Since faith is essential in our relationship with Jesus Christ it is so important to understand what faith is, and what it is not. Show More
Faith in the original Greek is “pistis” and a Bible Dictionary defines faith as; persuasion, credence, moral conviction, assurance, belief or, fidelity.
Faith is Spiritual
In our last post we looked at the definition given by Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. So, faith for a Christian is believing in the spiritual or unseen. You put your faith in Jesus and your hope in His promises. Again, it is not faith in faith or even faith in the promises found in the Bible, but faith in the one who made the promises in the Bible.
So, faith is not wishing, hoping or wanting something to be. Instead, it is the confidence and assurance that because of the love of God He will not leave you or abandon you to your circumstances. The Apostle Paul says in:
Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Do you believe that… that nothing can separate you from God’s Love?
It is your faith in the Lord that causes you to behave or act in a manner that shows you have already received that for which you are believing. Now that was a mouthful! The world says, “Show me and then I will believe!” God says, “Believe in Me and then I will show you!” Genuine faith released God’s promises.
Abraham of the Old Testament is called the “Father of Faith” because he acted on what God said even before there was physical proof. God spoke to Abraham that he would be the “father of many nations” even before he had any children of his own.
Abraham received the promise of a son when he was 75 years old and was reminded of that promise when he was 90, but it wasn’t until he was 100 years old that the promise was fulfilled. During all that time Abraham believed in what God said. Listen to what Genesis 5:19-22 says about Abraham:
“And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
You see faith is believing that you have it before it comes to pass. When you believe that way you are in a righteous position with God.
An Acrobat, A Wheelbarrow, and a Challenge of Faith
Taken from: Creativebiblestudy.com
The story of Charles Blondin is a great illustration of faith! Not only was he a fascinating man, but the story of his pushing a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls is one that all can identify with in seeing the difference between mere belief (head knowledge) and true faith (belief in action; heart knowledge).
Can you imagine a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile and spanning the breadth of Niagara Falls? The thundering sound of the pounding water drowning out all other sounds as you watch a man step onto the rope and walk across!
This stunning feat made Charles Blondin famous in the summer of 1859. He walked 160 feet above the falls several times back and forth between Canada and the United States as huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and awe. Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
On July 15, Blondin walked backward across the tightrope to Canada and returned pushing a wheelbarrow. The Blondin story is told that it was after pushing a wheelbarrow across while blindfolded that Blondin asked for some audience participation. The crowds had watched and “Ooooohed” and “Aaaaahed!” He had proven that he could do it; of that, there was no doubt. But now he was asking for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow and take a ride across the Falls with him!
It is said that he asked his audience, “Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?” Of course, the crowd shouted that yes, they believed! It was then that Blondin posed the question – “Who will get in the wheelbarrow?” Of course, …none did.
Aside: Later in August of 1859, his manager, Harry Colcord, did ride on Blondin’s back across the Falls.
The Charles Blondin Story – a Picture of Faith
The story of Charles Blondin paints a real-life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd had watched his daring feats. They said they believed, but their actions proved they truly didn’t.
It’s one thing for us to say we believe in God. It’s true faith though when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. Don’t worry, Jesus has carried many across to Heaven’s gates. He can be trusted!
Believing with your mind is not the same as demonstrating faith with your actions! True faith gets you into the wheelbarrow!
Start your adventure with God today by remembering that “we walk by faith and not by sight! (2 Cor 5:7)
Faith and Experience
The three most common areas in which we seek God’s blessings are health, relationships and finances. God promises us that all of our needs will be met in Christ Jesus (Matt 6:31-34), but we must come to Him in faith, that is trusting that He will provide.
We are trusting in Him to deliver what He has promised, because He is faithful and true. We sometimes get off-track and put our trust or faith in the promise and forget about the one who made the promise. We should hope in the promise which produces an expectation, and faith in Jesus who gives us the assurance.
The point that faith requires doing something is well made in the book of James. First look at James 1:6-8,
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”.
We must not doubt or waver in our faith!
We must be steadfast in our faith in God. If our faith is in the promise then circumstances will cause our faith to waver, but if our faith is in Jesus and our relationship with Him then we will be steadfast. It is very much like being a passenger in a plane, is your trust in the advertising promise that you will have a safe flight or in the pilot to make it a safe flight?
Become a Doer of the Word!
The second point is found in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. If we are not doing or responding according to the Word of God; then we are hearers only! Don’t deceive yourself in thinking that you have faith if there is no out-working of that faith. It is like the person who believes it is going to rain but doesn’t bring an umbrella along. Let your actions correspond to what you are believing for!
Justification is by faith not works!
The third point if found in James 2:24-26. This section of scripture is sometimes misunderstood in particular verse 24 which says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only”. It is a tragic mistake to think that James is saying that salvation or any other area of spiritual life is by works and faith. In the context of verses 24-26, James is saying that faith must have some evidence or outworking that points to faith in God. Just doing good deeds or good works, while noble and should be encouraged, by itself will not justify you. However, believing in Jesus and as a result you are led to do good deeds… well that is the evidence of Faith!
Now there will be times when we must wait upon the Lord to do His part, but this by no means suggest that we do nothing. Resisting the temptation to sin is an important faith action. Resisting doubt and fear is also an important action. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:13,
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”.
Too many interpret this to mean I do nothing, and God will do it all. Yet Proverbs 16:9 states, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps”. We need to walk it out or as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “we walk by faith and not by sight”.
Finally, what’s “the story” when what we are believing for doesn’t come to pass. Sometimes it is just a timing issue. God is always at work and the promise is on its way. Remember God is not limited by time and space. However, it could be that as it says in, James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures”. In other words, God can’t bless those things that are contrary to His nature of love, forgiveness and acceptance.
Emotions and Experiences
Earlier we used the Bible Dictionary to define faith as; persuasion, credence, moral conviction, assurance, belief or, fidelity. Then we looked at how the Bible defines faith, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
Emotions
Notice that in both cases there is no mention of feelings or emotions. Faith is a decision and commitment to believe not a feeling. If you rely on feelings, you will be “tossed” about by doubt. One moment you will feel like you are in faith, then the next you will doubt. Remember, James 1:6-8, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”.
Experience
The same is true of experiences. They can be misleading. I am sure everyone has experienced disappointment when you were believing for something to come to pass, and it didn’t! A sick person doesn’t get healed or even dies. A relationship is not restored! Or a financial disaster actually comes to pass!
Faith is easy when everything you pray for comes to pass. True faith comes through the trials and tribulations of life. We live in a “fallen world”. The scriptures are clear that Satan is the ruler of this world in the sense that the world is still characterized by sin.
Jesus said. “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me” (John 14:30). This title of “ruler of this world” suggests that Satan is the major influence over our world. Scripture teaches that the whole world is in his power. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, but despite the evil that sometimes befalls Christians our position must be a position of faith, which is to not doubt God’s Word. We should never succumb to the temptation to “rewrite” the Word of God based upon personal experience.
I pray that you will be able to say, in the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”.