He aha te hua o te whakapono e ai ki te Paipera? No te mea he maha nga korero a nga Karaitiana, kia whakapono ratou ki a Ihu Karaiti me te whakapono ki te Atua, engari e tino mahi ana? He maha nga wa, their words and works (mahi) don’t line up with what they say they believe. They don’t walk after the Spirit by faith but they walk by what their senses perceive and carnal mind say. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the fruit faith?
What is the definition of faith according to the Bible?
I roto i nga Hiperu 11:1 we read the definition of faith: Na, ko te whakapono te taonga o nga mea e mau ana, nga taunakitanga o nga mea kaore i kitea.
Faith is the assurance of the things hoped for and the evidence (the proof) of things that are not seen.
Let’s look at the word ‘hope’. Hope is translated from the Greek word ‘elpízõ’ and means; ki te tumanako, ki te whakawhirinaki ranei: – (whai, mea) tūmanako (-pāt) (mō), whakawhirinaki.
Hope means that you are confident and that you trust, that something is coming to pass.
You expect it to happen.
There is no doubt in hope, but hope is an expectation.
There is a full assurance in hope; an expectation, that ‘something’ is going to happen.
No reira, faith is an assurance of the things that you expect to happen. Faith is the evidence of things that are not seen.
How does faith speak?
Faith speaks the words of God, ko te Wairua me te ora. Faith call those things which are not as though they were (Roma 4:17).
Ko te wa tuatahi, the fruit faith became visible on earth was during the creation. God had faith in His Word and power. I mohio ia, when He spoke the Word (Ihu, te Kupu ora) that by His power (Te Wairua Tapu) it came into being. It wasn’t visible yet, but God knew the power of His Word.
God had this creation in His mind and spoke this creation into being. He called those things, which be not, me te mea ko ratou.
Mena ko koe I whanau ano i a te Karaiti and have become spiritual, then you understand through faith that the worlds were created by the Word of God. Every Christian believes and understands this through the Word and the Holy Spirit.
Na roto i te faaroo ta tatou e maramarama, ua iritihia te ao nei na te Parau a te Atua, Na, ko nga mea e kitea ana kaore i kitea i nga mea e puta ana (Hiperu 11:3)
What does the word faith mean?
Faith is translated from the Greek word ‘epistis' me te tikanga: persuasion, ko tena, ti'aturiraa; te ti'aturiraa morare (o te parau mau faaroo, ranei te pono o te Atua, he kaiwhakaako whakapono ranei), ina koa ko te whakawhirinaki ki a te Karaiti mo te whakaoranga; ū tonu i roto i taua mahi; na roto i te toronga atu o te tikanga o te whakapono (Rongopai) pono ano: – whakapumautanga, whakapono, whakapono, whakapono, pono.
You are persuaded, you have credence. You are certain that ‘something’ is the truth. No reira, you stand and keep standing on that truth.
You remain faithful to the truth. Nothing and no one can take you away from that truth. You don’t back down and you don’t doubt (Panuitia hoki: Ka kitea e ahau te whakapono ki te whenua?).
When does your faith begin?
Your faith begins when you are convinced that something is the truth. Kua rongo koe, panui, or seen something, and you believe, that what you heard, panui, or saw is true.
God has given a free will to everyone. Therefore every person has a free will to make his own choices in life. Everyone decides to believe the Word of God or not believe the Word of God.
Their words, mahi, and lives show, whether they believe the Word of God or not.
Carnal people always need some kind of proof and/or a sign, i mua i to ratou whakapono. They are sense-ruled and will only believe if they’ll see it with their natural eyes.
Heoi ano, it happens often that when they get some kind of proof or a sign, they still doubt. (Panuitia hoki: Tuatahi ka kite ka whakapono, ka whakapono tuatahi ka kite?).
We all know that doubt is the opposite of faith. Doubt is the fruit of the old man; te tangata kikokiko. If you doubt, you can’t walk in faith and bear the fruit of faith.
What are the four simple steps of faith in the process of regeneration?
But the new creations don’t walk after the flesh by what they see in the natural realm. The new creations walk after the Spirit in submission to God in obedience to the Word.
They speak and do the words of God and walk in faith and bear the fruit of faith in their lives. They abide in the Word of God and call those things which are not as though they were.
The new creations are not moved and ruled by their senses, karekau, kare-a-roto, etc., But they are moved and ruled by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Kei reira 4 simple steps of faith in the process of regeneration.
the first step of faith
The first step of faith is to believe in Jesus Christ that He is the Son of God and came in the flesh and became the Substitute and Redeemer for fallen man. Whakapono, that through His sacrifice at the cross, e tona toto, me te aranga mai i te hunga mate, Jesus dealt with the sin problem of mankind, tae atu ki a koe.
Jesus delivered man from the power of the devil, Ko te hara me te Mate, and translated man from the darkness into the light. He restored the position of man and reconciled man back to God.
If you believe all this, you repent of your old life as a sinner and make Jesus your Saviour and Lord.
That’s the first step you take in faith; believing in Jesus Christ, me tana mahi whakaora a ripeneta of your sinful life
The second step of faith
Now comes the second step, which is regeneration in Christ. After your repentance, you are baptized in water and identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the water you lay down your old life as a sinner. You bury the old man with its sinful nature and arise in newness of life.
Koe crucify your (hara) kikokiko (your self, your carnal lusts and desires, whakaaro, Tuhinga o mua, hara, hara, etc.) and your spirit raises from the dead
The third step of faith
You will arise from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit and enter eternal life. After the baptism, ka whiwhi koe ki te Wairua Tapu.
You are born of the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Kua riro koe hei hanga hou; He Tama a te Atua (e pa ana tenei ki nga tane me nga wahine), and God’s nature dwells in you.
Now you believe that you are a new creation that is born of water and Spirit.
The final step of faith
Whakapono koe, kua riro koe hei hanga hou. The old you is gone and the new you, nana nei i hanga i muri i te ahua o te Atua, has been born. As you believe that you are a new creation and that the past is gone, you will also walk as the new creation in newness of life.
You shall be confident in Jesus Christ; the Word and walk after the Spirit in submission and obedience to His words. The Bible shall guide you and the Holy Spirit shall lead and teach you..
Na, kua riro na ia koutou a Karaiti Ihu te Ariki, na, haere i roto i a ia: I aa, i hanga ki roto ki a ia, a u ana ki runga ki te whakapono, i whakaakona ra ki a koutou, kia hira rawa te whakawhetai.
Kolosa 2:6,7
How do you develop faith?
You develop faith by hearing the Word of God, renewing your mind with the Word of God, and applying the Word of God into your life, whereby you shall speak and do the Word of God.
Hearing and Te whakahoutanga i to hinengaro with the Word of God are so important, because without the knowledge of the truth and knowing the will of God, you can’t pray and walk by faith and live a holy life.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Roma 10:17)
Ko koutou ia, aroha, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, inoi i roto i te Wairua Tapu (Hungaporo 1:20)
You shall build yourself up in your most holy faith and walk according to what the Word says.
You shall pray in the Holy Ghost, that is praying in other tongues.
The Holy Spirit knows exactly, what you need and what the obstacles in your life are. He helps your infirmities, and intercedes for you.
Waihoki ko te wairua hei hoa mo o tatou ngoikore: kahore hoki tatou e matau me pehea e tika ai ta tatou inoi: engari ko te Wairua tonu ano te inoi ana mo tatou ki nga aue e kore nei e taea te whakahua (Roma 8:26)
The Word revealed by the Spirit
I mua i to whanau ano, you didn’t know, what was written in the Word of God. You didn’t know Jesus Christ, and who God is and walked in darkness. Or maybe you did read the Bible, but you didn’t understand what was written.
Engari inaianei, that you are spiritual and have received the Holy Spirit, and entered into His light, you shall read His Word by His Spirit. You shall understand what is written, because the Holy Spirit reveals the Word of God (which is Spirit) mo koe.
The Spirit is te key to understanding the Word of God, He is your Teacher. You don’t need all kinds of teachers. The Holy Spirit teaches you into all truth and guide you. He shall raise you in His Word, so that you will walk in faith.
Ka mahia e koe, he aha te kupu e korero ai koe. You’ll live according to what the Word says, instead of what the world or your senses say.
You shall abide in Him and walk in Him and walk in truth.
The works shall follow your faith
Faith without works is dead. Na roto i te taioraa i te Parau a te Atua, applying the Word, and therefore doing the Word of God, you shall walk in Him. You will keep His commandments and obey Him.
You shall speak and live according to the Word. When you do the Word, the works shall follow you, just like the works followed Jesus, because He walked after the Spirit.
Ka rite ki te roa ka noho koe ki a ia; te Word, the works shall follow you.
Ka rite hoki ki te tinana ka mate nei ki te kore wairua, waihoki ko te whakapono ki te kahore he mahi he mea mate ano hoki
Korimi 2:26
Quench all the fiery darts by faith
You shall not always receive a warm welcome and maybe the people around you shall dislike you, ka tukino ia koe.
The devil shall do everything he can, to bring you back to the flesh, so that he can reign over you again, hei utu mo you reigning over him.
He shall accuse you in your mind, he shall raise thoughts in your mind that oppose the Word of God.
Kei runga i a koe, what you do with these thoughts. Do you feed them, or do you take these thoughts captive in Jesus Christ and cast them down?
The devil not only uses your mind, but also people to attack you.
The devil has one goal and that is to destroy you. No reira, the devil shall do everything he can and use everyone he can, no te faaoti i ta'na misioni.
But when you stay in Christ and abide in the Word, then by faith you can quench katoa the fiery darts of wicked one. Tuhipoka, it is written ‘all’ and not ‘some’.
Faith is your shield, but you have to hold it up. No one else can do that for you. Therefore it is important to build yourself up in your most holy faith.
I runga ake i nga mea katoa, ka mau ki te whakangungu rakau o te whakapono, Ko te mea ka taea e koe te tarai i nga mura katoa o te hunga kino
Epeha 6:16
He aha te whakangaro i to whakapono?
As long as you stay in the Word of God and walk after the Spirit and obey His words and keep His commandments, you will stay in the faith. Engari me noho koe awake and be watchful at all times. You must never let your guard down.
Guard your mind against the knowledge of this world, and stay faithful to the Word. When you feed your mind with the knowledge of this world, then doubt will arise. Because the knowledge and truth of this world goes against the knowledge and truth of the Word.
Therefore faith can be destroyed by doubt. This doubt can come both from the inside of you and from the outside:
- Doubt from the inside: doubt can enter if you have not renewed your mind with the Word of God (Paipera). It may be that in certain area’s of your life, you have not renewed your mind with the Word of God. In those area’s your mind is carnal and human reason still reigns instead of the Spirit. This will ensure that you keep living after the flesh.
- Doubt from the outside: doubt can also enter from the outside through false teachings, wisdom of the world etc.. Paul warned the believers many times about false teachers and philosophies of man that will lead them astray and away from the faith in Christ Jesus.
Noho i roto ia ia
As long as you stay in Him and walk according to the Word, then you shall not be moved, and shall stand and walk in faith. But if you do not walk according to the Word, but according to what the world says(rapunga whakaaro, science etc.) you shall obey the world and shall not be able to walk in faith. Because the world is enmity against God and His Word.
Na, kua riro na ia koutou a Karaiti Ihu te Ariki, na, haere i roto i a ia: I aa, i hanga ki roto ki a ia, a u ana ki runga ki te whakapono, i whakaakona ra ki a koutou, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, i runga i nga tikanga tuku iho a te tangata, i muri i nga timatanga o te ao, a kahore i muri i a te Karaiti. Kei roto hoki ia ia nga mea katoa e noho ana i te Atua
Kolosa 2:6-9
He aha te hua whakapono?
The fruit faith is a fruit of the Spirit and is present in every born again believer’s life. When you bear the fruit faith, you shall not walk by what your flesh, your carnal mind and senses, korero ki a koe. But you shall walk by faith after the Spirit by what the Word and the Spirit tell you.
Keep the faith
Don’t loose you faith but keep the faith. Make sure that you seek the things which are above and fill your mind with the things of God and His words and stay in Christ. Whawhaitia te whawhai pai o te whakapono. Let no one steal your faith, even when they turn against you.
There is so much more to write about the fruit faith, because the whole Gospel is about faith in Jesus Christ. The walk of a born again Christian is all about faith.
I would like to finish this blog post with the following question: When it’s your time to go Home, can you say the same words that Paul said?
Kua whawhai ahau i te whawhai pai, Kua oti i ahau taku akoranga, Kua puritia e ahau te whakapono
2 Timoti 4:7
'Kia tote o te whenua'
