In episode 326 of the “No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe” podcast, the host presents a comprehensive teaching on the nature of Christian faith, emphasizing the distinction between the physical and spirit realms and urging listeners to “walk by faith, not by sight.” The episode opens with a call to study John 3, where Jesus explains being born again to Nicodemus, and references other key passages (Hebrews 11, 2 Corinthians 5:7, John 14:12, Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 2:14, John 10:10) to build a theological framework. The host defines faith using Hebrews 11’s definition—“the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”—and illustrates it with a vivid suspension‑bridge metaphor, describing faith as a solid, unseen structure that carries believers over an unknown chasm. He explains that Jesus operated simultaneously in the physical and spirit realms, and that believers, as both physical and spiritual beings, must recognize their identity in Christ (spirit, soul, body) and be seated with Him in heavenly places. The sermon contrasts the work of the Holy Spirit and God’s abundant life with Satan’s destructive agenda, framing daily life as a battle between the two realms. Practical application includes a homework assignment to read the entire chapter of John 3, a prayer for guidance in taking steps of faith, and an invitation to continue the series. The episode concludes with a reminder to choose faith over sight, rely on Scripture, and pursue the abundant life promised by Jesus.
Chapters
Welcome to episode 326. In this episode, I'm going to help you picture what faith looks like. If you've never pictured that, if you haven't heard my example on what faith looks like, I think it's important, and I think it's an important topic that we start digging in now to faith. We got to see with our eyes what faith looks like, so we got to get a picture of it. But before we get started, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I want to dig right in. We're going to use John 3. This is where Jesus talked to Nicodemus about being born again. We're going to show that there is a spirit realm and there's a physical realm, and that you and I need to concentrate on the spirit realm if we are going to walk by faith and not by sight. That's 2 Corinthians 5:7. We've been on that for multiple episodes. But we're going to dig into this, and we're going to have to— I'm going to have to assign you some homework. I'm not even sure I can do it, but I do it all the time. It's John 3. The whole chapter of John 3 is fascinating, and I want you to read it. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you with it because we're going to use this episode to show that there is a physical realm and there's a spirit realm, and that Jesus was operating in both at the same time. And that's what you and I— we're to imitate Christ. So we are going to have to do what Jesus did. That's John 14:12, where Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. Jesus has gone to his Father, and that wasn't even in the notes, but that's extra. And you know I love John 14:12, so that's not out of the ordinary for this episode. Again, let's define faith. The faith chapter is Hebrews 11, and we're going to go to 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then we're going to jump down to 11:6. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we have to diligently seek God. Again, I love Proverbs 25:2. We've talked about this, that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is the glory of kings to search out a matter. And so that's what we're doing. We're going to dig into this faith things, but we got to dig down deep. We got to get into this and allow it to get into us. And to do that, we're going to go to John. Now, this is a lot of scripture, and I just want you to tie a knot and hang on. We're going to read in John 3:3-13. And I know John 3:16 is a very popular scripture, and we're gonna Maybe touch on that, but not in this episode. Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. 6:3 Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. 6:4 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. 6:5 Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? 6:6 Jesus answered and said to him, Are you a teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And I want to stop there. There is a lot and those scriptures. Nicodemus is asking a pretty good question, how can these things be? And when you hear about there's a physical realm and a spirit realm, probably in your mind you're going, but how can these things be? I'm walking around with my eyes open and I'm seeing all this stuff. And we get worked up if you start listening to the news, or if you start listening to friends or family or all this stuff. Satan is just pouring out all of his fear, all of his evil. We call him a punk, and we do it for good reason. There is a spirit realm and there is a physical realm, and Jesus was walking in the physical realm, but he was in the spirit at the same time. Now, I don't claim to understand all of it, but I'm starting to get a little bit of a handle on it. We need to walk by faith and not by sight. The just shall live by faith. And when I talk about faith, I want you to kind of picture— you're driving, if you're working out, it's going to be hard to close your eyes, and if you're on YouTube, I'm going to put up a picture of what I'm talking about. But I see faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is a substance, and I've talked about this before, but I picture— and I've got to picture everything— I picture a bridge. That we are to walk on. It is a substance. It is something that's made. It is, it is a solid concrete thing. And faith is the substance of things hoped for. So we actually have something that we're walking on. And this, I see it as a bridge. And I see this suspension bridge, if you can picture these cable wires coming down and the suspension bridge that's going over maybe a body of water or a big cavern, and then there's these cloud banks that you can't see the other side of the bridge. And that's kind of what I think like faith is. When I see that picture, I see us walking into the unknown. We can't really see with our physical eyes what we're doing, but we have to believe that what the Word of God says is true is true. And that's where faith is. Faith is just using the Word of God You have got to believe and receive it. You have never seen Jesus, but if you've accepted him as your Lord and Savior, you are saved. You have never seen the Holy Spirit, but you know by faith, if you read John 16:7, that Jesus has sent him, and the Holy Spirit is here with you and I. It goes on and on. Faith is something that we can't see. The grace of God has been poured out, and I just see this, the grace of God in the spirit realm is just like all of these lines or all of this stuff. If you can see an electronic wire frame and there's all of these connecting things that if you just reach out and grab them and it's not going to hurt you, but you reach out by faith and appropriate the grace of God. And we're going to get into that when we talk about faith. We've got to have a picture that the grace of God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Father God himself is in the spirit realm. Now we are also in the spirit realm because the Bible says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. If you look at John 3:13, no one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. Now Jesus is telling Nicodemus right here as I'm reading that, that Jesus is here on earth but he's also there in heaven. And so that means that heaven has come down to earth and there is a connection. And Jesus is in heaven and he's on earth all at the same time. And I believe that's why he got so much done, is because he just believed by faith he's the Son of God, or the Son of Man also. But he knew who he was. And I think that you and I don't really know who we are in Christ. We don't believe it. We look at our body and we're saying, how can this be? You just have to, by faith, you just have to put all that doubt and fear out of the equation and just understand that you are a physical person and you are a spiritual person. If you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is not you who lives but the Son of God who lives in you. And that is an incredible truth, and that is Galatians 2:20. If crucified with Christ, it's not us that live but God who lives in us. We've got to learn to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. And in 1 Corinthians 2:14, but the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned. In order to see the things of the Spirit, we have to have a, a live spirit. We've got to get into the Bible and allow the Bible to get into us The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. That is what Jesus told his disciples. Jesus' words are spirit and they are life. Jesus is also the Word of God. Jesus is also the truth, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. All of these things, we've got to just kind of put these all in a big old bucket, and we're going to have to start drawing from them. There's good and evil, and we just need to pick a side. And we need to understand that we are three parts. We are spirit, soul, and body. And our spirit man is alive forevermore. It's never going to be any different than it is right now. It is exactly like it's going to be in heaven. Your spirit man is actually— if you read these scriptures, and if we're to be like Christ and he is the first fruits, we are like Christ. And to get things done, we have to understand that we are here on earth and we're also— our spirit man is seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So we are in heaven and we are in earth. And if we're going to learn to walk by faith and not by sight, and the just— justified shall live by faith, we've got to start believing what the word of God says. And in order to believe what the word of God says, you actually have to be in the word of God. Again, that's like 3 or 4 soapbox moments here in this episode, but I just want you to dig into this word. And the last thing we're going to talk about is John 10:10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. And this abundant life is what we're looking for, and we're looking to give God glory. We got to remember it's God's kingdom we're here building, not our kingdom, and we are to give God glory. But we have to also pick a side. Every day we have to decide Hey, am I going to walk in faith or am I going to walk by sight? And we've got to do things in this body that we have to use our eyes and our ears. We're not always just walking around, fluttering around by faith. We have to drive by sight. We have to eat and keep our body nourished. There's things that we do in this physical realm, but we have to understand that there are two different sides. If we don't understand that, then we're never going to walk in this abundant life that Jesus promised. Jesus said, I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. And he says Satan comes but to steal and to kill and to destroy. Satan is a punk. He works in the physical realm. He drags you into the physical realm. He uses your 5 senses, the carnal you, the person that you are. Now, you're just not flesh and blood. You are also a spirit man, and there's something in the middle that we're going to talk about on the next episode that they're fighting to decide which way we're going to go. And that is the battle we're battling in the spirit and the physical realm. Your soul is what the Bible calls your mind, will, and emotion. Until we own this, it's going to be very difficult to walk in faith. Now, we will take maybe some accidental steps, but if we're going to walk by faith, if we're going to take one step after the other after the other, we are going to have to pick a side. We're going to have to rely on Jesus' word and the truth that comes from the Bible and say, look, I want this abundant life, or we're going to have to just understand that Satan is going to just come and steal and kill and destroy us. And we've got to understand that God is love. That's why I made the first 3 episodes in this series, and I'm not going to rehash that, but this is an important foundation that we have got to get a hold of if we're going to walk by faith. And I know I feel myself rambling on, and I apologize, but there's a lot to faith if you haven't figured it out yet. But let's pray real quick. Holy Spirit, we thank you that we know that you're never going to leave us nor forsake us, and we ask you for help. Faith is such a huge topic, and we're going to continue to dig into that. Help this listener, help this viewer to understand that We need to start taking steps by faith, and you're not here judging us whether it was a big step or a small step or if we fail, but we just get up and we try it again. God, we thank you, we love you, we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you for being a part of this, and I look forward to visiting with you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast at www.nodoubtonlybelieve.com.
