Faith for Real Life

The Bible obviously has a lot to say about faith. The word “faith” or “faithful” is used about 350 times in the Bible. We usually talk about faith as it relates to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that we are saved from our sins not through works or the things that we do, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” So we are saved by grace, which is God’s unearned favor and blessing (a gift that cannot be worked for) through faith. Faith in Jesus links us to the grace of God in the finished work of Jesus. So think of God’s grace displayed in Jesus dying for our sins and then consider faith being that which links or ties or unites me with what Jesus has done. Saved by grace, through faith: faith is the vehicle that gets me to the grace.

That is usually how we talk about faith. But after we are saved we still need faith. Not faith to save us again, for we are secure in our salvation through the grace of God in Christ. But rather we need the kind of faith that keeps us trusting in God no matter what comes into our lives. 

The writer of Hebrews has a lot to say about faith and how that faith is lived out and evidenced. Hebrews chapter 11 is sometimes referred to as the “Hall of Faith” where faithful saints from the Old Testament are reflected upon and given as examples of faith for us to emulate. But before the writer of Hebrews goes on to talk about the examples of the faithful, he talks about what faith is.

In Hebrews 11:1 he writes, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The word translated “substance” brings with it the idea of solid conviction and trust and the word “evidence” in the second part of the verse carries much the same meaning. This is faith in the midst of things that are unseen or not figured out or uncertain. Faith in the midst of real life.  

But this faith does not find its anchor in what is known and understood and what can be checked out and mapped or planned. The anchor for this faith and this trust is the person and the promises of God: Who He is and what He has said He will accomplish. It is a trust in God that enables the Christian to press on steadfastly whatever the future holds for him.

And the Christian presses on not because he understands or trusts the future, but because he understands and trusts God who firmly holds him and the future. Faith knows that God can be relied upon and trusted, so it clings to Him even when there are many things that are unseen and not worked out from our perspective. Faith clings to God when you do not know how things are going to shake out and where exactly you are going to land.  

Let’s be real here: most of life right now from our perspective is absolutely uncertain. We do not know what the next moment holds, much less the next year or the next decade. That is our perspective, but that is not God’s perspective. So at times of uncertainty the last response that we need is fear. The response that we need is faith. Because the uncertainty is only an apparent uncertainty; everything is certain to the God that we are called to trust.  

Fear and faith cannot coexist. If you have fear it shows that you do not have faith. If you have faith it will dispel the fear. But all of this is a matter of perspective. It all derives from how one sees things: do you see by merely sight or do you see by faith? Fear sees only the uncertainty and the unanswered questions and the range of options. Faith sees only God.

 

So when you do not have all of the answers where do you go? You go to God. You remind yourself of who He is and what He has promised. And you stay there and you cling to Him. That is faith for real life.