Lesson Three
THREE THINGS YOU MUST HAVE

Welcome to our third lesson. With this lesson you cross over to the latter half of this course, THE WAY TO A HAPPY LIFE. Congratulations for your diligence and zeal. In the last two lessons we studied the basic theories of Christianity—the doctrinal side. In this lesson and the next, we will study the practical side of the Christian life. Let us open our Bible again and turn to the 13th chapter of I Corinthians—the last verse. What does it say? "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." FAITH. HOPE. LOVE. What great words, filled with inexhaustible meaning! Every person who has been "born again" must have these three things in his or her life. Let's study them one by one.

Chapter 1: Faith

What is faith? It is belief or trust in a person, fact or truth. The Bible gives the following definition: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (Hebrews 11:1 and 3).

Any religion requires faith; but Christianity more so—because we as God's children are to live according to His Word, not by our own desires or plans.

To understand God's Word we need more than reason or intellect. We need faith. "how is faith born? "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven," says the Bible (John 3:27). "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14).

Faith does not come by your own efforts or determination. It is a gift from God to all who have accepted His Son as their personal Savior. Only this kind of faith is true, enduring and lasting.

Faith from sources other than God can be changed by circumstances and human emotions. How can you receive this gift? The verse given above (Romans 10:14) is followed by the 17th verse: "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." So then your faith is born, nourished and strengthened by daily Bible reading and meditation on every chapter and verse that you read.

What is the object of our faith? Or what do we believe?
(1) We believe that the Bible is the Word of God—complete, infallible, inspired and unique. By this we mean that we believe all the truths contained in the Bible.
(2)We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
(3) We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, that He arose from the dead on the third day, that He ascended to His original and rightful place in heaven and that He is returning again to judge the world.
(4) We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ atones for our sins and that only through Him can we be saved by believing on His name. (5) We believe that when Christ returns to this world we shall be resurrected even as He has been.

With this faith we must live our day-to-day lives. It must be our guide for all we think and do. For the Bible says: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).