What is Faith?Fact vs. Truth
Have you ever noticed how something can be a “fact” without being the “truth”? In the kingdom of God this is often the case. For example, it might be a fact that you are sick but the truth is that you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24 says “ who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” Notice that the scripture says “were” (past tense) healed. We have already been healed of every sickness and disease we will ever have.
It might be a fact that you don’t have the money to pay the rent but the truth is that God supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). God did not say the “facts” would make us free. He said the “truth” would make us free. (John 8:32)
How do we get from fact to truth? The Bible tells us that we do this by faith (Hebrews 11:1). God’s Word is always true even if it is in conflict with the facts. We must choose the truth. This may not come easily because we have been trained to see facts as truth. We say “Seeing is believing” but to God’s people, He is the final authority regardless of what we see or hear. This is why the apostle Paul said “ We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
This is a pretty good definition of “living by faith.” If we consistently choose to believe and obey God’s Word regardless of the circumstances or what we see, we are living by faith. Faith is simply believing and obeying God.
There will be times when we do everything according to the truth of God’s Word and the fruit of our faith does not seem to materialize. I have seen these times myself and I know you have as well. We have all known faith filled believers who believed and prayed for healing that never came. I would like to be able to offer an explanation for this but I cannot. I do know, however, that God is sovereign and I would rather believe God and have this faith credited to me as righteousness than to stumble over something I do not understand and lose this blessing. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend. “ ( James 2:23-24)
God said “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD ” (Isaiah 55:8). We cannot know the mind of God on this side of heaven. We can know His Word but His motives and reasons are often hidden from us. Again, this is where faith comes in. We must trust Him regardless.
I also know that … all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Who are those who love Him? Jesus said “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23-24).
In the Gospel according to Saint Luke, Jesus asked “ when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). I truly believe that some of you who read this book fervently desire to live by faith. I pray that you will be numbered among those He finds doing so.
Above all, we as believers are disciples of Christ. We must live our lives before the world in a way that brings glory to the Father. We can do this only by living in faith.
Faith Defined
The Bible defines faith as “ the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). This definition seems to refer to a process whereby the things hoped for become tangible and the things not seen are attained. Faith is a process. It begins with a choice to believe. However, belief is an intellectual or mental assent and has little to do with the spirit.
Believing in something and having faith in something is not the same thing. Faith demands more of us. It demands that we live “as if” what we believe is true. If we say we believe God yet ignore His Word and His commands, we are deceived. This is not faith. It is simply a belief. This is why James said “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! (James 2:17-19) James said “even the demons believe”. This is not “faith”. Faith demands “works” and the works that faith demands are to obey God; to live and speak what is consistent with the Word. Faith without works is simply positive thinking.
On a certain occasion (Luke 17:5-10), the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. This is how He replied:
And the apostles said to the LORD, “Increase our faith.” So the LORD said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’
Jesus replies by using the tiny mustard seed as an example of faith. We will look at this in detail later but for now, we need to see that Jesus is saying obedience is the reasonable service of faith. Faith demands obedience. It does not matter how much we believe God if we don’t obey what we believe, our faith is dead, useless, and of no benefit.
Faith is a matter of coming into agreement with and obedience to God’s Word. It takes both to live by faith. We agree with Him. He does not agree with us. He promised to perform His word; He did not promise to perform ours. When we are in agreement with His Word; when we accept the absolute and unchangeable truth of His Word and act on that truth, then we are living by faith.
By definition, faith is a matter of believing in something that cannot be seen or proven. Proof is required by the natural mind. Faith is required by the spirit. Man is both mental and spiritual in nature but God is spirit and His truth must be spiritually discerned. Paul said “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)
The mind cannot know God. But the spirit lives and moves and has its being in God. Belief is of the mind. Faith is of the spirit. Acts 17:28 says “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
In 2 Romans 8:5, we read “ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Faith moves us from the natural to the supernatural; from carnal facts to spiritual truths. This is a life changing experience. Once you make the decision to believe and obey God, your life will never be the same. You will be living as you were designed to live; by faith!
Our faith, however, must be unwavering and consistent. We read in James 1 verses 5 through 8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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.
Faith is the unwavering belief in and obedience to God’s Word. It is a dynamic process beginning with the choice to believe (even when doing so goes against “reason”) and ending in obedience.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
The Mustard Seed
We are born with a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) and it is our responsibility to grow and develop our faith into the kind that can move mountains. Jesus used the tiny mustard seed to illustrate this very important aspect of faith when His disciples asked Him why they were not able to cast out a certain demon. He answered them saying “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20).
It is easy to think from these scriptures that Jesus was saying that if we have even a tiny bit of faith, we will be able to move mountains. However, I think He was saying that faith is a “seed” and it must be planted and tended so that it will grow into a powerful force capable of moving mountains.
Many times, Jesus rebuked His disciples because of their little faith. In Matthew 8:26, he said “ Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” In Matthew 14:31, He rebuked Peter saying “ Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” There are many other scriptures where Jesus rebuked people for their lack of or little faith. If He rebuked even His disciples because of this, why would He say that the faith of a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, would move mountains? I don’t think He would and I don’t think this is what He was saying in this scripture. I think He was saying that our faith (small as mustard seed) must grow into a mighty tree. In Matthew 13:31-33, He said “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Faith is dynamic. It is a process. It grows when it is used and it dies when it is not. Faith must be exercised!
Why Does God Require Faith
Why does God require us to have faith? Why did He not simply create us with this knowledge so that there would be no need for faith? The answer has to do with free will.
God’s requirement for faith forces us to make a personal free will choice to believe. Just as free will allowed the choice to rebel against God resulting in sin and separation, so free will allows us to make the choice to believe and be reconciled to Him.
Free Will
Why did God give man free will? If Adam had not been given free will, he would not have been able to sin against God. It would seem that if we had a little less free will we would certainly have a better relationship with God. If we were unable to choose to sin, wouldn’t we be better off? Since the beginning of time, God has tried to persuade man to obey his commands. Of course he could simply speak the word and we would not be able to disobey or rebel but this would take away our free will. It would no longer be our choice to obey God. Why is it so important that man have free will?
Think about the relationship you might have with your child. Although you instruct him (or her) to behave in an acceptable way, he still has a mind or personality of his own. It is this personality that endears him to you. If he never did anything that he was not trained or instructed to do, your relationship with him would certainly not be the same. You would feel no pride or satisfaction in watching him grow and mature to become a fine young man (or woman) because this would be a completely predictable process. Whatever he became would be the result of his programming rather than his character. In addition, your relationship with your child is two way. You relate to him and he relates to you as only he can. The relationship is unique and beautiful because both of you contribute. Your child’s free will is the basis of this exchange. Your hope is that all your faithful advice and counsel will result in him becoming an independent and responsible member of society but, in the end, this will be the result of the choices he makes.
God desires to have this kind of parent-child relationship with man. He said: “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18). In order for man to have a parent-child relationship with God, man must have free will. Unfortunately, this free will also gives him the choice to rebel against his creator.
When Jesus became the sacrifice for sin that was required by God’s law, the door was opened for man to once again have a relationship with God through the forgiveness of the sin that separated us from Him. However, this forgiveness of sin through the atonement of Christ can only be accessed by faith because we must first believe (requiring faith). Jesus said “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.” (John 3:16)
By choice man rebelled against God and by choice he is reconciled to God through faith. Man must have a free will relationship with God and faith is the only way that this can happen. Faith is our contribution to our relationship with God.
If man had been created simply to serve God much as a robot might serve us, then free will would not be necessary or even desirable. But we were created to fellowship with Him; to be His children and Him to be our Father. The desire to serve then comes from this relationship and from a choice, not from design. This has been His desire from the very beginning!
The first chapter of the book of Genesis tells a wonderful story of man and his relationship with God. There was intimate fellowship between man and God as they walked and talked together in the Garden of Eden. Man was created to fellowship with God. God gave Adam dominion over everything in the garden but commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam chose of his own free will to disobey God and this rebellion was the original sin that resulted in his separation from God.
Sanctification by Faith
Sanctification is a state of separation unto God. It is a matter of holiness; of perfection. Jesus said “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). If it is not possible for us to be perfect, why would Jesus say this?
The word “perfect” in this scripture is derived from the Greek word “teleios” which means “complete.” Therefore, we are to become “complete” as the apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Corinth. “Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11)
What does Paul mean when he says “become complete” in this scripture? Perhaps James answers this question when he says: “ My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1 1:-4).
Jesus talked about sanctification in the book of John. He said “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth ” (John 17:16). He asked God to sanctify his disciples “in the truth.” He says that the truth will sanctify us.
While it is true that salvation provides sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30 and Hebrews 10:10), sanctification is also a lifelong process for believers. This aspect of sanctification is the result of our faith and choice to obey the Word of God (1 Peter 1:15; Hebrews 12:14). Jesus was set apart for the purpose for which God sent Him and we are set apart for the purpose for which Jesus sent us. Before we knew the truth, our behavior testified to our separation from God, now it must testify to our separation unto Him.
Paul says that we are sanctified (made righteous) through faith in Jesus. He writes “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;” (Romans 3:21-22). He also says that “the righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Again, in Romans 4:13, Paul writes “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
So, we can see from these scriptures that faith has much to do with sanctification. By faith we chose to obey God. By obeying God, we are made holyCopyright © 2009 Scott Bigler (All Rights Reserved)
From the book "Seven Keys to Living by Faith" by Scott Bigler
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