As A Matter of Fact:
WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is a word our culture throws around pretty often. It’s cheery, open ended, and looks nice in cursive hanging on a wall. You might hear someone say, “just have faith,” and what they’re saying is that you should trust things are going to work out. According to Google, the term means having “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Using this definition, we could list a few things we put our faith in, like romantic relationships, the next vote for a political office, or a college degree. In this article, we’re looking at what the Bible says about faith.
The Bible says that we are justified (“made righteous”) with God by faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This is what it means to be born again: recognizing our separation from God because of our sin, we accept the salvation offered to us through Christ (Romans 3:23-24). We now have His power to turn away from our sin and have faith that Jesus physically came to Earth, lived a perfect life, was put to death, and rose again. Christians don’t have faith in their abilities or count on their strength to get them through life. We recognize that without Jesus, we’re lost, and we have nothing. By our faith in Jesus, we get to know our Creator, live to serve Him and others, and have confident hope that we will spend eternity with Him.
When life gets hard, we walk by faith.
Some people say Christianity is a crutch, and they’re absolutely right! Life is hard, and if it’s not hard for you right now, give it time. Walking by faith means believing God when He says He will never leave you (Deuteronomy 31:6) and recognizing that God is in control (1 Chronicles 29:11). When we face difficulties in life, we run to God and find comfort in Him (Matthew 11:28-29) and remember that Jesus said He’s preparing a place for us in Heaven. He’s going to take us there one day to be with Him (John 14:3). We trust God when He says that our suffering is producing something in us, meaning that our suffering isn’t meaningless (Romans 5:3-5). And so, as 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (ESV).
Having faith in what Jesus has done and believing Him when He says He’s coming back moves the Christian to do something.
Faith without good deeds is dead.
James 2:19-20 points out the lunacy of belief not leading to action: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” Having faith in what Jesus has done and believing Him when He says He’s coming back moves the Christian to do something. If someone told you that the roof of the room you’re sitting in was about to cave in at any moment, you’d prove you believe them by scrambling out the door. Your belief will move you to action. Christian faith is the same way. There are plenty of things God has for His people to do once they’re born again, like getting involved in a local church (Hebrews 10:25) and telling other people about what Jesus has done for us (Matthew 28:16-20). When you have faith in Jesus, you’ll see the needs of others, and you’ll want to do something about them. These good deeds do not save us, Jesus does, but they work together with our faith, giving evidence of the change that has happened in our hearts.
Faith isn’t just a catchphrase for the Christian. It keeps us going, despite circumstances, because we have work to do. Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (ESV). This is what it means to have faith.