Faith
A Maid Arise
Reader asked that I might do a post on the subject of faith.
They asked –
“I
have talked to several people of different faiths and find that most
people have different concepts of Faith and there seems to be a
substantial amount of controversy about the relationship between
Faith and Works. What is your take on that subject? In your mind what
is the effect that each one has on our salvation? I am interested in
hearing your opinion.”
What is Faith?
Firstly there is the definition of
Faith.
The Bible says: “Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
Websters dictionary says: Belief; the
assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another,
resting on his authority and veracity without evidence; the judgment
of what another states or testifies is the truth.
Who has Faith?
Everyone has faith in something. The
Christian believes in Christ (Heb. 11:6), the Muslim in Allah, the
Atheist in himself. Even the devils believe and tremble. (James
2:19).
What is Faith needed for?
We are told in the Bible that God has
set forth Jesus Christ as our propitiation to all those that believe
through faith in his blood for the remission of sins. (Romans
3:20-25)
Why do we need a propitiation? Because
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23).
All of mankind has sinned at least once in his life. For example, if we have ever
stolen something (despite it's value) or lied to someone, or looked
to lust after someone, we have committed a sin. We are a thief or a
liar or an adulterer of the heart. It only takes one sin to become a
sinner.
Because of this great need we are
without hope in ourselves. Yet God so loved us that – “he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
That is what faith is for. “He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
“Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28
How does Faith work?
True faith works. The Bible asks why
Chrisitans would notice a brother or sister destitute and tell them
“peace...be ye warmed and filled” and yet they would not give
them any clothes or food?
“Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17
You definitely could not have faith without works. Works is faith's
evidence. We do not work to have faith, but if we have faith then works will be a result.
Why so many different opinions of
Faith?
How many faiths or religions or
beliefs are there in the world? It would seem almost impossible to
count and yet with our handy modern technology Google states there
are roughly 4,200. This easily leads to frustration and confusion.
Maybe this is why so many today are trying to say they are all the
same and we are all going to the same place as long as we just
believe.
That would be extremely convenient, but
it doesn't make any sense. All of these faiths differ widely in
their beliefs and some are completely opposed in belief.
In actuality you can categorize every
faith into two basic sections.
The DO and the DONE.
Most people agree there is some sort of
creator and spiritual world of some kind. But how we reach this God
and get to Heaven is really what separates these faiths.
Firstly there are the DO faiths.
Their main message centers around what
you must DO to get to Heaven. The general agreement is that mankind
must DO something to gain God's acceptance. They expect God to
accept them if they DO good things for the wrong they have done.
Really the list of DO's varys widely
from faith to faith but the message always boils down to this: DO.
DO the right stuff and don't DO the wrong stuff. Sometime the Do
list is long and tedious. Other times it's more general – be nice,
compensate the bad with matching it with good. Either way the
message is a working of DO. Performance, appeasing, earning. It is
a faith system that holds millions of religious people in bondage and
fear and keeps them jumping through hoops. God is the taskmaster and
human beings are the slave DO-ers. The saddest part about these
faiths is the fact that they keep the heart wondering if they have
been DO-ing enough and leaves them with anxious doubts.
What these people are missing is the
message of the Bible. In order to accept the DO message these faiths
have to ignore what God has said in His word.
God says –
“Not by works of righteousness which
we have done but according to his mercy he saved us.” (Titus 3:5)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight...” (Romans 3:20)
“But to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)
God says that salvation is “not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works...”
What does this mean? It simply means
that there isn't anything we can DO to win favor from God into His
presence.
Secondly there is the DONE faith.
Done means finished, complete, full,
ended, ready, accomplished, fulfilled, perfected. The true message
in the Bible is DONE. Our restoration with him has already been
DONE!
When Jesus died on the cross he said
“it is finished” (John 19:30). What seperated man from God was
removed when God's Son died on the cross. DONE means there is
nothing more to DO. The price was paid, the debt forgiven. DO-ing
is a waste of time.
God's salvation is a gift to mankind
that He already paid for. To work for a gift is silly when He is
offering it to us freely. It's sitting right there in the open, He
is ready for us to simply accept it.
Most people I talk to believe they are
headed for “the good place” or heaven. But when I ask them why
their answer is because they have tried to be a good person and are
doing good things. They are saying – “I'm DO-ing.” They have
put their faith in what they DO. They instinctively understand that
they, all by themselves, are not good enough to reach Heaven. But
unfortunately they have staked their faith in a DO religion that
can't get them the free gift of salvation.
We by faith my accept that there is nothing good of ourselves and nothing we can DO to get to heaven. But by faith believe that He has already DONE what we need by paying our debt on the cross. The Bible says we do this by confessing with our mouth that we are the sinners we are and accepting Jesus' gift by simple faith. That faith that is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
