What is faith, exactly?
Faith is not blind wishing: it is trust that rests on the character and promises of God. It believes God's testimony about Christ and entrusts the whole life to Him. Faith has a content (the gospel) and a confidence (God's faithfulness).
This question arose from studying Can I lose my salvation? and What does it mean to be justified?.
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The study
What the Scripture says
Faith is confidence grounded in something real
'Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,' and 'without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.' Faith trusts a God who has spoken.
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Faith rests on its object: the gospel of Christ
'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.' Saving faith is not generic optimism; it is trust in a Person: 'if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' The object is Jesus.
So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
Faith is not a work we offer; it receives
When they asked what they must do to do the works of God, Jesus answered: 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' Faith saves 'through faith… not of works,' as a gift. Faith is the empty hand stretched out to receive.
They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
Faith entrusts the whole life
Abraham 'did not waver through unbelief but was strengthened in faith… being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.' This is personal trust: 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him.' Faith commits everything to Him.
Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
Faith produces a life of following
Faith is not mere agreement with facts; it is reliance that reshapes a life. 'Faith working through love,' and 'faith without works is dead.' To live by faith is to say with Paul, 'I have been crucified with Christ… I live by faith in the Son of God.'
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
As you read, you may wonder…
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Verses to meditate on
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
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