Faith
Richard
Hollerman
We have already discussed “faithfulness” under “dependability” earlier. Faith
itself comes from the Greek pistis,
meaning “firm persuasion.”[i] In
our day, many people seem to think that faith is a mere
mental belief of certain facts about God or Christ. This
is only part of the significance of a true Biblical faith,
yet it is a necessary one. W.
E. Vine explains the fuller meaning:
The
main elements in “faith” in its relation to the invisible
God, as distinct from “faith” in man, are especially
brought out in the use of this noun and the corresponding
verb, pisteuo;
they are (1) a firm conviction, producing a full acknowledgement
of God’s revelation of truth. . . . (2) a personal surrender
to Him. . . . (3) a conduct inspired by such surrender.[ii]
We might categorize the elements of saving
faith in this way:
a. A
belief of facts. We
must believe in the existence of God (Hebrews 11:6). We
must believe that Jesus is Christ, Lord, and
the Son of God. John
the apostle wrote, “These [signs] have been written
so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing you may have
life in His name” (John 20:31; cf. 1 John 5:1,
13).
b. A
trust in Jesus Christ and His saving death.[iii] We
must go beyond mere belief of facts, like the demons
have (James 2:19). Jesus
knew that it took more than a factual faith to
save (cf. John 2:23-25). We
must also trust in Jesus and rely on
His saving power, through His death and resurrection
from the dead. “As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that
whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (John
3:14-15). It
is the Savior who was “lifted up” on the cross
and shed His blood whom we must trust.
c. A
submission to Jesus as Lord. This is in keeping with Vine’s broader definition. Faith
is often coupled with obedience in Scripture. Jesus
said, “He who believes in
the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John
3:36; cf. Acts 14:1-2; Hebrews 3:12, 18-19; 4:3,
6). If we believe in Christ Jesus, we will submit
to Him as Lord (cf. Romans 10:9-13; Acts 2:36-41).
Faith is a major theme through the New
Testament Scriptures. True
faith is necessary to be saved from sin (Acts 16:31),
to have eternal life (1 Timothy 1:16), to be justified
(Romans 5:1), and to escape God’s condemnation (Mark
16:16). This
inner faith, belief, confidence, reliance and submission
is a chief virtue of our life.
The story is told of Blondin, the famous
tight-rope walker of the nineteenth century. As
the account goes, Blondin walked across the Niagara Falls
in New York where a crowd of spectators watched his daring
feat. Next,
he went across again while pushing a wheelbarrow on the
rope. When
he returned to the shore, he asked how many thought he
could put a man in the wheelbarrow and push him across
the raging water. They
all cheered and said he could do it! When
he asked for volunteers, no one dared to get in the wheelbarrow. No
one had the absolute faith necessary to do such a dangerous
act! Faith
in Christ is a willingness to put all of our confidence
in Him, all of our faith for eternity in Him, because
of solid evidence. Will
we live a life of faith like this? Paul
said, “We walk [live] by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians
5:7).
[i] W.
E. Vine, Expository
Dictionary.
[ii] Expository Dictionary.
[iii] Bauer,
et. al., say, “believe
(in), trust of relig. Belief in a special sense,
as faith in the Divinity that lays special emphasis
on trust in his power and his nearness to help, in
addition to being convinced that he exists and that
his revelations or disclosures are true” (A
Greek-English Lexicon).
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