The Reading Plan is designed to guide you through daily scriptures and reflections, helping you deepen your understanding and strengthen your faith. Simply follow the daily readings provided, meditate on the scripture, and reflect on how it applies to your life. You can revisit previous days or jump ahead to future readings at your own pace. Stay consistent, and watch your spiritual growth unfold as you engage with the Word daily.
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- The Finished Life of Faith
5Day Reading Plan
The Finished Life of Faith
- Faith
True faith isn’t about striving to believe harder—it’s about resting in what Jesus has already finished. God’s gift of faith, revealed in Christ, frees us from self-effort and the pressure to earn righteousness. Through His perfect, unwavering faith, we discover that we are already forgiven, justified, and fully accepted by God
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Day 1Living by the Faith of God, Not Just in God
Traditionally, we’ve been taught to “have faith” as the underpinning of our Christian life, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, we can hit times when we feel like our faith isn’t strong enough, as if we have to work harder to believe better. That’s often what happens when we think we need to build our own faith in God. The truth is that God has already given us the perfect faith—His faith—as a gift.
God, the ultimate giver, gave us the gift of Jesus. He didn’t even spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all; He’ll therefore freely give us everything else as well. We don’t have to earn it or qualify for it; it’s ours simply because we’ve received Jesus. This frees us from feeling like we must work hard to prop up our own faith when it’s faltering.
We live by the faith of the Son of God, not our own faith. Jesus lives in us, and His faith is flawless. While our faith is still growing, His is already complete, and available to us every day. This takes away the pressure of trying to be “good enough.”
Life has radically changed since the cross. The law demanded effort and performance, but faith has come, and that faith is Jesus. We’re now God’s children, united in Christ and heirs to His promises. We receive this stance by faith, with no work required.
We live, move, and exist in God. We’re His offspring, created to reflect Him, not gold or stone or anything man-made. Our identity is rooted in God, including the faith we walk in.
We don’t have to boast or stress out about having “enough” faith. God has deposited in us everything we need. We can now rest in this truth.
Scriptures:
Romans 8:32, AMPC
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 3:24-29
Acts 17:28, 29
1 Corinthians 4:7, NLT
Day 2A Faith Completely Finished in Jesus Christ
We’ve all heard the advice to finish what we start. This is good, but taking this out of context can lead to self-effort. Under grace, a “finished” life of faith means we don’t have to work to develop faith because it’s a gift from God. It’s based on Jesus’ finished works.
When Paul asked the Corinthians what they had that they hadn’t received, he was cautioning them not to elevate one person over another because everything they had—including their faith—was a gift. This humbles us. It’s a gentle nudge not to get so proud that we think we earned what we have through our own hard work. Acknowledging this keeps us humble.
We can be confident that God is doing a marvelous work in us. As the author and finisher of our faith, He gets the credit. He started it and He’ll see it through; our role is simply to trust Him and replace striving with abiding, even when the path is unclear or the journey feels long.
Paul’s life wasn’t easy, but near the end of it he declared that he had fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith. The goal for us should be to finish well; not perfectly, but faithfully. We’re not alone in this. He who began a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
When we feel weak or inadequate, God’s grace is sufficient for us; His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Those God has called, He also justified and glorified. Knowing that this is deliberately written in the past tense gives us the full picture of what has been completed. On our faith journey, God is committed to our spiritual finish line; this kind of commitment keeps us grounded.
Scriptures:
1 Corinthians 4:7
Hebrews 12:2
2 Timothy 4:7
Philippians 1:6
2 Corinthians 12:9
Romans 8:30
Day 3Already Done: The Finished Life of Faith
If you’ve ever struggled with guilt and shame after making a mistake, you may have felt like you had to earn God’s approval. Many of us were taught that righteousness comes from our own efforts, but the truth is far more freeing. God already sees us as righteous not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus already did and our belief in it. This is the beauty of the finished life of faith.
Righteousness comes by the faith of Jesus Christ, not our own. We don’t have to rely on our up-and-down faith because we can rest in His perfect, unwavering faith. Jesus went to the cross to replace endless striving with simple believing. Accepting this lets us stop trying to “be good enough” and start living from a place of grace.
Salvation is a gift that’s received, not earned. Religion may teach us to work for it, but God teaches us to trust Him for it. His grace and His faith are the foundation of our salvation, and we simply say “yes” to what He’s already done.
In a world that lives by performance, the just live by faith. This is a lifestyle we choose. Living by faith in Jesus, not in ourselves, justifies us in God’s eyes. His righteousness becomes ours, and we walk in it daily, not because we’re perfect, but because He is.
Having faith in God isn’t a suggestion, but a call to echo His faith. We’re not meant to manufacture faith, but to reflect the faith that’s already been given to us. In the worst of times when fear creeps in, we’re reminded that Jesus has already placed His faith in us. This perfectly equips us for the life God wants us to lead.
Scriptures:
Romans 3:22
Ephesians 2:8
Romans 1:17
Mark 11:22
Mark 4:40
Day 4Jesus: The Foundation of Our Victorious Faith
“Faith” is a word casually tossed around in today’s culture, with little understanding of its significance and power. It should go beyond religious buzzwords tossed around to make us look good before others. Living by faith isn’t just a concept to pay lip service to, but a daily decision to trust what God says over what we see in the physical realm. This takes courage and is impossible unless we decide to break away from the world’s way of doing things.
Paul’s heart cry was for Israel to be saved, but they missed it by trying to earn salvation through works. They were ignorant of God’s righteousness and proceeded to establish their own brand of righteousness. We’re saved by believing in Jesus, not by climbing some spiritual ladder. The Word is near us, in our hearts and mouths, ready to be received.
Faith is a walk, not a feeling. We walk by faith, not by sight; in other words, we don’t wait for everything to make sense before we trust God. Faith moves forward even when the path isn’t clear because it’s anchored in His promises, not in our circumstances.
Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. God wants us to come to Him believing that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. It’s not about being perfect, but about being persuaded that God is who He says He is.
Our faith doesn’t rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. Leaning on our own understanding produces shaky results. By comparison, leaning into God’s strength brings stability, even in uncertain times.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. No striving or performing is necessary, just trusting and believing. Jesus did the hard part; now we get to live in the victory He already won.
Scriptures:
Romans 10:1, 3
2 Corinthians 5:7
Hebrews 11:6
1 Corinthians 2:5, NIV
Philippians 4:13, NKJV
Day 5The Rest That Comes from True Faith
We live in a jaded, skeptical world that values self-effort and performance and doesn’t understand faith the way Jesus teaches it. Faith isn’t about how hard we try to believe but about resting in all His finished works. Understanding that His faith is perfect and complete releases us from striving to make things happen on our own. We can live from a place of quiet confidence, knowing that everything we need has already been provided through Christ.
Paul confessed to the Galatians that he had been crucified with Christ, yet nevertheless he lived because Christ lived in him. For us this means our old selves, the ones who struggled to be good enough, died with Him. His faith is now working in us. When we truly grasp that, we stop trying to earn God’s blessings and simply receive what grace already made available.
We’ve been delivered from the law to serve in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. We’re free from performance-based religion. Instead of checking off spiritual boxes, we live in the freshness of the Spirit’s leading. This indicates real faith: trusting God’s direction without fear of failing Him.
Faith also invites us to rest. There remains a rest for God’s people; we should therefore enter into it. Real rest isn’t simply doing nothing, but rather releasing control while trusting in God’s faithfulness. We can depend on His strength instead of our own.
When worry tries to creep in, we deliberately cast all our cares on God, because He cares for us. Faith involves letting go of anxiety and holding on to His love. This lets us pray with thanksgiving instead of panic. Resting in faith doesn’t make life easier, but it does make it peaceful, because we know Jesus already finished the work.
Scriptures:
Galatians 2:20
Romans 7:6
Hebrews 4:9, 11
1 Peter 5:7
Philippians 4:6
To delve deeper into what’s encompassed in a finished life of faith, check out Creflo Dollar’s book, True Faith, or 10-message series of the same name, True Faith.
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