Faith
The general definition of faith is found in…
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Illustration
The simplest way to illustrate this understanding of faith is to talk about how many of us have exercised faith already this morning. We have stood up to sing some songs, and then most of us sat down without so much as a backward glance. Why on earth would we do that? Because we had faith that the pew that we were sitting on a few minutes earlier was still there, and that it would still bear us! If we were not certain of that, we would have turned around and done a visual check, and perhaps lowered ourselves slowly and carefully until we were sure that the pew was OK to sit on.
The act of sitting down showed that we were sure the pew was still there and certain that it could hold our weight. We demonstrate faith in hundreds of different ways every day of our lives. However not all faith is proved to be well founded.
Carolyn was once in a church service and when she went to sit down she discovered that her chair had been pulled away by a mischievous young man behind her. She came thudding down to earth in a very uncomfortable and embarrassing way! She learned that you should not be so sure that your chair always stays in it’s place!
Faith can be well placed or misplaced.
Many people place their faith in friends, money, their own abilities and resources, family and so on. That’s fine, in fact it’s absolutely necessary. We need to recognise though that sometimes these things will let us down. There is nothing in this world that is worthy of our absolute trust and certainty.
Sometimes people read this definition of faith in Hebrews and slightly miss the point. Faith is not just the ability to be sure and certain in our own minds, it is the ability to hope for something and see someone who is sure and certain. Who or what your faith is in is more important than how strongly you believe.
Some people teach that if your faith is strong enough, you will receive whatever it is that you are believing for. It might be a new job, better health, a better relationship or a winning lotto ticket. If you can just get your mind to a point of being sure of what you hope for, if you can bring yourself to see in your mind with certainty what your natural eyes cannot, then you will receive it.
When the Bible talks about faith, it is talking about faith in God. Faith is absolute trust in who God is, what He has done and what He has said.
This is what 1 Corinthians 5:7 is talking about when it says:
We live by faith, not by sight.
What is “The Faith”?
Jude 3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Jude 20
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith
So if faith is being sure about God, what He has done and what He has said, what is “the faith”? Is there a minimum standard of how much you must know about God in order to have enough faith to be a Christian?
Plenty of people say “I believe in God”. Does that make them Christian?
Colossians 1:21-23
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
This passage does indicate that there are certain things you must believe in order to be a Christian. Hebrews 11 talked about being certain of what we hope for, and this passage describes that hope as being what is held out in the gospel. So what is the gospel?
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
Christian faith, saving faith, is described in verses 3 and 4: Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. He died to be our Saviour. He rose to be our living Lord. This is the foundational truth that defines Christian faith. You cannot have Christian faith without placing your trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Is that all there is to “the faith”? No way – it’s the starting point.
There’s so much to learn and put our trust in about God, what He has done and what He has said.
The Bible talks about a journey of growing in faith. This means that the body of what you know and believe about God should be constantly growing. It is something that we will never come to the end of.
In Hebrews 5:11-14 we read:
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Christians should be growing in knowledge, understanding and trust in order to live the lives that God wants us to live.
That’s why in 1 Timothy 3:9 as Paul is describing the characteristics of deacons in the church we read:
They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
“The Faith” is the whole body of truth that God has revealed to us. This truth is centred on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
That raises the question then…
How do we grow in faith?
Ephesians 4:11-13
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Notice that each of those roles: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher; are concerned with passing on the truth so that people might place their faith in Jesus and grow in that faith. God has equipped the Church with people whose particular task it is to help others grow in their faith. Notice also that the point of each of these ministries is to prepare people for action. We are built up only as we all put into action the truths that we are taught.
Titus 1:1-3
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour.
However it is up to each one of us to receive that ministry.
Hebrews 4:2
For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
1 Peter 1:19-21
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 3:15-16
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Growing in faith means never being satisfied with what you know of God, what He has done and what He has said. It involves a constant desire to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:16).
We grow in faith by receiving God’s truth and allowing it to shape our lives.
Story – the tightrope artist over
Have you ever heard about the guy who walked a tight rope across
Then he pushed a wheel barrow on a tight rope across
Finally, a buddy of the tight rope walker climbs into the wheel barrow and the tight rope walker pushes him across the Falls. Wow, what a daring feat! When they finished, the tight rope walker asked the crowd, "Do you believe I can walk a tight rope across the Falls pushing a wheel barrow with a person in it?" To that they exclaimed, "Yes!" For they were now believers in this guy's awesome abilities.
Then he looked at the crowd and asked, "Who's next?"
How does a growing faith affect my life?
Growing in faith will glorify Jesus
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Growing in faith will bless others
James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Growing in faith involves growing in love
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing
Growing in faith involves growing in righteousness
1 John 3:3
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
Are you growing in faith?
Posts
