My last post (“What is God doing in your life lately”?) occasioned a small but active discussion group (outside of the blog medium). In the course of the discussion an old friend asked “What about you?”
My answer (see the last line of this post) came without having to do a lot of thinking. But the context of the answer is important enough that I decided to write about it. In fact, I believe it is probably the most important concept for anyone who believes in any kind of relationship with God.
It is faith. But faith isn’t necessarily simple.
Faith, in fact, has three dimensions to it—and the faith the Bible talks about includes all three. Many of us get into trouble because we latch on to one of the three and forget the others, then wonder why our faith isn’t strong and we don’t have the joy in our relationship with the Lord others seem to have.
Dimension 1: “Faith” (the English word, as well as the Greek word “pistis” which is almost always the word translated by our word “faith” in the New Testament) starts with what most of us call “belief”. This is an intellectual agreement with facts. We “believe” in God normally means we think he exists. We “believe” in Jesus and the gospel usually means we agree with those facts. This is the basic faith most people in our society hold—and often believe they are doing God a favor in the process! “I believe in God” is often a statement used in protest of our basic goodness or worthiness. But James says: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:19 NIV). Simply agreeing with the reality of God’s existence only brings us to the level of faith Satan has! In fact, we are still not quite where he is, because we have our doubts. He doesn’t. He knows God exists and the facts of His existence, even in his rebellion against God.
To be the effective faith we want in our lives, our “belief” must lead us to the second dimension of faith–“trust”. Having “faith in” God to do what he says he will do. Paul’s rejection of any earning of forgiveness inevitably leads us to this. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV) For many of us, this is the hardest aspect of faith. We don’t want to trust. We would prefer to somehow obligate God to take care of us, to forgive us, to love us. Maybe this is why we are so insistent that we are basically “good” people. If I am “good”, doesn’t God have to love me, forgive me—save me? But I’m not good. I am sinner. And the only thing that obligates God to love me, to forgive me, to save me is His own nature of love. And we can trust that nature. Jesus said, “Trust in God, trust also in me!” (John 14:1, NIV)
So I have to trust Him to be altogether different than I am. I have to trust that his perspective is better than mine. I have to trust that He is faithful and that he really will be that perfect loving Father described in Hebrews 12.
And I don’t like to trust.
If I agree that God is who He says he is, and I am willing to trust Him, then I live in the third dimension of faith—“faithfulness”. Paul lists this as one of the “fruit” being produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus talks about the “faithful” servant over and over. And Jesus tells the church in Smyrna: “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” There is no expectation of perfection here—but there is an expectation that we will act on our faith. In fact, real faith must act. James says, “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17, NIV). The action doesn’t save us. But saving faith isn’t real without the action.
And what happens if (when) we fail to act—or fail in our actions? That’s when HIS faithfulness comes through: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to purify us of all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). This was a statement John wrote to Christians who had already repented, but clearly had need to continue the process.
So, what does it mean for a Christian to say “I have faith in God”? What is that faith the Bible says is the “how” God uses for us to be saved? Faith is agreeing with God, trusting God, and living that trust out in our lives–all of these things, working together in us.
Personally, I find belief easy (if I doubt, I can challenge the doubt with fact and reinforce the belief); and faithfulness increasingly so (if I am not faithful, I can simply change my behavior and act faithfully whether I feel like it or not). I find the cutting edge of faith is trust—for me, and for many others like me. Trust requires a surrender. An admission that I can’t do anything about it—I just have to trust. I have to remind myself of what He has done in my life already, and what he has done in others. He has earned my trust, because He is trustworthy by His very nature.
What is God doing in my life? He is helping me trust Him. He is helping me have faith.
in Christ,
Randy Christian
