I am going to take the liberty to replace the word “belief” with the word “faith.” Before we can “grow in faith” we need to be “saved by faith.” How does this happen? In Romans 10:17 we read, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We learn in this very important verse that “faith begins by hearing or reading the Word of God.” God has given us a revelation called the “Bible” so we can know 1) our need for salvation, and 2) what Christ has done to save us. We read in Romans 3:23 and 6:23, “All of SINNED and fall short of the glory of God” and “The wages of SIN is DEATH.” Our FAITH begins once we see that we are a lost sinner who deserves death. Then we are prepared to see what Christ has done to save us. We read of this in Hebrews 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 1 Peter 3;18: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, FOR THE SUFFERING OF DEATH…. Christ DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures…. For Christ also SUFFERED ONCE FOR SINS, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being PUT TO DEATH IN THE FLESH but made alive by the Spirit.” Faith in Christ and His death on the cross, where He suffered for our sins, results in our salvation. “For by grace you have been SAVED THROUGH FAITH, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the true “beginning of our life of faith.”

The Bible says, “the just shall LIVE BY FAITH” (Romans 3:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38). So, we are “saved by faith” and we must also “live by faith.” In both cases it is through the Word of God that we acquire faith. We must read the Bible (1 Timothy 4:13). We must study and meditate on the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15 and 1 Timothy 4:15). As faith lays hold of the truth that God has given to us, we then need to “obey the truth.” After Paul told Timothy to “meditate on these things” he went on to say, “Give yourself entirely to them, that your PROGRESS may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:15-16). The word “progress” speaks of our “growing in faith.” As we grow spiritually others around us will see the effects of our faith and it will then “teach and encourage them to grow in faith.” Mr. H. A. Ironside says this on verse 16, “Paul is not speaking of the salvation of the soul; he is not referring to eternal salvation; but he is exhorting Timothy to be careful to live for God, to be a consistent, earnest servant of Christ, because in doing this he would both save himself from many snares and difficulties, and he would become a blessing instead of a curse to those to whom he ministered.”

Let me end this meditation by emphasizing, “There are NO SHORTCUTS to ‘growing in faith’.” We MUST be earnest students of Scripture. The Apostle Peter said simply and emphatically, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, THAT YOU MAY GROW THEREBY.” This will take time and thus we should “search the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11), depending on the Divine Teacher (the Holy Spirit…1 Corinthians 2:9-13) to “guide us into all truth” (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14). Only by disciplined and diligent study of the Scriptures will be able to take the Apostle Peter’s last words to heart: “GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Only then will we be able to “live a godly life by faith” and experience what King David said in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” And only then will we be able to “teach and encourage others to grow in faith.”  (DO)  (719.5)