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Faith |
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The Importance of Faith
Faith is the foundation of the Christian life. Faith has made possible to us all the promises of God and is the means of obedience to His commands. By it men are saved. We are the children of God by faith. God’s righteousness comes upon them who “faith” in Him. It is a gift of God. Jesus is the author of faith, and He will bring it to its conclusion. Faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. Our faith is the victory, which overcomes the world. Faith is the foundation upon which virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience godliness, brotherly love/friendship, and charity/love (agape) are all added. We resist Satan by faith. We walk by faith, we stand in the faith, we are justified by faith, and we have access to God by faith. Through faith we have understanding. It is the substance of hope, the evidence of the unseen. Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God). Repeated three times, the just shall live by faith. And, finally the absolute definition of sin, “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”[Rom. 14:23]
Understanding Faith
Seeing how vital faith is, we should want to know all we can about it. Our English word faith comes from the Greek word “pistis.” “Pistis” comes from the primary verb “peitho,” which is to persuade or convince - or to be persuaded, to have faith in, to listen to, to obey - or to trust, have confidence in. “Pistis” can be in either the verb form or the noun form. The noun form is translated “faith.” The verb form is translated “believe” or some form of believe. All of the above references are in the noun form. The noun “faith” is something to possess, and exercise. The verb “believe” is naturally an action word. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” This verse contains forms and usages, noun and verb, of the same word “pistis.” But the translating of “pistis” as “believe” doesn’t do justice to the deeper meaning of the word. For example: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What exactly does this verse mean by “believe in”? There are many who profess a belief in Christ but cannot give a testimony of salvation. I may have a belief of God, I may believe that Christ died for my sins, I may believe that if I call upon the name of Christ that I will be saved, but none of my believing benefits me until I act on what I believe. Just believing the facts isn’t enough. This is the hearer only of the word and not a doer of the word. The believing has to be coupled with action in order for it to be the kind of faith God speaks of. James made the statement that faith without works is dead. Dead faith does not save, James 2:19.
It is vital to understand that the words "faith" and "believe" are essentially the same; the former is the noun form and the latter is the verb form of the same root word. When faith is mentioned, such as “have faith in God,” we can understand it as “have belief in God.” Believing is “faithing.” Of course there isn’t any English word “faithing,” but that is the meaning it carries with it. In the King James Version, Mark 11:22; Jesus said “Have faith in God.” But this is not correct. “God” is in the genitive case which means faith is qualified as to the kind it should be. A better translation would be “Have faith of God,” or “Have a God kind of faith.” If we substitute believe for faith, we have “Have belief of God,” or better “Have a God kind of belief.” Thus, if we can grasp it: Have the same believing, belief (faithing) as God. This option of substituting may help, and hopefully not confuse, our reasoning and perception of the subject.
The Study
Our study must begin with Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This hearing isn’t just hearing the words it is hearing the voice. Consider this scene. A child is stranded on the ledge of a wall and is in danger of a serious fall. A stranger comes and calls him to jump, promising that he will catch the child. The child hears the plea but refuses to jump because he has no trust in the stranger. Then the child’s father comes and speaks the identical words, but this time the child does jump. Why? Because the child’s faith, his believing, was not in what was said but who said it. He trusted his father and made a leap of faith. So it is for us. We believe because we hear God, we are hearing our Father.
The blending of hearing and believing is consistently present throughout the Word of God. Jesus used the phrase, “Ears to hear” on nine different occasions. He rebuked those without faith in Matthew 13:15, because their hearts were callused and they were hard of hearing (the Word of God), they could neither perceive, nor hear the voice of God. If they could have heard, if they could have seen, if they could have understood then they would have converted and been healed. All of this speaks of only one thing; they had no faith. They simply did not believe, nor could they persuade themselves to be convinced. Jesus taught that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. They will flee from a stranger for they know not his voice. This fleeing speaks of the sheep being distrustful, and considers the strange voice to be unreliable.
Faith in the Old Testament
Surprisingly in the Hebrew language there is no word “faith.” With such emphasis placed on faith in biblical doctrine we would expect it to be explicitly named. However, this is not to say the concept of faith does not exist in the Old Testament. There are four words in the Hebrew, which are very strongly affiliated with faith. They are trust, hope, seek, and amen. These words contain revealing features about faith. Much more than if there was only one word given as faith.
Trust. This is to have full confidence, to feel safe, safety, to be in a state of security. All of this is founded on God, “to ground one’s security on God.” Proverbs 3:5 tell of trusting Jehovah with one’s whole heart in the same way as believing in Him. This is assurance. The strong sense is to be faithful, to believe, to put trust in Him.
Micah 6:8 asked the question to Israel, “What doth the LORD require of thee?” Psalm 62:8 gives at least a partial answer, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” With this trust (faith) and refuge are joined together showing the connection of trust with safety and security. Isaiah 26:3,4 demonstrates the dependability of God as the object of trust (faith) powerfully; “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:” The theme of this word is security, safety.
Hope. Three Hebrew words are used for hope. They are close synonyms. The feature of hope is waiting, or to wait on. The usage of hope is an expression of tense waiting for an explicit objective. One of these words, which have “to wait for” and “to look eagerly for” always places Jehovah, named as the object of hope. Hope in God is a specific expression of faith as a total relation to God. The hope/faith in God is in His strength. Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” All of the verses (40:28-30) tell of the strength and power of God. There is a living; vibrant energy in God, for what is impossible for man in his weaknesses is made possible by His power. Paul knew of this when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” The waiting is a faith, which confesses God at all times. God, Himself, is the one who gives this power of faith to man (verse 29). Other expressions for these Hebrew words of hope are; to long for, endure and be expecting.
Seek Refuge. The word is to seek refuge or shelter. It shows a need of help and protection. The emphasis is on the act of seeking and that of protection. Both the seeking and giving protection signify some danger or trial is present. Literally it is to place confidence in or rely on someone, thus the KJV translated it as “put trust in.” It is almost always used with reference to Jehovah with men, seeking the shelter, and God, who is offering it. Jehovah is spoken of as a rock, a shield, a fortress, a tower and as a mothering bird with outstretched wings, these all teaching His ability to protect His own. Even in just His shadow there is refuge. The result is escape, deliverance, and salvation.
In this is the certainty of trust. At times the meaning is extended to cover the total relationship to God. The following scriptures demonstrate the usage of the word.
Ruth 2:12 – “The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.”
Psalm 57:1 – “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”
All of Psalm 91 richly tells of the benefit of seeking and making God our refuge. As a sample:
verses 1- 4 - He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee . . . . . He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
The bond between refuge and faith cannot be denied nor minimized. It is action taken caused by the presence of faith. It is faith acting by seeking, running to the protection offered by God. It is the belief that God has the might to save, and that He does save, and will save in any situation. But in order to make it all happen one must stay where the refuge, the protection is provided, continually abiding in God by faith.
Amen. The final and most positive word for faith is Amen. This is what we have learned so far from the Old Testament.
Faith is hope, it is the intense waiting and yearning for God. It believes in His goodness and Almighty power, and that from Him flows strength. It believes that despite our weakness He will provide. Thus faith causes us to look eagerly for His promises, and the ultimate success of the Kingdom of God.
Faith is the hearing of the voice of God and running to Him, seeking His refuge, safety, and protection. The refuge of God as a rock gives a shadow, a comfort to rest under. God is a shield of protection for all those who place their faith in Him. In the New Testament God has built a hedge around His faithful. We hide under His wings, not as cowards trying to escape the realities of life, but rather because we know the realities of life and our absolute dependence upon Him. He is our mighty fortress. His walls cannot be breached. No power in creation can assault the stronghold of God. God protects from all dangers and gives rest in our trails. The faithful (the “faithing” ones) will continue in their faith and constantly remain under His shelter and shall not be moved.
Trust is in this hope and seeking God. Faith is trust, a full confidence and feeling of security. This trust, this faith keeps the child of God in perfect peace. This peace will last as long as we keep our mind stayed on God. Far too many people only visit God.
I hear the voice of God, I trust God, I look to God, I run to God, and I obediently continue with God. This is faith, this is believing, this is “faithing!”
But there is more to come.
| Men are saved through faith. |
The just shall live by faith. Hab. 2:4 |
| We resist Satan in the faith. |
The just shall live by faith. Heb. 10:38. |
| Through faith men inherit the promises. |
The just shall live by faith. Gal. 3:11. |
| Godly edifying, is in faith. |
Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. |
| We are the children of God by faith. |
The law is not by faith. |
| God justifies the heathen through faith. |
We live by the faith of the Son of God. |
| Gal 3:2 by the hearing of faith . . . |
We walk by faith not by sight. |
| Gal 3:5 by the hearing of faith . . . |
For by faith we stand. |
Wm. Bekgaard
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Next: Faith Part 2
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This page last updated November 10, 2004 at 10:21am
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