But faith is a firm confidence in what one hopes for and not doubting what one does not see. Hebrews 11:1
When you talk about faith with people who don't belong to Christ, you often hear that they don't believe. And by that they mean they don't believe in God. Because without any form of belief, man is not able to exist at all. Everyone believes in something. Because if we didn't believe, we wouldn't have hope either. Faith and hope belong together. Because almost all people want to change something in their situation and their living conditions.
For Christians, faith is something fundamental and has as its goal God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We put all our hope in the triune God. And the Bible explains that.
By faith:
- We come to God
- We are saved
- We becomes righteous before God
- We can be baptized
- We receives the Holy Spirit
- We experiences healing
- Miracles happen
- We becomes sanctified
- Christ dwells in us
- We have access to God
- We can see the glory of God
- We will become heirs of God
Faith is a firm conviction and involves obedience and faithfulness. It is both an attitude of the heart and lip service. And through the interaction of both, faith becomes effective.
This belief comes from the relationship we have with God, and the stronger that relationship, the stronger our belief. So Jesus said to the devil when he was tempting him, "It is written". So when our relationship with the Triune God is strong and untroubled, we are able to withstand adversity
to take the right steps of faith. This belief is our most powerful defensive weapon against the enemy. And the Word of God that we find in the Bible is the strongest weapon. In Ephesians 6:16 we read that faith is the shield that wards off from us all the evil arrows of the enemy. Because through faith we are able to put the Word of God in the foreground again and again. But we are not saved by faith alone. The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. And at the same time, we are not saved by doing good deeds alone.
Faith is supposed to change our lives, i.e. be confirmed by works and thus bring fruit.
Jacob 2:17 "So also faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself."
So it is not enough to believe in God and to talk about him without something changing in ourselves. Then we are like a tree that bears no fruit. And then at some point it is simply cut down and thrown into the fire. But when we have an intimate relationship with God and study His Word, the Holy Spirit helps us to put what we have read into practice. While we, as people without God, almost always revolve around ourselves, God helps us to put our focus first on HIM and then on other people. So it means that we have to “keep at it”. The Bible calls that faithfulness. We should be faithful to God and his word. Also, or especially, when things are not going so well.
Because it is written:
Luke 17:6
But the Lord said: If you have faith as a mustard seed, you would say to this sycamore-fig tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
Just think of it, if our faith is the size of a tiny mustard seed, then what we say has power. That is why it is so important that we keep taking steps in faith. A few years ago the WWJD (what would Jesus do) movement emerged. Her aim was to ask herself what Jesus would do in each situation when making decisions. That sounds like faith training to me. Through the reading of the Bible, the times we spend in prayer and the services we attend, we are in a state of constant change. This change begins within us and allows us to grow in faith. And then we must begin to take the first steps of faith. Just like a child begins to learn to walk at some point.
Do not be discouraged when your first steps of faith are uncertain and awkward, and you fall and despair at your apparent failure. Get up and take your next steps, because then you will find yourself becoming more and more confident.
Train and learn.
I wish us all continued growth in faith.
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