The Defamation of Faith
Over the years certain Biblical words have been misused and perverted by both false Christianity and the secular world. One such word is faith. Those from the prosperity gospel side have misused “faith”, making it more about a way to get what we want from God. They view faith as a sort of magic trick we can do to make God give us what we want. The secular world has also misused “faith”, changing it to mean more of a fluffy emotional feeling rather than an “assurance of the things to come, and a conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). As Christians we understand that our “faith” should be true and genuine, and it should affect the way we live our lives.
The Origin of Faith
To rightly understand faith, we need to go to the beginning. Where does this faith come from? How do we get it? Romans 10:17 says, “So, faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ”. When the church first started, not everyone had his own Bible. The church would gather, someone would read the Bible out loud, and the believers would listen. This is what Romans 10:17 means by “hearing”. Faith comes from the “hearing” of the word of God or the Bible. Reading our Bible corporately and privately is essential because it is the key to our Faith. Without the word of God in our lives, we have no faith and our religion is empty and pointless. A key part of this hearing is also a God-given ability to not only understand the word but also the ability from God to appropriate the truth.
The Outworking of Faith
This faith that forms the basis of our religion also affects the way we conduct our day-to-day lives. It is such a huge part of who we are as Christians! Genuine faith will radically change our lives from what we were before we were saved. Firstly, it gives us hope. It gives us hope of justification, and through that eternal life with Christ in a perfect world free from sin. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of your own doing but a gift of God.” The faith we have gives us hope for what is to come. Faith is also the conduit of our justification, “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law” (Galatians 2:16). Secondly, we cannot simply just have faith. Genuine faith has to be followed by actions. Faith is not given to us by our actions, but its genuineness is shown in the actions that follow genuine faith. James 2:22 says, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works.” As Christians who are saved through faith and encouraged through faith, why are we so quick to give up faith? In 1 Timothy 6:12, we are told to fight the good fight of faith. This implies that it will be hard and we will be tempted to give up. But what army commander ever gives up quickly? Then why do we so easily give up on the most important fight of all? Hebrews 10:23 encourages us, “Let us hold fast to our faith without wavering, and remember that God is faithful, and He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.”