WHAT IS FAITH?
The moment you first trust God, He will give you at least three gifts, Faith, Eternal Life and the Holy Spirit. ‘Faith’ should not be confused with ‘trust’ or ‘belief’, which are used interchangeably and relate to the believer’s new worldview. ‘Faith’ on the other hand is a gift, given by God the moment we trust Him. The Holy Spirit is also very important; we’ll cover Him soon.
Faith is what God gives to us, so that we can then receive everything else he has for us.
Faith is the supernatural ability to combat doubt once you have put your trust in God. Faith lets us see the unseen, and is the substance of God’s promises to us. Until one has actually tasted or experienced “faith”, it is very difficult to define it or explain it. I’ll make a crude attempt to describe it in the “Faith & The Strange Fruit Analogy”, I am afraid this is the best I can do to explain for now.
In a practical sense, faith is handed out by God to his kids in different portions, those of us who will face really big trials, temptations and calamity will be given a big bucket-full of faith, as would those whom God sends to do challenging work, such missionaries in dangerous places. Those of us who’s lives are a little more “normal” might receive a little less faith. Whatever the case, you can trust that God will give you whatever faith you need to get through life a victor, even though it might not seem like it in the heat of battle.
- Faith is the master key of the Christian life, from start to finish, whereas salvation is ‘by grace through faith’.
- Everything we obtain in the Christian life we get by grace through faith.
- Grace makes it available and faith accepts it.
- Grace is God’s hand giving; faith is man’s hand receiving.
- Faith possesses what grace provides.
- Grace is God’s part; faith is man’s part, although it is given to us by God.
- Faith is our positive response to God’s gracious offer.
- Everything God demands of man can be achieved through ‘faith’.
- Without faith it is impossible to please God.
- The just shall live by faith.
Because faith is a gift from God, no one can boast about it, or be proud of it as if it is a personal achievement, because he or she did not work for it, deserve it, or develop it. If we were to boast about how much faith we have, we might as well boast in the color of our hair or eyes; FAITH IS A GIFT!
This 52 minute video by David Legge is a fantastic explanation of why “good works” do not get us to Heaven, only faith: