Hamilton, Ian
The Faith-Shaped Life (Hamilton)
The Christian life is a faith-shaped life. Faith is the instrument that unites us to Christ, but it is also the reality that shapes how we live in union with Christ. From beginning to end the Christian lives by faith.
The life of faith is not easy. The Christian is engaged in an unrelenting warfare with the world, the flesh and the devil. Every step forward will be contested. The one thing that will keep the believer on track and pressing on is moment by moment trust in God, in his word, in the goodness and perfection of his purposes, and in his exceedingly great and precious promises. ‘This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith’ (1 John 5:4).
The chapters are intentionally brief and packed with biblical teaching to encourage and challenge both younger and older Christians; and above all to point us relentlessly to Jesus Christ ‘the founder and perfecter of our faith’.
Table of Contents:
1 | Getting Started | 9 |
2 | Faith: An Overused and Much Misunderstood Word | 14 |
3 | The Holy Trinity: Faith’s Constant Delight | 16 |
4 | The Catholicity of Faith | 21 |
5 | Specks and Logs: Faith and Judging Others | 24 |
6 | Faith and Christian Unity | 27 |
7 | Faith and Disappointment | 31 |
8 | The Anchor that Keeps Faith Steadfast | 35 |
9 | What Faith Looks Like | 38 |
10 | The Brotherliness of Faith | 41 |
11 | Faith and Joy | 46 |
12 | Faith in the Dark | 49 |
13 | Faith’s Great Delight | 55 |
14 | The Sweet Words that Nourish Faith | 60 |
15 | The Aroma of Faith | 62 |
16 | Faith’s Great Sorrow | 65 |
17 | The Humble Wisdom of Faith | 70 |
18 | Loving One Another: the Family Character of Faith | 73 |
19 | Where Faith Always Looks | 76 |
20 | Faith at Work | 79 |
21 | What Faith Sees | 82 |
22 | Faith’s Highest Privilege | 85 |
23 | Faith, the Protestant Watchword | 88 |
24 | Faith’s Present Experience | 91 |
25 | Faith’s Great Comfort | 94 |
26 | What Faith Aspires To | 97 |
27 | Faith’s Present Ache | 100 |
28 | The Tenderness of Faith | 103 |
29 | Faith’s Submissiveness | 106 |
30 | Dealing With Our Past: Trusting God | 109 |
31 | Faith in a Post-modern World | 112 |
32 | The Humbling Fact that Pervades the Life of Faith | 115 |
33 | Faith and Numbers | 118 |
34 | The Lips of the Faithful | 121 |
35 | Controversy and Faith | 124 |
36 | The Legacy that Faith Bequeaths | 127 |
37 | The Reminder that Faith Always Needs | 131 |
38 | Jesus Christ: Faith’s Obsession | 134 |
39 | Faith’s Supreme Interest | 137 |
40 | Faith’s Unsettling Obsessiveness | 140 |
41 | Faith’s Assurance: ‘Nothing So Ill but Christ Will Compensate’ | 143 |
42 | Thinking Faith: The Logic of Redemption | 146 |
43 | Faith’s Constant Companion | 149 |
Author
Ian Hamilton is the pastor of Cambridge Presbyterian Church, England. He is the author of Let's Study the Letters of John which is also published by the Trust.