What Is Faith?

How Do You Define Faith?

Today in Christian culture, most of us would say that Faith undoubtedly is described as our belief in the story and life of Jesus Christ. Believing that He, through His Holy Spirit, still exists today. As did He live 2,000+ years ago when He walked the earth as a man, yet fully God. In accord with God's will, through betrayal, Jesus suffered an unfathomably painful death experience on the cross, which afterward led to His burial, and three days later His resurrection as He supernaturally overcame death by the power and authority of God, as it is written in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible. As proof of believing so, our confession of faith propitiates and satisfies our debt owed to God for our sins. Paid in full by Jesus through His suffering, death, and resurrection is the assurance that the debt of our sins is removed, and offers us reconciliation to our heavenly Father with nothing in the way. Additionally, securing our eternal life in heaven with God forever, receiving our reward, and rejoicing with Jesus in Heaven for all of eternity versus damnation to hell out of the presence of God, living in agony and misery with the rest of the demonic realm. 

God's best offer to us is the atonement made on our behalf through Jesus Christ so that we can be in the right relationship with Him. 

Faith, or Not Faith?

Some might describe faith as a unit of measure that determines how much or how big one believes in God and His ability. And a step further, some of us may even muster up enough belief to think that the more "out there we are" with what we believe God to do, then the more likely He is to do it.  We use scripture to back it up like, "With God, nothing will be impossible."  We then make a wish, cross our fingers, and hope like hell He will do it, and call that faith. Then, when these big outrageous beliefs don't happen because true faith was nowhere in it, it causes us to misunderstand God and deep down doubt God silently, while outwardly using the excuse, "It just wasn't meant to be."  We walk away head down, discouraged and mad at God, feeling like He too let us down, just like (you fill in the blank).  Sometimes it shakes us at our core so hard that we begin to doubt and rethink the truth that we first believed.

So, If Faith Isn't Just About Believing In Someone or Something, Then What Is It?

Although some of the above-mentioned things are true, there is just a slight perspective that can subtly lead us off the track of truth. And don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself. Let's look at two portions of scripture that are well-known.  The first scripture that I want to look at is John 3:16 NASB, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life." 

I am going to lay out Scripture based on the Greek definition using study tools and references to take a deeper look into the meaning of the words used in the New Testament, as it was written in Greek. (For the sake of being able to get a greater understanding of what that original scripture was saying, I compare the definition which is what you see in parentheses.  To avoid confusion, I did put a line through the original so that you can read the definition and words in bold a bit more easily and straightforwardly).

"For God, (Creator, and owner and sustainer of all things) 

so loved (esteems, wishes of welfare, and offers a benevolence providing salvation, healing, deliverance, and eternal life) 

[to] the world (the inhabitants of the world),

that he gave (of His own will, handed over to invest in you and to furnish and pay what is due and obligatory by every mankind)

His only begotten (Unique, one and only)

Son (eternal Son in the likeness and purpose of His Father and sharing in the inheritance)

that whoever (everyone)

believes in Him (to [that] trusts and has confidence in, to the point of responding to the persuasion of His Spirit)

Shall not perish ([be}destroyed, cut off entirely, and caused to be lost by experiencing a miserable end)

but have eternal life (age-long character and quality).

Now let's look at Romans 10:9 NASB in the same way:

"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus (as) Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead; you will be saved."

"that if you confess (profess and to be in full agreement and alignment)

with your mouth (voice testimony)

Jesus [as] Lord, (As owner, exercising rights as your master)

and believe (to trust and have confidence in, to the point of responding to the persuasion of His Holy Spirit)

in your heart (the center of your being and moral preference)

that God (Creator, and owner and sustainer of all things) 

raised Him from the dead; (unresponsive, inoperative place to the things of God)

you will be saved." (delivered out of danger into safety, God rescuing these out of the penalty and power of sin)

 Faith is definitely about believing in Jesus and what He did for mankind, however, the key is not just that we believe in Jesus, but that from our belief we entrust to the point of responding to Him as an outward demonstration reflecting what is at work on the inside based from what we truly believe in our heart, reflecting in our moral preference, about Jesus because we understand who He is and what He did for us. There is a huge difference not only in the words believe vs entrust, but in the heart and mind that influences a person's daily life, by how they live, and respond to God.  Faith isn't about what we can muster up, faith comes from God, not ourselves. We respond to God, or not. That is the true gauge of whether or not we are authentic people of faith. 

Now What?

Romans 10:17 NASB

"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ." In other words, The divine persuasion of God comes by listening and obeying the living divine persuasion and word of Christ.  The word for "Word" in this verse is Rhema which means the spoken word of Christ. Note that it is not the Logos which would mean the written Word which would be referring to the Holy Bible.  My point is that most of the time we read that scripture thinking that we gain more faith (belief) by reading the Bible, this may or may not be true. That's not the point, but rather, it is that we receive more of the persuasion of God as we listen and obey His Holy Spirit in our daily lives. We all may hear His voice differently but, as you respond to what you think is His leading you will learn how you hear Him, remember He sees and knows your heart you are not misunderstood by God, we can't trick Him even when we believe our own lies.  So if you are not hearing God, it may be that when He speaks you do not listen to Him, by not responding in obedience to what His Spirit is speaking to you (Remember the scripture confess Jesus as Lord of your life? It is more than just talk, it's the motive and action behind it.

Let me give you an example, we can believe in Jesus and live our lives without trusting Him. This is not faith. It's what I like to call a spiritual dissonance, similar to a cognitive dissonance.  This is where you have a certain paradigm or belief system, but your actions are in opposition to what you believe or know as truth. When this happens you are not united or in agreement with yourself, it is the root of why many are anxious and filled with anxiety.  Anxiety is when all parts are not united and functioning optimally from within.  An example would be, I know I should pay my rent but instead, I make a choice to go shopping for new clothes or something I would rather have, deep down knowing that isn't the right decision.  I go ahead and do the opposite of what I know is the right thing to do, get what I desire, but in the end, it doesn't make me feel good, because I know I made the wrong choice.  

When dealing with what I call spiritual dissonance it's when one makes decisions and responds in a way that opposes what one believes.  I believe this is why many walk away from God, because they can't handle the pressure of living in a compromised position, one foot in one foot out.  It becomes an I owe you God type of thinking, where we try to pay our own way, and of course, there is only one way and that's through Jesus, We think I'll do this good dead work as a payment to make up for not entrusting to the point of responding to the persuasion of His Divine Spirit. 

If just believing the story of Jesus, and believing in the impossible was all that faith is, then there would be a lot of dead works and a lot of unnecessary disappointment, that eventually leads us to doubt God and discount His guidance in our lives.  Unfortunately, many people have been led down a downward spiral, into a hole of disappointment, by not understanding what faith really is, or what it really means.  There are many things in this life that are impossible, but God isn’t calling us to believe in everything impossible.  He is, however, calling us individually to respond to Him as He persuades us, even when it looks impossible.

My hope and prayer for you as you read this is that you will become educated, encouraged, and empowered to know the truth about faith, so that you will be able to trust God’s voice on the inside of you, to the point that you respond, without doubt holding you back from responding in accordance and obedience to the persuasion of the Living Spirit of God working in your life.

Let me challenge you with the following statement: If you want things put right in your life and you want to really live, then believe and entrust Jesus to the point that you respond to God with the kind of believing that causes you to walk out a life of entrusting God, by trusting and responding in obedience to the inward working of His persuasion. Romans 1:16-17 says, “The person in right standing before God, BY TRUSTING Him, really lives. We must remember Romans 3:27, “God does not respond to what we do; (but rather) we respond to what God does.”

Being set free by truly receiving Jesus, and living a fruitful and abundant life according to God's way, is His will.  This is just the beginning, an opportunity given to you, to choose to trade in your own worldly desires for God's best offer, and will for you, this is His desire according to His big-picture plan that includes your life if you truly choose it!

How will you respond to the Divine persuasion of the Living God, Jesus Christ, today?

An Invitation to Live by Faith

We either live in Darkness or Faith. But not both.  We may think we can compartmentalize areas of our lives, but that is not how it works.  You are either in the light or not!  

As believers, we are in the process of becoming spiritually fit, perfected, or as some may call it being equipped, even though we are still either in the light or not.  What determines this, is if we are willing to be open about and transparent about our sin or if we cover it, hide it, and lie about it while engaging in it. It doesn't matter how often whether periodically, daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly, if it’s in the dark you're walking in darkness and not the light.

If you call yourself, "a believer," "a Christian," or "a follower of Christ Jesus," and live this way, there is HOPE for you!   If you live this way and want to change but have lost hope in the ability to do so keep reading there may still be HOPE for you.  All it takes is a willingness to acknowledge it to Jesus and confess it. Stop justifying it by saying to yourself, “Nobody is perfect,” 

“Everybody makes mistakes,” this is compromise and it will keep you stuck in a cycle, that will keep you in turmoil. Ask Jesus for help, ask a trusted person to pray with you, and uncover it what needs to be uncovered. Be willing to see the truth about your situation and stop COMPROMISING, it’s your only way into the light. 

1 John 1:5-7

5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 

7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

 Darkness greek word is: (skotia)= What is unknown morally or spiritually, cannot be seen because it is not brought into the light.  The darkness blocks the light.

ie. If a person says that they are living in obedience to the Lord, but instead they are doing the opposite and living in opposition to the will of God, intentionally or on purpose. In living this way, it blocks the illuminating light of God.  

But rather instead, when we choose to acknowledge our sin to God and to each other (the true body of Christ) we are then open to the divine persuasion of the Spirit of God that is called faith.  And in faith we can choose to respond and obey His leading.

If you are stuck in a place where you aren’t hearing from the Lord or you feel stuck. Ask yourself and be willing to see the truth, if you have any moral or spiritual sin that you are giving yourself over to.  

If so, acknowledge it to the Lord, and surrender to the One who is the Light, so that we can have community with the body of Christ, and be cleansed from all our sin and the result of it.