What is Faith?

What is Faith - By Kevin Deane.

Full blog and website at www.valleyofdrychurches.webs.com

Introduction:

Faith is a word that many preachers seem to use, but few are willing to define. Yet Faith is a foundational teaching of the Christian religion, for “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Charles Spurgeon once said,

“You may think it is easy to explain faith, and so it is, but it is easier still to confound people by your explanation. There is nothing simpler in the world than to believe in Christ Jesus; yet probably there is nothing more difficult than to explain to a man what it is to believe in the Lord Jesus; not that the thing itself is difficult, but the explaining of it is not so easy.”

Unfortunately, in North America, Christianity has done its best to simplify the gospel, distilling it down to the very essentials of the message.“Conversion in American Evangelicalism is an event – a definite moment – and the language of conversion is captured in such phrases as 'accepting Jesus into my heart.'” The true gospel includes all truth, but we tend to reduce it down to simply the plan of salvation.“From revivalism and much of contemporary evangelicalism, one could easily get the idea that God's work does not kick into action or take effect until a 'sinner's prayer' is said or until we believe and have faith. Then, once we believe and say the prayer, God begins to save.” So North American evangelism has been shaped by a simple decision making process. Yet the gospel is “not a formula that must be prescribed to sinners in a series of steps. It does not call for a mere decision of the mind, but a surrender of the heart, mind, and will – the whole person – to Christ.” One of the most widely used evangelism methods of leading a non-believer to a decision is a tract called 'Four Steps to Peace with God,' which was written by Billy Graham. But Billy Graham says he does not believe there is any tidy formula or recipe for conversions, despite the tract's promotion of a decision-making process.

Contray to the North American mindset, faith must be more than simply acknowledgement of the truths of God, or belief, for “even the demons believe” (James 2:19). Either demons will be in heaven or salvation requires more than an assent to truth or a mental decision. If salvation is not a simple decision as North Americans believe, then what must a person do to put their faith in Christ? The Bible makes it clear that faith is all that is necessary for salvation. So what is needed for an authentic saving faith? What is faith?

In order for their to be an authentic saving faith, there must be knowledge of the gospel, belief or acceptance, and appropriation of these truths. This understanding of saving faith must then shape the evangelism process.

Knowledge of the Gospel:

The first ingredient of Scriptural faith is knowledge. Before someone can ever be converted to Christianity, they must understand what Christianity is. “A man cannot believe while he is in ignorance, and the only means by which he can obtain the knowledge that is needed is the Bible.” The psalmist speaks of the Lord saying “those who know your name put their trust in you” (Psalm 9:10). So before one can have saving faith, they must have a knowledge of the gospel.“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14). Until there is a knowledge of the gospel, there can be no faith, for the object of our faith is more important than the sincerity of our belief.

“Our faith must be grounded on correct knowledge. A person cannot put his trust in something that he does not know about, nor can he honestly trust something that is proven false to him. A person must first know the gospel, which means he has an intellectual knowledge of salvation. But knowledge alone will not save him.”

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Jesus made it very clear that the act of repentance takes place with faith (Mark 1:15). Repentance is a recognition of who we are, seeing ourselves as God sees us, and a willingness to change our minds. But without a knowledge of humanity's condition and the holiness of God, as described in Scripture, there can be no repentance. Where there is no repentance, there is no genuine faith, for “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:17-18). Faith must be accompanied by repentance, and repentance can only come from a biblical knowledge of man's condition before God. One cannot change one's ways when one does not know what one's ways are. So then, knowledge is an essential element of saving faith. Without knowledge, faith would be incomplete.

Acceptance or Belief:

Knowledge alone does not save, for the Pharisees were well educated, and yet had no faith. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:13).

A knowledge of truth is necessary, but there must also be an acceptance of the truths. “Faith, again, is not assurance that Jesus died for you. Merely to conclude that He died for me - the notion that He died for everybody - is very far from being real faith in Him.”

“Is your faith a faith of reliance? You give credit to certain statements – do you also place trust in the one glorious Person who alone can redeem? Have you confidence as well as credence? A creed will not save you, but reliance upon the anointed Savior is the way of salvation.”

A saving faith must include belief – belief that Christ was who He said He was, that He can do what He claimed He could do and that He can forgive. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). One must agree to what God has revealed of Himself, humanity and His plan of salvation or knowledge of these truths will be unavailing. So then, an acceptance of or belief in the truths of the gospel is a necessary part of saving faith.

Appropriation – A Personal Claim

The third necessary component of saving faith is appropriation. The gospel must not just be understood and believed, but it must be applied personally to one's life. One must lay hold of these truths and make them of personal acquaintance. “Faith is the hand which grasps. When our hand takes hold of anything for itself, it does precisely what faith does when it appropriates Christ and the blessings of His redemption.” An antidote will not cure a poison until it is actually taken.

“If the object of faith were certain truths, the assent of the understanding would be enough. If the object of faith were unseen things, the confident persuasion of them would be sufficient. If the object of faith were promises of future good, the hope of rising to certainty of the possession of these would be sufficient. But if the object be more than truths, more than unseen unrealities, more than promises; if the object be a living Person – then there follows this...that faith is the personal relation of him that believes to the living Person its object.”

One must not just acknowledge the lifeboat, one must actually get into it in order to be saved. True faith takes God's promises with dependance, trusting without any excuse and saying 'Amen' to all that God says. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). There can not be true faith where there is doubt - the presence of doubt indicates there is not trust with all of one's heart. Faith is not merely a decision but a surrender of the the whole person to Christ, for true faith believes and personally relies upon Christ's promises of redemption. Believing Jesus' promises and appropriating them will change a person's life in the same way that belief in an announcement that the house is on fire will cause someone to run for the door. So then, a personal claim, or appropriation is a necessary part of saving faith. If someone has knowledge of the gospel and believes it, but does not apply to their own life, they do not have saving faith.

How then, do we Evangelize?

A true understanding of what saving faith is should affect the way the church evangelizes. It is important, when seeking to see a non-believer converted to remember that before there can be saving faith, there must be knowledge, belief and appropriation. This is all based on the assumption that it is a correct, biblical knowledge of the gospel that one is believing and appropriating. Knowledge, belief and appropriation in a different gospel is not a saving faith. So when a Christian goes out with the biblical gospel, he or she must remember that before someone can have a saving faith, they must have a knowledge of Christ's redemptive work. A sinner's recognition of his own need is not a work of the evangelist, rather it is a work of the Spirit. “Conversion does not initiate the work of God, it comes in response to what God is doing.”“Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). It is the responsibility of the church to give the lost a full knowledge of their lostness, and of the redemptive work of Christ. Belief and appropriation then, are, by the grace of God, the responsibility of the individual, and not of the Christian. A Christian can not make a lost man have faith.

Faith itself is the simplest of all things, and perhaps because of its simplicity it is very difficult to explain. When explaining faith, Spurgeon said, “Never mind distinctions and definitions. A hungry man eats though he does not understand the composition of his food, the anatomy of his mouth or the process of digestion.” Faith is simply done. When one tries to have faith, the very word 'try' implies that it has not been done.

If believing then, is an act that does not follow any specific guidelines, no method of evangelism is particularly necessary. The North American tradition of praying a prayer of acceptance may be helpful, but ultimately is not necessary. When leading a person to Christ, one must simply give a person all the knowledge they need to believe and appropriate. To be justified, someone must simply have faith. With faith will come regeneration, and it will lead to sanctification, but the actual act of believing is all that is necessary. It is by the grace of God, and not by evangelistic methods, that sinners will put their faith in Christ. So then, an evangelist must simply provide a non-believer with the elements necessary to have a saving faith – a knowledge, and an understanding of belief and appropriation.

Conclusion:

All that is necessary for a person to be saved is, by the grace of God, faith in Jesus Christ. In order for there to be a saving faith in Christ, there must be knowledge, belief and appropriation. This then, eliminates the need for any particular method of conversion – a sinner must simply believe.

Bibliography:

Graham, Billy. How to Be Born Again. Waco, TX: Word Books Publisher, 1977.

MacArthur, John F. Jr. Faith Works. Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1993.

Smith, Gordon T. Beginning Well. Downer Groves, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001

Spurgeon, C.H., Moody, D.L., Finlayson, Arthur, Maclaren, Alexander. What is Faith? Linoln, NB: Back to the Bible Publishers, 1924.

Spurgeon, Charles. Christian Classics: Six books by Charles Spurgeon. Niche Edition, 2011.

Towns, Elmer L. What the Faith is All About. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1985.