What Is Faith?

Our “job” is to get really, really good at believing in the grace that is being offered us by our loving Father. If someone wants to give you a present, you still have to trust enough to receive it. Believing leads to trusting and trusting leads to receiving. That is the way of faith that opens wide the door for the Lord’s salvation to stream into our life.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

The Many Kinds of Faith

What is faith? Faith is not monolithic. Just as there is grace (what God does all the time) and there is "saving grace" (what God does specifically to help us become saved), there is faith (all manner of trust and belief) and "saving faith" (the ability to believe in what Jesus has done). Saving faith is different from other kinds of faith.

One huge difference is that saving faith is a once and for all gift to you of faith in Christ. It does not have to be grown. It is full and complete upon arrival![1] You would have been just as fully saved all the way to heaven, had you died the first day you were born again, as you will be saved even after a long season of fruitful service.

Once you "know that you know that you know" that Jesus is both Savior and Lord, you have received saving faith and there is no need to add anything to it in terms of your entry into heaven. Jesus did all the work to get you there and this is all that is needed for you to pass through the gates. Even so, you will certainly want to grow a powerful faith-confidence that you do indeed have saving faith. Sounds like a paradox right?

Let's put it this way: Even a brand new, untested, and untried Christian has "saving faith" in that they now have put their belief in what Jesus has done for them and God has given them an assurance that Jesus is indeed their Savior and Lord. If they die tonight, they go straight to heaven! They have turned to God; they have opened their heart to God; they have trusted in Jesus to be their Savior; and God is fully satisfied.

You Will Be Tested on This

When the tests and trials come, however, each new Christian discovers how hard it is to keep believing with confidence and assurance that God is still fully committed to saving them. They discover instead the weakness of their faith and this usually causes them to question if they are really saved, or if they have sufficient faith to be saved. What we all have to learn is that it is not our faith that saves us. Faith is not the work that qualifies us for heaven. It is simply the way that God has given for us to receive the work He has done.[2]

This is why having saving faith and having confidence that we actually have saving faith are two separate issues. If you "know that you know that Jesus is Savior and Lord" you have saving faith![3] But are you always confident that faith in Christ alone is enough to save you? Do you always have peace that you are still being saved by God, no matter how badly you may be doing at the moment? Can you "reach through" the trial and take fresh hope and joy from the confidence that "at least I'm going to heaven", despite your poor showing in the trial? These are the issues of growing confidence that the saving faith you've received is all you really need to get you to heaven.[4] Please see "How can I be sure I'm saved?" coming up next.

Try to keep in mind that we do not work in order to "get" God to save us for that is His unchanging desire. We "work" at believing His Word, at knowing Him, and at trusting Him in order to more fully experience the joy of our salvation. Keeping our faith connection in good working order enables us to receive the benefits of what God desires to do for us by His grace. This is just the first kind of faith-confidence that we need to cultivate. There are a lot of other kinds of faith to grow!

What Is Faith?

1. There is faith as an intellectual belief in the truths God reveals to your mind through His Word.[5]

2. There is faith as trust in your heart that allows you to surrender fully to God, casting everything you care about and everyone you love upon Him to manage.[6]

3. There is faith as loyalty to Jesus that enables you to follow Him even when He seems to be going in the exact opposite direction from your desires and even when the way is hard, dark, and slippery.[7] These will take a lifetime of cultivation!

Beyond this, there is faith for healing, faith for miracles, faith for answers to prayer, faith for risky steps of obedience.[8] These are not exactly separate categories, just handy ways of thinking and talking about the various ways faith operates and the areas of cultivation we may need to attend to.

The Place of Faith

Let's go over our God-given "formula" for salvation summarized for us in Paul's letter to the Ephesians:

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. Ephesians 2:8-9 WEB

"By faith" means that our part includes believing in and trusting to what God says He is doing and has done. This opens the way for the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, helping us want to love God and to follow His ways. We don't "work" our way to heaven; we "trust" our way there to the work God does through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Prayer

Father, I am so grateful for the faith that You are giving me in the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ. In times like these, I can feel it rising within me! Help me now to take that faith and spread it over all the situations in my life.

Jesus, you are the Living Word. Grow within me a great faith in all of the truths of Your written Word. Help me feed on the scriptures and on Your faithfulness so that my faith can grow ever stronger. May You also grow my faith as I seek to become faithful at trusting and obeying You.

Holy Spirit, I ask You to strengthen me to recognize, accept, and believe all of the truths that You will be showing me in the Word, through my conscience and through my conversations with others. Convict and convince me of truth that I may become a person of true convictions.

On to the Next Question!

How can I be sure I'm saved?  It should come as no surprise that doubt and unbelief are enemies of the life of faith. God has overcome your unbelief—now you know who Jesus is—but you will soon have to fight off your doubts in order to keep your confidence in Him flying high. Make sure that you know how to stay sure…

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