In Acts we read of the great faith and persistence of Paul. At Iconium they “remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord”, until they learned of a plot to stone them. At Lystra Paul was stoned, but he got up and went back into the city, leaving the next day for Derbe. As they continued around Asia, Paul “strengthened the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith”.
At the Jerusalem conference Peter says, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus”. God has called us to be a people for His name, to be spiritual Israelites, with our hearts cleansed by faith.
Paul encourages us to imitate him, just as he imitated Christ. So it’s up to us to strengthen each other, that together we might encourage each other to continue in the faith, cleansing our hearts and actively living our faith.