Faith is knowledge of, agreement with, and trust in god’s promises. The key to this definition of faith is the connection with god’s promises. Faith is not some action on the part of a Christian, but a reaction to something that god has done. god promises and the believer trusts that these promises will be fulfilled; so much so that promises are often stated in the Bible in the present or past tense even if they have not yet come to fruition. When jesus says that a believer can move a mountain, if he should have enough faith (Mark 11:22-23), the implication is that if god has promised that the mountain will be moved the faithful believer assumes it will be moved. The definition of faith as believing god’s promises is clearly in view in Hebrews chapter 11 and Acts 27:25.
This is how the Old Testament saints and the Jews who observed jesus’ ministry understood faith, even the Pharisees. The word, faith, is defined simply as “belief” or “conviction”. There is no magical meaning to the word that implies some special attribute or power. In fact in Hebrew terms to speak of faith as some sort of power would be nonsense. The Hebrews viewed faith as something that you become, just as love is something that you become as stated in 1 John 4:8.
This should give clearer understanding to the verse “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of god” (Rom. 10:17).
Faith was never meant to be considered a tool, and there is no verse in the bible that, when carefully analyzed, can be made to support it as being so. Faith always has been a process; a road to be traveled until finally achieving the destination of meeting christ face to face in the air. Faith is comprehended by example through the actions of god’s faithful servants and in the character of god.
Jack Hayford of the Four Square Church in one of his radio messages discussed the meaning of faith. He was commenting on the story of blind Bartimæus (Mark 10:46) where jesus said that Bartimæus’ faith had restored his sight. Hayford said that faith is not something that someone puts on or aspires to but is low and simple as exemplified by Bartimæus. He went on to say that the faith of Bartimæus was in god’s authority. Bartimæus was calling out to “jesus, Son of David” which to every Jew present would have meant the Messiah, the Son of god, Emanuel (Mat 22:41-42). So Bartimæus’ faith was not faith in Faith but faith in god.
To come to agreement with god’s promises we must be convinced of the truth of the Bible. A defense of the Bible can be based on the manuscript record, the laws of probability, the archeological record, and other lines of reasoning. If one does not accept the Bible as the express Word of god (2 Timothy 3:16) then there is no reason to trust in what the Bible says of god’s promises.
We trust in the promises of god because of our understanding of god’s character as revealed in the Bible. The chief characteristic of god concerning his promises is His unchangableness. Since god does not change then His promises are certain (1 Kings 8:56; Ps 111:7; Eze 12:25; Habakkuk 2.3; Matthew 5:18; Luke 21:33; Rom 4:21; James 1:17).
A second characteristic of god important to the definition of faith is His sovereignty (Daniel 4:35). Because god is sovereign, we must react to god rather than the reverse. We, as god’s created creatures and as undeserving sinners (1 K 8:46; Ps 14:3; Ps 53:3; Ec 7:20; Is 64:6; Ro 3:23; 1 Jn 1: 8), have no claim on god (Is 45:5-12; Rom 5:15; Eph 1:11). By Grace do we sit at the Master’s table and receive His gifts (Titus 3:7).
A third characteristic of god that affects our concept of faith is His omnipotence. His promises will be performed in spite of anything we may or may not do. We certainly can’t tell god what to do. (Jb 42:2-6; Ps 115:3; Ps 135:6; Is 43:13; Hab 3:6; Mt 19:26; Mk 14:36; Lu 1:37; Re 19:6)
In the next letter we will deal with the problem of evil.
Updated 23 April 2008
© Copyright 2008 The Church of the Good Shepherd