Momentum: Pursuing God’s Blessings Through The BeatitudesSample

How Faith Brings You into a Right Relationship with God

"Blessed are those who mourn...” Matthew 5:4

Many who assume they’re Christians and identify themselves as Christians have surprisingly little experience of the “mourning” that Jesus talks about here.

As you grasp the wonderful truth that as believers we’re “justified by faith,” and “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1), you’ll see why Jesus’ words here fall flat for many.

Why is a believer justified by faith, as opposed to works or something else? How does faith “justify” or bring a person into a right relationship with God? Faith justifies by uniting a person to Christ. Only Jesus justifies believers, and he does this through his shed blood, applied personally by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Two substitutes can distance a person from this wonderful reality.

1. When the faith that unites a person to Christ is replaced by mere belief. Believing certain things will not change you; Jesus Christ changes you. It’s possible, but not genuine faith, to believe in Christ without ever bowing to his lordship over your life.

2. When the repentance that involves a change of direction is replaced by a prayer. God says to the wicked: “Forsake your ways. Return to the Lord, and he’ll have compassion on you” (Isaiah 55:6-7). He doesn’t tell them to pray. He says, “Stop doing what you’re doing!”

You may have said a prayer or believed certain things, but are you poor in spirit? Do you mourn over your sin? Are you hungry for righteousness? Are you merciful? Are you pure in heart? What do you know of this kind of life?

For further reading, see Isaiah 55:6-7