True Faith?

     It seems necessary from time to time to revisit what we hold as core beliefs. I want to take a few minutes to examine the doctrine of true faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us “now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and that “without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)”. So then one must ask the question “Faith in what or whom?”
     Misplaced faith will always bring disappointment. One might place his faith and hope of joy on a new or rebuilt car, or that special vacation or hunting trip. Faith might be placed on having that big, beautiful house in a certain location or in getting hired or promoted to that position that one has always wanted. Other will place their faith in a spouse, parent or child. Some will place their faith in money or positions of power or influence. All these things, people and accomplishments will eventually disappoint. Things will rust, grow old, wear out and break, bringing more problems. Other people will never live up to your expectations, no matter how hard the try; and some, feeling the weight of those expectations, will go out of their way to make sure they don’t fulfill them. Money, power and position are never enough and are more addictive than the most potent drug. The biggest failing of all if the above is their inability to reach beyond this life and into eternity. Though they might bring temporal happiness, they can never bring joy and the miseries of misplaced faith far outweigh the few joys that may be produced. This is due to the fact that hangs over each of us that, because of sin, we are slaves to death’s power and that none of these people, things or positions can save us from its’ grip. “For it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.”
     Now we introduce the solution to the sin and death problem. His name is Jesus. He came to this earth and by the power of a sinless life and a substitutionary death He fulfilled the required appointment for us all. He came to give us hope in this life and in the eternity to come. That hope consists of Him giving us the power to become sons of God, that extends to all those who believe on His name. This sonship brings the blessing of forgiveness of sin and escape of the eternal judgment that is pronounced on the world. The scripture declares that “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes on Him has everlasting life” and that “whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. We now come back to our original thesis, the definition of true faith. What does truly believing on the Lord Jesus entail? Is it merely a mental or verbal agreement with the facts of His life or even to His claims that He was God the Son? Is it a system of practices that show piety? Is it denying oneself of any pleasure or modern convenience in order to show repentance from sin? Again, scripture has the answer to the question posed.
     Jesus Himself defined what it means to truly be one of God’s followers. He said “he that belongs to God hears what God says, the reason that you do not hear is that you do not belong to God”. In another place He taught “if a man love me. He will keep my words.” He is not speaking of merely possessing His words, but doing them as well. This teaching is expanded by the Apostle James, when he shows us that “faith without works is dead”. James example is a person that sees a brother that is cold and hungry and says to that brother “be warmed and filled”, but doesn’t do anything to feed or clothe or shelter that brother. That is dead faith and is declared that it cannot save. His example of true faith is Abraham. When he was told to offer his son, the son whom God promised him, he acted without hesitation. True faith is not a set of religious practices, or denials of self, or even just agreeing that Jesus was God. True faith is following. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. Lord means master and a master has servants. The servants follow the commands of the master. This verse sums up faith in a nutshell.
     Paul tells us “the righteousness of God is reveled from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith. The just are those who have received God’s forgiveness through Christ. God’s righteousness is shown in us as we move from one situation that requires faith in Christ’s words to the next situation that requires the same. This will require us to be in abiding fellowship with God and to be an active study of His word. How else can we act in faith if we have no idea who we have placed our faith in and what He says? Remember the words of Jesus, “he that belongs to God hears what God says”. It is a daily walk with God. It can not be replaced with church attendance, giving offerings, self denials, keeping of laws or following of religious systems. Fellowship with Christ, through abiding in Him, is the only means of salvation and thus the basis of true faith. Paul declares “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”
     We have seen that true faith is misplaced on people, things, power or position. We have seen that only something or someone, that has the ability to give hope both in this life and the next, is worthy of our faith. We have seen that Jesus Christ, because of His death in our place, is the one who is worthy to be the object of our faith. He can’t be bypassed, for He said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.” Therefore, we each have a task and a choice. The task is self examination. Paul said to examine ourselves to see “whether we are in the faith or not”. Upon the result of this examination we then have a choice. If we find that our lives do not match the definition of true faith we must choose to either place our faith in Christ following Him from faith to faith, or to reject His claims and the Biblical definition of faith and continue on our own agenda. If we find that true faith exists in us, then we must choose to continue to nurture that faith and follow our Lord wherever He leads. It is the most important choice that we will ever make, for it will determine our eternity. Do you have true faith?