Fundamental Christian Attitudes: Faith (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur

Devotional

Day 1: Bones That Bear Life

The church stands like a body—rigid bones giving structure, muscles clinging to unyielding truth. Jesus designed His people to hold fast to non-negotiables: honoring God, exalting Christ, holiness, truth, and submission. But bones alone make a corpse. Life comes when organs pulse with blood, when spiritual attitudes pump vitality through the body. A skeleton without breath is a museum relic. The church thrives when truth fuels living hearts. [00:41]

God cares more about your spiritual pulse than your religious posture. Just as lungs oxygenize blood, the Holy Spirit transforms duty into desire. Jesus didn’t die to create doctrinal mannequins. He resurrected to fill lungs with His breath.

Where have you mistaken rigid routines for true spiritual life? Name one habit this week you’ll approach not as obligation, but as oxygen for your soul.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
(1 Corinthians 12:12-13, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal where your spiritual life has become mechanical. Beg Him to replace duty with delight.
Challenge: Write down one “bone” of doctrine you’ll thank God for today, then one “organ” attitude (love, joy, etc.) you’ll actively cultivate.

Day 2: The Fig Tree’s Defiance

Habakkuk watched Judah’s sin spread like rot. He cried, “How long, Lord?” God answered with Chaldean invasion—a cure worse than the disease. The prophet’s feet slipped on despair’s slope until he gripped bedrock truth: “You are eternal. Sovereign. Holy. Faithful.” When fig trees failed and flocks vanished, Habakkuk chose praise. His faith became hinds’ feet on life’s cliffs. [27:24]

Trust isn’t denial of chaos but defiance against it. Jesus faced the cross singing hymns (Matthew 26:30). God’s character outlasts every crisis.

What cliff-edge circumstance makes your knees shake? Write God’s eternal attributes on a card. Keep it where you’ll see it hourly.

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
(Habakkuk 3:17-18, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one situation where you’ve doubted God’s sovereignty. Thank Him for being bigger than your understanding.
Challenge: Set a phone reminder every 3 hours today to declare aloud: “The Lord is my strength” (Habakkuk 3:19).

Day 3: Crucified, Yet Alive

Paul’s declaration cuts through performance religion: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live.” The old self dies with its need for human approval. The risen Christ becomes the pulse within—His faith, His obedience, His love coursing through believers. Legalism withers where trust in the Indwelling One flourishes. [29:51]

Jesus doesn’t improve you; He replaces you. His resurrection life operates the controls now. Your part? Trust the Driver.

Where are you still gripping the steering wheel? What would change today if you acted as Christ’s glove instead of trying to be the hand?

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
(Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for specific moments His life has overruled your instincts this month.
Challenge: Before your next decision, whisper: “Christ in me chooses this.”

Day 4: Faith’s Mountain Goats

Mountain goats scale cliffs because their Creator designed suction-cup hooves. Habakkuk called God his strength, making feet “like hinds’ feet.” This isn’t poetic escape—it’s tactical gear for life’s precipices. Faith transforms vertigo into victory laps. [28:24]

Jesus told Peter to walk on water, not swim. Faith operates in the impossible. Your security comes from the Shepherd’s grip, not your footing.

What cliff has you frozen? Picture Christ’s nail-scarred hand around your wrist. How does that change your next step?

“The Lord God is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”
(Habakkuk 3:19, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God for “hoof strength” in one shaky area. Thank Him for past rescues.
Challenge: Take a literal 10-minute walk today, praying about your “high place” with each step.

Day 5: The Talking Head’s Triumph

No horses, no dancing bears—just Christ-centered preaching and transformed lives. The church grows when believers crave truth like oxygen. Programs can’t revive dry bones, but the Spirit’s breath through Scripture ignites living fire. [09:52]

Jesus built His church on confession of His identity (Matthew 16:18), not marketing strategies. Your hunger for God’s Word fuels the Body’s heartbeat.

When did Scripture last surprise you with its relevance? What verse will you chew on like spiritual jerky today?

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
(Romans 10:17, ESV)

Prayer: Beg God to make you ravenous for His Word. Repent of any media that dulls that appetite.
Challenge: Read Galatians 2:20 aloud three times today—after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Sermon Summary

The body of Christ stands because God has given it a skeleton, but it lives because God fills it with internal systems. The framework is fixed and unbending: honoring God, exalting Christ, pursuing holiness, proclaiming truth, submitting to spiritual authority. But bone alone does not breathe. Life flows from spiritual attitudes. The text presses this from the inside out: not threats, not manipulation, not prestige, but the fruit of the Spirit shaping hearts with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The call is not to retool the structure or chase styles that depreciate preaching. Scripture says, do not despise prophesying. Reformatting only rearranges the same hearts. Spirit-filled people do Spirit-led things because it is in their hearts to do so. No dancing bears, no horses, just the Word and sung truth, because only the Word reforms the inner life over the long haul.

The first internal attitude is faith. Trust in God unlocks every promise. But trust is personal; people trust whom they know. So the Word must keep putting God’s character on display until knowledge matures into confidence. Habakkuk proves it. Judah’s sin offends, God seems inactive, then God announces judgment by the Chaldeans. That only deepens the question. Habakkuk steadies his feet by what he knows: God is eternal, sovereign, holy, and faithful to covenant. On that rock the prophet reads history differently and rests in the line that carries into the New Testament, the just shall live by faith. Even if figs fail, vines are bare, fields empty, and stalls vacant, the Lord remains strength. God makes the believer’s feet like a mountain goat, steady on high places though the ledge is narrow.

Faith then fixes on Christ. Galatians 2:20 drives it home. The life now lived in the flesh is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave himself. If he died for sinners, how much more will he keep, supply, and guard his own. God meets needs through the ever-present Christ. Faith walks by what God has said, not by what eyes can measure. Faith becomes a shield, because sin is what someone does when not satisfied with God. A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t. As knowledge of God grows through the Word and through trials, confidence deepens until the dominant attitude is simple and strong: the just live by faith.

Key Takeaways

1. The body needs inner life True form without true life stays skeletal. The church’s non-negotiables give shape, but the Spirit’s fruit gives pulse and breath. Real ministry aims at heart transformation that produces worship, obedience, and endurance from the inside out. Strategies can gather a crowd; only the Spirit’s fruit creates a people. [05:05]
2. Faith steadies confused hearts Habakkuk’s footing returns when God’s character fills his horizon. Eternity, sovereignty, holiness, and covenant faithfulness become the rock beneath a shaking world. The line that anchors both prophet and church remains this: the just shall live by faith. Joy can rise even when figs do not. [24:47]
3. Programs cannot replace transformation New formats can shuffle furniture while leaving souls untouched. Scripture forbids depreciating preaching because God births faith through the Word, not entertainments. Long-haul heart work beats short-term novelty, and genuine eagerness comes from truth loved, not pressure applied. No gimmicks are needed when God is known. [08:06]
4. Knowing Christ fuels resilient obedience The believer lives by faith in the Son who loved and gave himself. If his death secured pardon, his living presence surely secures provision, guidance, and perseverance. Faith becomes a shield because satisfaction in Christ unhooks temptation’s bait. Confidence grows as Scripture unveils the Shepherd who keeps, supplies, and finishes. [29:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:41] - The church’s skeleton defined
[02:05] - Internal systems give life
[03:00] - Spiritual attitudes over externals
[05:05] - Fruit of the Spirit heartbeat
[06:43] - Do not despise preaching
[08:06] - Heart over structure and style
[09:52] - No gimmicks, just the Word
[12:13] - First internal attitude: faith
[14:25] - Habakkuk’s dilemma introduced
[17:45] - God raises the Chaldeans
[24:47] - The just shall live by faith
[26:10] - Even if figs fail, rejoice
[29:51] - Living by faith in the Son
[35:34] - Prayer for growing trust

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (ESV)
"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places."

Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Observation Questions

In Habakkuk 3:17-19, what specific circumstances does Habakkuk list as failing, and how does he respond despite them?
According to Galatians 5:22-23, what attitudes and behaviors are produced by the Holy Spirit?
What does Paul mean in Galatians 2:20 when he says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”? [29:51]
How did Habakkuk’s knowledge of God’s character (eternal, sovereign, holy, faithful) steady his heart amid confusion? [24:47]

Interpretation Questions

Why is Habakkuk’s declaration of joy in God despite his circumstances (3:17-19) a significant model for believers facing trials?
How does the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) contrast with external efforts to motivate spiritual behavior (e.g., threats, manipulation)? [05:05]
In Galatians 2:20, Paul ties faith to Christ’s sacrificial love. Why is trusting Christ’s past sacrifice foundational for trusting His present care?
The sermon states, “Sin is what someone does when not satisfied with God.” How does this connect to faith acting as a “shield” against temptation? [34:42]

Application Questions

Habakkuk chose joy in God even if everything failed. What circumstance in your life feels like a “failing fig tree” right now? How can you intentionally “rejoice in the Lord” in it? [26:10]
The “fruit of the Spirit” grows through inward transformation, not external pressure. Which fruit (e.g., patience, kindness, self-control) do you most need to rely on the Spirit to cultivate this week? What practical step will you take to nurture it?
Paul says, “The life I now live… I live by faith.” What decision or worry are you currently facing where you need to walk “by faith, not by sight”? How can you actively trust Christ’s presence in it? [33:35]
The sermon warns against relying on “new formats” to fix spiritual dryness. Have you ever prioritized programs or methods over heart change? How can you shift your focus to seeking God’s character in His Word instead? [08:06]
Habakkuk anchored himself in God’s eternal, sovereign nature. When life feels unstable, which of these truths about God (eternal, sovereign, holy, faithful) do you most need to meditate on? Write down one way to remind yourself of it daily.

Sermon Clips

31s

“``I have faith that he'll pour out blessing upon my obedience. I have faith that He will use me. I have faith that He'll overcome every trial in my life victoriously if I am obedient to Him. I have faith in Him. I trust in Him. I believe in Him. That's the beginning attitude. It starts at salvation because salvation occurs when you trust in God, doesn't it? You trust him to forgive your sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That's the beginning of faith. That's not the end. That's just the start. And then the just shall live by faith.”

37s

“When you know that and believe that, you can trust him in every situation. And that's the initial, that's the beginning attitude. Faith becomes the shield, Ephesians six sixteen. You quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one with faith. When Satan tempts you to do something, it's quenched by your trust. I told you this a few months ago. Sin is what you do when you're not satisfied with God. And if you're not satisfied with God, it's because you don't know him. So what shields you from temptation is faith.”

25s

“We don't evaluate life by what we see and feel and smell and touch. We evaluate life through the eyes of faith. And faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, but it's not wishful thinking. It's built on the rock of the character of our God and the character and work of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you have that faith, you can face anything in life.”

34s

“And how do you get that confidence? By getting to know your God and learning that he is eternal, he is sovereign, he is holy, never makes a mistake, and he always keeps his promises. That's faith. That's faith. And that's the inner heart attitude that God's people must have. That's crucial to the internal systems of the church. Give me a people that believe their God. That's one of the reasons that we don't have lots of people in our church falling apart.”

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Fundamental Christian Attitudes: Faith (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur

Devotional

Day 1: Bones That Bear Life

Day 2: The Fig Tree’s Defiance

Day 3: Crucified, Yet Alive

Day 4: Faith’s Mountain Goats

Day 5: The Talking Head’s Triumph

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Fundamental Christian Attitudes: Faith (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur

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