“Sorry, I took that for granted.” Some events we can take for granted. Last night, you probably didn’t worry about the sun coming up this morning. However, human nature can lull us into believing many facts we’ve learned will always be the same. We take our hearing for granted until we need hearing aids. We all tend to take life for granted until we face death. For over ten years, I knew readers expected a new Sustaining Word every Monday morning, but my health declined. Now, a bit slower, I write as I can. The Holy Spirit recently taught me I was taking some ‘common and simple’ Bible teaching for granted. One example for me has been the doctrine of ‘faith’. After five decades of studying and teaching the Bible, I assumed I didn’t need to dig deeper into the meaning of ‘faith’. I had accumulated page upon page of research and notes. Well! As usual, God reminded me His Word doesn’t work that way.
“Name it and claim it; by faith, it’s yours.” “Don’t worry if you don’t understand; faith is a blind leap into the unknown.” In the past years, probably every Christian has heard teaching like this or similar erroneous claims. We must be cautious because faith is not just important to believers; it is crucial. It’s impossible to please God apart from faith (Heb 11:6 MSG). With such a warning, we must safeguard our understanding of biblical faith.
Where do we start? Throughout our walk as believers, we should occasionally reexamine the fundamental elements of our beliefs. We can learn one lesson through a secular example. Vincent Lombardi, arguably the greatest football coach of all time, took nothing for granted. Every season, he began training camps with the elementary fundamentals. Lombardi started from scratch, assuming that the players had carried over no knowledge from the previous year. On the first day, he would walk into the locker room, hold up a ball and say to his team, “Gentlemen, this is a football,” and continue through the rudimentary abc’s of the game—blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, etc. Next season, he again repeated these fundamentals.
We should also begin with the most basic tenets when we revisit our belief system. Faith isn’t a complex subject. It is simply taking God at His Word and acting upon it. But faith must always be based on something or someone; it cannot stand alone. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, “faith never points to itself.” Faith is only as reliable as the trustworthiness of its object. As I have taught the correct view, some people opposed, “Oh, I have my faith,” or “I’m trusting in my faith.” Such so-called “faith” is meaningless and worthless because it has no object. People base their alleged faith on faith alone. Biblical faith is God-centered. It is rooted in ‘trust’ and confidence in the character of God. “Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” – Max Lucado
Even though the foundation of faith is simple, that does not eliminate the challenges we face in a fallen world. Satan attempts to elevate the theories of anti-god intellectuals to be greater than biblical truth. Media daily bombards us with misformation through documentaries that cast doubt on the accuracy of the Bible. Many claim the Bible is historically inaccurate, full of errors, one story among many valid religions, and opposes logic and scientific reason. Paul instructs Timothy, Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim 6:12 NIV). Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them (Elisabeth Elliot). “It is no sin to doubt some things… it may be fatal to believe everything. Faith never means gullibility (Tozer).
Fundamental truths that we must keep in mind as we revisit the tenets of our beliefs: Faith is s gift of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith [trust]; and that not of yourselves: it [faith] is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Every believer doesn’t have the same level of faith. God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service] (Rom 12:3 AMP). Our faith can grow, But we hope that as your faith continues to grow (2 Corin 10:15 NET). Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). In contrast, our faith can grow weak if we take our eyes off the promises of God and stop listening to His Word.
Faith is not simply the assent of the intellect to a revealed truth; it is the practical submission of the entire man to the guidance and control of such truth (Ungers). Faith isn’t passive but must be active. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear (James 2:19 NET).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Faith is not a wish. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Heb11:1 NLT). We don’t depend on a feeling. Faith is a decision built on Biblical truth and the character of God.