It should be universally recognized, at least in evangelical circles, that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” But in spite of it’s essential nature in salvation, there can be a lot of confusion as to exactly what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 gives the classic Biblical definition of faith: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
Maybe it would help to state what faith is not. Faith is not a tradition passed on from generation to generation. You cannot be born into saving faith. You may have been born into a family that traditionally practiced a certain form of religion, but you cannot be born with saving faith. Faith is not a lifestyle choice: it’s not belonging to an group of nice, morally good people and joining a local denomination.
Faith is not a positive mental attitude that by possession will accomplish what you want to happen. It is not the power of positive thinking. It may be a good idea to be positive, but a positive mental attitude is not Biblical saving faith.
Neither is faith dependent upon the immensity of our mental focus. It’s not the size of our faith that matters, (remember the tiny mustard seed?) but the object of our faith that is important. It’s not faith in the act of faith. It’s not hoping real hard. It’s not a feeling.
Biblical saving faith is simply trusting in the promises of God. And then living in response to those promises. Faith is not simply believing in God, but acting in response to that belief. The Bible says the “devils believe and tremble” and yet the devils aren’t saved are they? No, they believe and yet rebel against God’s word. So we too are saved not simply by believing in the existence of God, or even in the orthodoxy of scripture, but acting in obedience to God’s word.
The writer of Hebrews through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gives several illustrations of faith in action in chapter 11. Abel had faith, and so he worshipped God, bringing an acceptable sacrifice. Enoch had faith, and so he walked with God. And his walk was pleasing to God. Noah had faith, and so he built an ark in the middle of a wilderness in response to God’s promise that it was going to rain and flood the earth – in spite of the fact that he had never seen rain.
Noah could have believed all that God said concerning the corruption of the world and coming judgment and if he had done nothing further he would have been destroyed along with the rest of the world. But Noah heard the word, was obedient to the word, and as result built the ark. His actions proved his faith and were a testimony to the world. Noah is called a preacher of righteousness in 2 Peter. And for a 120 years, he preached a daily message of obedience to the promises of God. And as a result, his life still preaches to us, thousands of years later.
Let us be men and women of faith; doers of the word, not simply hearers. As James warns, “Faith without works is dead.”
