June 23, faith honors him whom it trusts.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith,

giving glory to God, Romans 4, 20. Oh, how I longed, for God to be glorified in our

pursuit of holiness and love. But God is not glorified unless our pursuit is empowered

by faith in his promises. And the God who revealed himself most fully in Jesus Christ,

who was crucified for our sins and raised for our justification, Romans 4, 25, is most glorified

when we embrace his promises with joyful firmness, because they are bought by the blood of his

son. God is honored when we are humbled for our feebleness and failure, and when he is

trusted for future grace. That's the point of Romans 4, 20, where Paul describes Abraham's faith,

no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith,

giving glory to God. He grew strong in his faith, thus giving glory to God.

Faith in God's promises glorifies him as supremely wise and strong and good and trustworthy.

So unless we learn how to live by faith in the promises of God's future grace,

we may perform remarkable religious rigors, but not for God's glory.

He is glorified when the power to be holy comes through humble faith in future grace.

Martin Luther said, faith honors him whom it trusts with the most reverent and highest regard

since it considers him truthful and trustworthy. The trusted giver gets the glory.

My great desire is that we learn how to live for God's honor, and that means living by faith

in future grace, which in turn means battling unbelief in all the ways it rears its head.