Kingdom Faith #2 The Grace of Faith
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Discover why faith is the chief grace that unlocks every blessing God has prepared — and how to exercise the faith of the Son of God already given to you.
Description
Grace of Faith Overview
In this powerful second installment of the Kingdom Faith series, the preacher opens with a foundational truth drawn from Hebrews 12:2 — that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. The message unpacks what it means that faith is not merely intellectual agreement with historical facts about Christ, but a God-given grace that enables believers to receive every other grace the Father has provided. Drawing on Galatians 2:20, the sermon reveals that the faith we exercise is actually the faith of the Son of God, imparted to every born-again believer as a free gift. Through vivid illustrations — including the story of Enoch walking with God in Genesis 5, a young woman boldly praying for a spouse, and the early church father Clemens of Alexandria who concluded that faith is the chief among all graces — the message builds a compelling case for looking away from circumstances and fixing our eyes entirely on Jesus. The sermon emphasizes that doubt creates mountains while faith moves them, that true faith means releasing what we hold to receive what God has prepared, and that every believer already possesses the same faith Jesus walked in during His earthly ministry. Practical, convicting, and deeply encouraging, this message calls every listener to exercise the faith that has already been given to them.
Grace of Faith Outline
- 00:00 – Welcome and Series Context: The preacher recaps the previous week’s message on the attributes of faith and introduces today’s focus on the grace of faith, establishing that the entire kingdom of heaven operates on faith.
- 04:30 – Faith Is More Than Historical Belief: Using John 5 and the example of the Pharisees, the message distinguishes between merely knowing facts about Jesus and possessing genuine, living faith that connects to the person of Christ.
- 10:15 – Faith as the Grace That Unlocks All Other Graces: The preacher defines faith as the God-given ability to release what we have in order to take hold of what God has, and explains why without faith it is impossible to please God.
- 18:40 – The Faith of the Son of God — Galatians 2:20: A deep dive into Galatians 2:20 reveals that believers do not generate their own faith but live by the very faith of the Son of God, which has been given to them as a gift at salvation.
- 26:00 – Enoch — A Portrait of Faith That Pleases God: The story of Enoch from Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11:5-6 illustrates what it looks like to walk with God so closely that He simply takes you home, and unpacks the requirement to believe God is and that He rewards diligent seekers.
- 33:20 – Faith Is the Open Door for Every Grace: The sermon paints faith as the open door through which God enters with all His gifts, drawing on Ephesians 2:8, 2 Peter 1:3, and Romans 8 to show that everything has already been provided.
- 40:50 – Conquering Grace — Overcoming the World by Faith: Referencing 1 John 5:4, the preacher declares that faith is the conquering grace on earth, contrasting it with love as the crowning grace in heaven, and challenges listeners to stop dwelling on problems and fix their gaze on Jesus.
- 46:30 – Practical Faith — Responding at the Altar: The message closes with a call to action, explaining that responding to an altar call is itself an act of faith, and inviting those with needs to come forward and allow God to alter their lives.
Scripture References
Hebrews 12:2, John 5:39, Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 11:5-6, Genesis 5:21-24, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 8:32, 2 Peter 1:3, 1 John 5:4, Proverbs 3:3-4, Psalm 27:10, Psalm 146:3
Key Takeaways
- Faith is not mere historical knowledge about Jesus but a living, God-given grace that connects you personally to the person of Christ and activates every other blessing He has provided.
- The faith you exercise as a believer is not self-generated — it is the very faith of the Son of God, freely given to you at salvation according to Galatians 2:20 and Ephesians 2:8.
- Doubt creates mountains in your life, but faith moves them — and the fight of faith is primarily a battle of focus, choosing to fix your eyes on Jesus rather than on your circumstances.
- True faith requires releasing what you are holding in order to take hold of what God has already prepared, making it impossible to claim real faith while clinging to your current limitations.
- Enoch pleased God by believing both that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him, and this same posture of wholehearted seeking is what activates the grace of God in your life today.
- According to Clemens of Alexandria and confirmed by Scripture, faith is the chief among all graces and the mother from which every other grace flows — without it, no other gift of God can be received.
- God’s goodness, provision, healing, and favor are already yours in Christ — your role is not to earn them but to open the door through faith and allow what has already been purchased to manifest in your life.
Grace of Faith Notes
Faith as Gift Not Achievement
One of the most liberating truths in this message is that faith is not something you manufacture through willpower or spiritual discipline. It is a grace — a gift — given directly by God at the moment of salvation. Ephesians 2:8 is unambiguous: we are saved by grace through faith, and that faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. This reframes the entire conversation. You are not straining to produce enough faith to impress God. You are learning to recognize, value, and exercise a faith that has already been deposited within you by the Holy Spirit, the same quality of faith that Jesus Himself walked in during His earthly ministry.
Looking to Jesus Defeats Every Obstacle
The preacher returns repeatedly to Hebrews 12:2 as the master key of this sermon: look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Carnality, worry, and doubt are all described as the result of paying too much attention to the visible world. When believers fix their gaze on who Jesus is — risen, reigning, seated at the right hand of the Father, fully victorious — the circumstances of this world begin to lose their grip. Like the old charismatic chorus quoted in the message, the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. This is not denial; it is a deliberate, disciplined shift in focus that activates Kingdom reality.
Enoch Illustrates Diligent Seeking
The story of Enoch stands as the sermon’s most vivid Old Testament portrait of kingdom faith. Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah — a son whose very name meant that God would destroy the earth at his death — and rather than living in dread, Enoch walked so intimately with God that he was simply taken without ever dying. Hebrews 11:5-6 confirms that this was accomplished by faith, specifically the faith that believes God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The application is direct: our seeking must be directed at God Himself, not at the things we need Him to provide.
The Dead Sea Warning for Believers
In a striking illustration, the preacher warns against the spiritual condition of the Dead Sea — a body of water that receives from the Jordan River but has no outlet. Believers who receive grace from God but never pour it out into the lives of others become stagnant and spiritually dead. The one grace we cannot give to another person is faith, because the just must live by his own faith. Every other grace — healing, provision, encouragement — can and must flow freely through us to those around us. This is why community, ministry, and generosity are not optional extras in the Christian life but essential expressions of living faith.
Conquering Grace in a Defeated World
The sermon closes its theological arc with a powerful distinction: love is the crowning grace in the kingdom of heaven, but faith is the conquering grace here on earth. First John 5:4 declares that every child of God overcomes the world, and the victory that achieves this is our faith. The devil believers face today is a defeated devil — stripped of authority, triumphed over on the cross, made a public spectacle by Christ’s resurrection. This means the believer’s posture should not be one of fearful defense but of confident, forward-moving faith. The preacher’s exhortation is clear: stop dwelling on the enemy’s activity and start declaring the goodness and greatness of God.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that faith is a grace from God?
In this sermon, faith is described as a divine gift rather than a human achievement, based on Ephesians 2:8 which states we are saved by grace through faith and that this is not of ourselves but the gift of God. Grace is God’s willingness to use His power on your behalf regardless of whether you feel you deserve it. Faith is the specific grace He gives first so that you can receive every other grace He has prepared. You do not produce it — you receive it, recognize it, and exercise it.
How does Galatians 2:20 relate to the believer’s faith?
Galatians 2:20 states that the life we now live in the flesh we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. This means the faith a Christian exercises is not an inferior, self-manufactured version but literally the faith of Jesus Himself, imparted through the new birth. The sermon uses this verse to challenge believers who doubt whether they really have enough faith, pointing out that doubting your faith is what robs you of the other graces God has already provided.
What can we learn from Enoch about walking in faith?
Hebrews 11:5-6 tells us that Enoch was taken to heaven without seeing death because he had the testimony of pleasing God, and this was accomplished by faith. The key requirement stated in verse 6 is that anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Enoch’s three-hundred-year walk with God illustrates a life of consistent, intimate seeking that was so focused on God Himself — not on blessings or needs — that God simply brought him home. His life is a model for what it looks like to pursue the Rewarder rather than the reward.
Why is faith called the chief among all graces?
This phrase comes from the early church father Clemens of Alexandria, who concluded after extensive study of practical Christian living that all other graces are the daughters of faith. The sermon supports this theologically by pointing out that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that faith is what gives you access to healing, provision, right standing with God, and every other gift He has provided. Faith is described as the hands that grasp all other graces and as the open door by which God enters with all His gifts.
Is it wrong to pray if it is God’s will when asking for something?
The sermon addresses this directly, noting that in Scripture only Jesus prayed that specific prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He did so in the unique context of bearing the sins of humanity. For believers, God’s will is clearly revealed in passages like 3 John 1:2 where He wills that we prosper and be in health, and in promises like Romans 8:32 where He says He freely gives us all things. The message encourages believers to pray with confidence based on what God has already declared in His Word, rather than using the phrase as an escape hatch for unbelief.
What is the difference between real faith and just believing facts about Jesus?
The sermon draws a sharp line between intellectual knowledge about Jesus and genuine kingdom faith. Even the devil believes that God exists and trembles, yet he has no faith. Real faith involves a personal relationship with the risen Christ, a willingness to release what you hold in order to receive what God has, and a sustained focus on who Jesus is rather than on your circumstances. John 5:39 is cited to show that the Pharisees searched the Scriptures but missed the person they pointed to — and this same error can be made by anyone who treats faith as mere doctrinal agreement rather than living relationship.
How does doubt create mountains and how does faith move them?
The sermon states plainly that with faith you can move mountains but with doubt you create them. Mountains in your life — whether health crises, financial lack, relational breakdown, or fear — are the product of focusing on what is seen rather than on the unseen reality of God’s provision. Doubt is described as giving too much attention to the visible world, which is the definition of carnality. Faith, by contrast, causes what is not yet seen to become more real than what is presently visible, and in doing so it activates the power of God to change the visible situation. The consistent prescription is to look to Jesus and keep eyes fixed on Him.
Can a minister exercise faith on behalf of another believer?
The sermon addresses this carefully, noting that while believers can and should pray for one another, give healing prayer, and come alongside others like a tugboat helping a ship into harbor, faith itself cannot be transferred from one person to another. The Bible declares that the just shall live by his own faith, and a minister who tells people they do not need any faith of their own risks creating a spiritual crutch rather than disciples who know how to live with Jesus. Encouragement and corporate prayer are vital, but every believer must ultimately develop and exercise their own personal faith in Christ.
