About Faith

What Is Faith?

Hebrews chapter 11 opens with a description of what faith does. It gives us assurance that we will receive the things God has promised, it convinces us of the reality of things that are beyond our ability to comprehend.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Heb 11:2  For by it the people of old received their commendation.

Heb 11:3  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Faith comes from a fair examination of the evidence of God’s presence. The universe declares that it has a creator. The more men explore the possibilities of how things are, the more their explanations sound like the first chapter of Genesis.  The evidence declares that the universe has a beginning, before time, and the only possible cause is the One who always existed, I Am.

Apostle Paul made the argument that mankind can know God from the evidence, and thus we are personally responsible for our faith or lack of faith. We are not excused from personal responsibility by the sin in Eden, but we make our own choices with the mind that God has given us. Like Adam and Eve, when confronted with the knowledge of what is true, we choose selfishness and pride over submission and obedience.  Yes, God created us to have personal choice and responsibility.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Rom 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Rom 1:20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Therefore mankind has individual responsibility before God for faith or lack of faith. We cannot blame God and call Him a respecter of persons.  As Peter said, Act 10:34  So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

Act 10:35  but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

From the beginning God planned to save the faithful, those who by personal choice believe in the Son of God, based upon the evidence of the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Rom 1:14  I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Rom 1:15  So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Rom 1:17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

Since we shall live by faith, we need to understand what is faith, what does it look like, and how does it work. Most all believers teach that we are justified by grace through faith, with the believer’s salvation completely purchased by the sacrifice of Jesus. So we need to know faith. Is faith manifest in believing that we are born without value, sinners, and dependent upon God to give us faith as a gift, without any responsibility on our part? Is faith realized by praying a prayer not taught by Jesus or the Apostles, a recent innovation that somehow went undiscovered for 1800 years? Or is faith made real in trusting what Jesus and the Apostles actually taught, that we gain faith from a honest hearing of the gospel, and that faith includes submission to some basic principles that are a part of faith?

Heb 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

So faith involves more than mental consent, it includes seeking God. How do we seek God? By learning about him from evidence, from creation, from history, and from the gospel.

Since Augustine, arguments have been made that salvation by faith excludes personal responsibility to chose submission to God. Ideas are promoted that God has chosen the individuals who will have faith, and will put faith in the hearts of the elect. But all the stories of faith in the Bible stress personal choice and personal responsibilities. 

Noah worked diligently to do what God had instructed.  Noah was not saved by building the Ark, but God saved him in the framework of obedience. Noah believed God, and so he obeyed God within the realm of Noah’s personal work and responsibility.

Faith Requires Trust and Obedience

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Yes, faith involves submission to the commandments of God. Noah built the ark following the instructions of God. Many years later, God told Abraham to leave his home and take a journey of faith. Abraham left his homeland and went on a journey of faith, not seeing where he was going, but trusting God and obeying His instructions.

Faith is not a onetime mental consent, but rather is a journey lived by trusting God, even to the point of being willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God.  Abraham trusted God, and God substituted a lamb for Isaac, and eventually gave His one and only Son as the ultimate demonstration of love that would cause us to trust Him.

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Heb 11:9  By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Heb 11:10  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,

Heb 11:18  of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named."

Heb 11:19  He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Believing in the Resurrection

Yes, faith includes doing the simple things that God commands as evidence of faith. Jesus commanded that those who believe the gospel repent and be baptized. Neither He nor the apostles ever told anyone to pray the sinner's prayer. Repentance and baptism are part of faith, and are not excluded from our response of faith, but included in salvation by faith.   Real faith always includes submission to the commands of God.

Act 2:36  Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 

Act 2:37  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 

Act 2:38  And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Act 2:39  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 

If Jesus or the Apostles had told us to pray the sinner's prayer in order to receive salvation, then that is what faith would demand. But since they told us to repent and be baptized, that is what faith requires. Yes, faith includes trust, and trust demands simple obedience to the gospel, by repentance and baptism. A sinner makes the decision to repent and be baptized. A dead sinner is buried with Jesus in baptism, and raised to walk in new life. Teaching repentance and baptism is not teaching works salvation, but is teaching the reality of salvation by faith that trusts the commands of God. 

Show me your faith in modern innovation by praying the sinner's prayer, and I will show my faith in the word of God by repentance and baptism. This is not difficult to understand. Faith is trusting God. It is what it is.