 9:26, Rom
16:26, 2 Cor 6:18 [7] Mark 12:30 [8] Luke 6:35-36, Luke 11:4 [9] 2 Cor 7:1 [10]
John 14:16-24, 26, 15:26, 17:11-23, Acts 2:33 [11] Rom 8:14 [12] John 4:23-24
[13] Luke 6:12, Acts 6:4, Rom 12:12, Col 3:16, 4:2, Ephes 6:18, 1 Thes. 5:16-18,
Philip 4:4, 4:6, Jude 1:20 [14] Luke 2:40, 52, Ephes 1:17, Col 1:9, 28
