Bulletin Articles
What is Faith?
1. Faith is something MAN does. You might think that is too obvious, but there are those who teach that faith is given directly by God, in some miraculous way. But in John 6:28-29, we read, “Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” This passage should forever put to rest the popular notion which says, “There is nothing you can do to be saved,” because there IS something YOU can do: BELIEVE!
2. Faith, at its core, is “trust.” To have faith in your parents is to trust in them. To have faith in your spouse is to trust in him or her. And to have faith in God or Christ is to trust in them. In other words, it is not simply believing in the existence of your parents, your spouse, your children or God. Instead, it is to have an implicit trust in them; to rely upon them (cf. Pr.3:5-6).
3. Faith involves compliance. This is the logical consequence of our previous point. If I trust in my parents, I will comply with their loving instructions. If I trust in my spouse, I will accommodate her wishes. And if I trust in God or Christ, I will comply with His will. This fact is so well-established in Scripture, that faith and obedience are often used interchangeably. Note: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘LORD, who has believed our report?’” (Rm.10:16). “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So, we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hb.3:18-19).
4. Faith in ourselves brings failure. “Also, He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you: this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk.18:9-14). We simply cannot be saved by trusting in our own good works, for that requires perfect compliance (Ga.3:10; cf. Tit.3:5).
5. Faith in CHRIST brings forgiveness. “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin’” (Rm.4:5-8). In the above passage, the phrase, “does not work,” does not mean this man does nothing, for the very next phrase says that he “believes.” Hence, the word “work” (v.5) refers to works of perfect compliance (see previous paragraph).
6. Faith in Christ must be continual. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn.3:16). The word “believes” in this text is in the present tense; and it means, “keeps on believing.” In other words, as long as one “keeps on believing” (in the sense described in this article) that one will not perish but have everlasting life! I hope this brief study has helped clarify the Biblical concept of “faith.”
--Lanny Smith
