Der Glaube

Einleitung

• Der Glaube ist ein Thema, das sehr oft in der Bibel vorkommt, und das Paulus in 1.Kor.13 erwähnt, als einer der Schwerpunkte des Christentums. Es gibt so viele Bibelstellen über den Glauben, dass es gar nicht möglich ist, alles in einer Predigt zu decken (es sei denn wir bis mitternacht bleiben (das eigentlich biblisch wäre, Apo.20).
• Wir schauen nur die ersten 3 Punkte an:
  • die Wichtigkeit des Glaubens
  • was ist der Glaube
  • nach Glauben streben
• (Bibelstellen für andere Punkte findet man (auf Englisch) am Ende)

Die Wichtigkeit des Glaubens

• Es scheint mir unnotig, zu sagen, dass der Glaube ein wichtiges Thema sei. Aber wenn ich mein Leben anschaue, sehe ich, dass er findet nicht die zentrale Rolle, die, biblisch betrachtet, der Glaube finden sollte. Meine Gedanken gehen viel um was ich tue, was ich zu tun habe, was ich getan habe, was ich hätte tun sollen, usw. Und von meinen Gesprächen mit anderen, denke ich nicht, dass ich ein Ausnahmefall bin.
• 2.Kor.5,7 denn wir wandeln im Glauben und nicht im Schauen. Das Kontext ist, dass Paulus über Leben und Tod schreibt, und er sagt, eigentlich würde ich eher sterben und mit Gott sein, als hier weiter leben.
• Hab.2,4 Der Gerechte wird aus Glauben leben. Vom Kontext, hätte ich nicht erwartet, dass ein wichtiges Prinzip hier besprochen wurde. Aber die Stelle wird dreimal im neuen Testament zitiert (Röm.1,17; Heb.10,38; Gal.3,11). Ohne Zweifel ist sie doch eine bedeutende Stelle.
• Auch Jesus sagte, in seiner Kritik der leitenden Juden zu seiner Zeit (Matt.23,23) dass das Wichtigste im Gesetz ist das Recht, die Barmherzigkeit, und den Glauben.
• Heb.11,6 Ohne Glauben ist's unmöglich, Gott zu gefallen.
• Röm.14,23 Was aber nicht aus dem Glauben kommt, das ist Sünde.
• Viele andere Stellen unterstreichen den Glauben. zB Paulus beschreibt was er immer gepredigt hat, und Glauben ist einer der Hauptthemen. (Apo.20,21; 24,24)
• Gal.5,6 Denn in Christus Jesus hat weder Beschneidung noch Unbeschnittensein irgendeine Kraft, sondern [der] durch Liebe wirksame Glaube.
• Heb.6,1 Deshalb wollen wir das Wort vom Anfang des Christus lassen und uns der vollen Reife zuwenden und nicht wieder einen Grund legen mit der Buße von toten Werken und dem Glauben an Gott
• Jes.7,9 ... Glaubt ihr nicht, dann bleibt ihr nicht!

Was ist der Glaube?

• Die klassische Definition für den Glauben findet man in Heb.11,1 Der Glaube aber ist eine Verwirklichung dessen, was man hofft, ein Überführtsein von Dingen, die man nicht sieht.
• Weil es viel falsche Lehre gibt, will ich es ganz klar machen, was das Objekt unseres Glaubens ist (1.Pet.1,21  die ihr durch ihn an Gott glaubt, der ihn aus den Toten auferweckt und ihm Herrlichkeit gegeben hat, damit euer Glaube und eure Hoffnung auf Gott [gerichtet] sei).
• Können wir mit unserem Glauben Gott kontrollieren oder zwingen? Heb.11,13;39 Diese alle sind im Glauben gestorben und haben die Verheißungen nicht erlangt, sondern sahen sie von fern und begrüßten sie und bekannten, daß sie Fremde und ohne Bürgerrecht auf der Erde seien ... Und diese alle, die durch den Glauben ein Zeugnis erhielten, haben die Verheißung nicht erlangt
• So wie schaut ihn praktisch aus? Jak.2,14-26
• V.17 So ist auch der Glaube, wenn er keine Werke hat, in sich selbst tot.
  
• V.18 ich werde dir aus meinen Werken den Glauben zeigen
• V.22 der Glaube aus den Werken vollendet wurde
• Der Glaube ist etwas zwischen dir und Gott. Röm.14,22 Hast du Glauben? Habe ihn für dich selbst vor Gott! Glückselig, wer sich selbst nicht richtet in dem, was er gutheißt!

Nach Glauben streben

• 1.Tim.6,11 Du aber, o Mensch Gottes, fliehe diese Dinge; strebe aber nach Gerechtigkeit, Gottseligkeit, Glauben, Liebe, Ausharren, Sanftmut.
• 2.TI.2,22  Die jugendlichen Lüste aber fliehe, strebe aber nach Gerechtigkeit, Glauben, Liebe, Frieden mit denen, die den Herrn aus reinem Herzen anrufen.
• 1.Tim.6,12 Kämpfe den guten Kampf des Glaubens; ergreife das ewige Leben, zu dem du berufen worden bist und bekannt hast das gute Bekenntnis vor vielen Zeugen.
• Jud.1,3  Geliebte, da ich allen Fleiß anwandte, euch über unser gemeinsames Heil zu schreiben, war ich genötigt, euch zu schreiben und zu ermahnen, für den ein für allemal den Heiligen überlieferten Glauben zu kämpfen.

Other Passages About Faith (NRSV)

Faith: The Measure of Christianity

• ROM12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
• 2CO13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!
• COL1:4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
• 1TH3:5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
• 1TI6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Salvation by faith

• ROM1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
• GAL2:16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
• EPH2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--
• COL2:12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
• HEB4:2 For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
• 1PE1:9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Power of Faith

• MAT8:13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." And the servant was healed in that hour.
• MAT9:2 And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
• MAT9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.
• MAT9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you."
• MAT15:28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
• MAR2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
• MAR5:34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
• MAR10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
• LUK5:20 When he saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."
• LUK7:50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
• LUK8:48 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
• LUK17:19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
• LUK18:42 Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has saved you."
• ACT3:16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
• ACT14:9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
• JAM5:15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

Sources of Faith

• 1CO12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
• ROM10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

Promises Regarding Faith

• MAT21:21 Jesus answered them, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done.
• MAT21:22 Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive."

Criticisms Regarding Lack of Faith

• MAR4:40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
• LUK8:25 He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"
• LUK9:41 Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
• LUK12:28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of little faith!
• LUK17:6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
• LUK18:8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
• MAR9:19 He answered them, "You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me."
• MAR16:14 Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
• MAT6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?
• MAT8:26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.
• MAT14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
• MAT16:8 And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, "You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?
• MAT17:17 Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me."
• MAT17:20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."
• PSA78:22 because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power.
• PSA106:24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.
• REV21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
• ROM1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Protection and Victory through Faith

• EPH6:16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
• 1TH5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
• 1PE1:5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
• 1JO5:4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

Righteousness by Faith

• ROM3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
• ROM3:25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;
• ROM3:26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
• ROM3:27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith.
• ROM3:28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
• ROM3:30 since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
• ROM4:5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
• ROM4:9 Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, "Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness."
• ROM4:11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,
• ROM4:12 and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.
• ROM4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
• ROM4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
• ROM4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
• ROM4:19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
• ROM4:20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
• ROM4:22 Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness."
• ROM5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
• ROM9:30 What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith;
• ROM9:32 Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
• ROM10:6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down)
• PHI3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Miscellaneous Verses about Faith

• 1TI1:4 and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.
• 2CO4:13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture--"I believed, and so I spoke"--we also believe, and so we speak,