Faith

What is faith?

In Hebrews 11:6 we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. In Hebrews 11:1 we are also told that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Many things that we do in life show some kind of faith. A person takes aspirin when he has a headache. Why? Because he believes the aspirin will get rid of the headache. When a person plants maize, he believes that it will grow. Children have faith in their parents; they believe their parents when their parents tell them something.

How to have faith

In Romans 10:17 we are told that faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of God and Christ. We have faith because we heard about it. We cannot have faith without hearing.

We plant maize to grow for food. Why do we plant it? How do we know it will grow? Because we have heard that it will. An aspirin is taken to get rid of a headache; but why does a person take the aspirin? Because he has heard that it will get rid of the headache. We believe in God and Christ by hearing about them. We hear about them from the Bible. We can hear about them from the Bible in two ways:

1. By reading the Bible ourselves.

2. By hearing someone tell us about the Bible.

It is impossible to have faith in God and Christ without hearing about them. Romans 10:14 asks us these questions: how, then, can they call on one they have not believed in? How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Different kinds of faith

There are different degrees of faith. In Matthew 8:26, Jesus told his disciples that they had little faith when he rebuked the winds and the waves when the disciples were afraid of them. In Matthew 15:28, he told a Canaanite woman, “Great is your faith” when her request was granted and her daughter was healed that very hour.

Then there is faith which we all have to have because it is necessary for salvation as in Acts 16:30,31. When a jailer asked the disciples what to do to be saved, he was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved, him and all his household. A person must believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. But belief by itself is not enough, as we are told: “We believe that there is one God: that is good, but the demons also believe and tremble” (James 2:19). The demons (those mentally unsound spiritually) believe but are not saved. The true answer is trust and obedience. The demons believe in Christ but they do not trust and obey him.

If we only believe Christ, but do not trust and obey him, we will not be saved. When Jesus gives a command we will obey it if we have the faith that saves: “He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Here, Christ gave two commands: a person must believe, and he must be baptised.

If a person believes in Christ but is not willing to be baptised, then he cannot be saved. He does not have an obedient faith. His faith is dead. Faith alone cannot save a person. James 2:24 tells us that a man is justified by works not by faith alone, but faith has to be there first. A man or woman will be saved when they obey the commands of Christ. Believing in the commands of Christ without obeying them will not save a person.

Conclusion

Faith is based on testimony. We believe it because we have been told about it. Faith is necessary in order to be pleasing to God. Without faith we cannot be saved, yet faith by itself cannot save us. We must have faith that trusts and obeys Christ’s commands in order to be saved.

Bro Biza T Christopher (Zaka, Zimbabwe)