“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” – Romans
5: 1 & 2
Lately, God has been exercising my mind on the topic of
faith. It certainly is the “activating agent” in the plan of
salvation. Simply put, without faith, nothing gets done. In the
discourse below, I endeavor, with God being my help (“for without him we can do
nothing”), to explore in brief, plain speech, the following question:
What
is faith?
The Hebrew writer tells us faith is “the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1) And that by it
“we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Heb 11:3) In
short, by faith we know that the natural was created by the supernatural.
In other words, what you: see, touch, feel; was not created by anything that
you can see, touch, or feel. Now, one might ask…. “How can you prove
that?” Answer: Faith – accepting, believing, and acting in obedience to
the God of all creation. It is trusting in God and not in, well, anything
else.
Consider the following for example: A squirrel wakes in the
morning and comes down from the tree. He bounds right up to a certain
spot amiss a vast area of property (i.e. your back yard). He digs, finds
a nut, and begins to eat. That squirrel knew where breakfast was before
he left the tree. Now, the mocking bird in the same tree wakes in the
morning. He spreads his wings and lifts from the branch. He fly’s
the skies above and scans the ground below looking, “in faith”, trusting that somewhere,
something unseen, has provided breakfast. The squirrel leaves the tree
knowing where breakfast waits. The bird leaves the tree trusting that
something beyond their own ability has provided breakfast. Which has
faith? Which, of the two, is free?
Faith is accepting, believing, and acting in obedience to
God. It is trusting in God alone. Faith is the activating agent in
God’s plan of salvation. It is the spark that starts the engine and the
very thing that keeps the motor running. You cannot have God without faith;
because without faith there is no evidence of God. Faith is what
persuaded Abraham to leave his family and seek for “a city whose builder and
maker was God.” Faith is what called Moses out of Pharaoh’s
mansion. Faith is what translated Enoch and saved Rehab the harlot.
Faith is what gave the prophets and martyrs of old the ware withal to stand up
to in the face of vicious persecution. Faith is what brought God on the
scene then, and it is what will bring him on the scene now. Faith is the
end of your ability, and the absolute trusting of His. Salvation is by
faith; you wish to be saved from the bondage of sin? Close your eyes and
ask in faith; “nothing wavering”, saying “Lord I give my all to you, because I
want you to be all to me.” One must accept, believe, act, and
trust…..Faith.
Any:
Thoughts? Criticisms? Concerns? Questions? Please reply to pgcollins65@gmail.com
