Peace & Love Corp.

The F.A.C.T. about Faith

Soren A. Kierkegaard once described the Christian's Faith in God as something which has no rational ground for that belief in God to be based on.
In explaining his thought, he coined the term "leap of faith", to describe the Christian's trust in God as something that is like a blind act of will.

Today, many Christians still struggle with the notion of having Faith in God in daily living.

1. Is Faith something void of rational basis?
2. Is Faith a blind act of the human will?
3. Is Faith in God simply a state of mind?

Understanding the F.A.C.T. about Faith
- Faith is Acting upon Certainty of Truth

Christians should not be unfamiliar with Hebrews 11:1 which states that "...Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.".

But what exactly is it that we are "sure" and "certain of"?
The answer cannot be clearer, that it is our destiny of eternity with God our Father, through the redemption of Christ our Lord.

Knowing this, we ask ourselves, what is the basis of our Faith?
Based on what do we believe what we do?

3 Fundamental Bases for the Christian Faith

i) The Logos Word of God - The Holy Bible.
It cannot be clearer. The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that "...Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.".

ii) The accounts of saints in the past.
In Hebrews 11, we see the Bible made a record of the many people who obeyed God by faith and prevailed. Besides the saints in the Bible, we also have historical records of men and women of God in modern history (George Mueller, D.L. Moody, Billy Graham, John Sung, just to name a few...), who testified to a faithful God in their lives. If great men and women of history stood united in a certain stand as such, surely their testimonies cannot be taken lightly.

iii) Personal testimony.
If you are a Christian, surely you can recall the many occasions when God showed up when you stepped out in faith. One of the main reasons why we often fail to step out in faith is due to our inability to remember the acts of our faithful God in our lives. Once we remember, we will be able to trust God for what we do not know, because of what He has shown us that we do know.

Therefore, based on the above, we can easily see that everytime a Christian needs to step out in Faith, he or she is not committing an act of irrationality.

And because stepping out in Faith is not an irrational behaviour, and precisely because it is a fully rational one, Faith in God is therefore...

Not taking a leap into the unknown!

Faith in God is thus, not a blind act of will...but a rational response made in obedience to trust God in a situation that requires it to arise.

Now, we are left with the last question to tackle...

Is Faith simply a state of mind?

The answer cannot be clearer when we understand what is being taught in James 2:17-18.

"Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." – James 2:17,18

Faith was never a state of mind.
The kind of Faith mentioned in the pages of the Bible always appears in an ACTION form.
From Abraham bringing Issac to be killed...to Moses taking up the mission to deliver the Israelites...to the four friends who did everything in faith to save their friend in Mark 2...the list goes on...

We see every time in the Bible...

Visible Faith.

Faith is thus, not a state of mind, as some may simply brush off as.

Faith is, in all instances of the Bible, an action word.
A person who claims to have Faith, will in the time of test, have to respond with a work birth out of the Faith which he or she claims to possess in Christ.

Growing in Faith

With the understanding of what Faith essentially is, we will have to ask ourselves...are we growing in Faith?

So many a times, I hear people saying..."I wish I have more faith!"
Well...the question I would so much like to pose them in response, would be,
"How much are you then, living in obedience to God?"

You see, Faith in God is essentially an action which is done in obedience to God in times when it is hard to do so.

When such an obedience is observed, the Faith of the Christian naturally grows, because he or she will have then witnessed for himself the goodness of God and peace deposited in his heart.

Most of all, he would have seen with his own eyes, how real God works in his world.

With such an experience, the Christian's confidence in trusting God's Word is boosted.

When such obedience is continued without a hiatus, growth in Faith is almost guaranteed.

As certainty of truth leads to an action of obedience, an action of obedience will further enhance the very certainty of truth.

And Faith in our mighty God of universe, naturally grows.

posted by Si'er @ Monday, August 15, 2005