12 ways of understanding faith

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith is vastly different from presumption.

Faith has its reasons for believing a thing, doing something, going someplace. Presumption is blind faith, and believes/does/goes without having been told or sent.

“The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17, and Galatians 3:11). “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Presumption has no place in the life of a believer.

The parents who withhold medical care from a child because they “just know” God will heal him are living by presumption, not faith. The preacher who leaves home for some foreign land without a clear word from God because he “just knows” the Lord will not abandon him is testing God’s patience and being presumptuous.

“Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins” (Psalm 19:13).

I want to live by faith.  Faith means “I believe in God and I have confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ” (John 14:1).  I have evidence, conviction, and to some extent, proof. What I do not have is all my questions answered, all my doubts removed, all the evidence I’d like. If I did have all that, I would not need faith but would be walking “by sight.”

God wants us to live and work, worship and teach, pray and serve by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When lived out and applied, faith shows up in a lot of ways….

Think of the blind beggar of Jericho calling for “Jesus, Son of David!” to “have mercy on me!”  (The story is told in Matthew 20, Mark 10, and Luke 18, with minor variations in each place. My favorite is Luke 18:35ff.)

1) When the unqualified and undeserving call on Jesus, that is faith.

This beggar needed a haircut last year and a bath the year before that.  He is an embarrassment to the community. Yet, he does not shirk from calling on Jesus at the first opportunity because “I’m not presentable.” None of us are. We are all unworthy.

Faith is not about me; it’s about Him.

2) Now, this beggar is blind and cannot see and does not know exactly where Jesus is, so he calls loudly and keeps calling until he is heard.  When one lives in darkness and cannot see, but calls anyway, that is faith.

Faith needs evidence, but the less evidence we have, the more faith is required. (To repeat, going without any evidence is presumption. Faith always has reasons for doing what it does.)

3) The people entering Jericho ahead of the Lord rebuked the beggar, telling him to be quiet and shut up.  But the more they tried to shush him, the louder he called.  When one persists in the face of discouragement, that is faith.

Faith is in Jesus, not people, even good people. (The next chapter–Luke 20–gives us the story of Zaccheus, who also comes to Jesus by his persistence when everyone around him is blocking his way. He climbs a sycamore tree!)

4) When one comes to Jesus against great obstacles, that is faith.

Faith is all about overcoming obstacles. If there were none, no faith would be required. And the greater the obstacle, the greater the faith which is required.

Think of the four men who brought the paralytic to Jesus in Mark 2. The obstacles they encountered included the crowd which refused to move, the physical barriers, including the roof itself, and the hostility of some religious leaders. Yet, the Lord “saw their faith” and was most impressed.

You will recall how our Lord said of the centurion, “I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel” (Matthew 8:10).  What made his faith great? He had so many obstacles to surmount to get to Jesus: his position, his pride, his questions, his own religion, the religious leaders of Judaism, and many other factors of which we are unaware.

5) When one obeys Jesus regardless of how he feels, that is faith.

We’re not told how the blind beggar felt about anything. I imagine he felt lonely and isolated, rejected as he was by the people around him.  Would Jesus reject him also? He was willing to take that chance.

Faith does not trust its own feelings because they fluctuate and are undependable.

The person who refuses to come to Jesus because “I’m afraid of what mama will say” (or my friends will do) is not acting on faith but out of fear.

6) When one praises the Lord while in great pain, that is faith of the purest kind. (See Psalm 69:29-30 and Acts 16:25).

Faith knows the momentary light affliction is producing an exceeding weight of glory far beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).

7) When one is told by the Lord to do something but with insufficient resources and inadequate manpower and he goes ahead, that is faith.

Faith knows all resources belong to Him and He will provide.

8) When one moves out to obey the Lord even when wishing he had more information and felt more confident, that is faith.

Faith trusts in the Lord, not in information or his emotions.

9) When one serves the Lord, year in and year out, even though seeing little fruit for his labor, that is faith.

Faith trusts in the timing of the Lord. Eventually, seed sown today will bear a harvest, the promise of Isaiah 55:10-11.

10) When one loses everything he had considered a blessing from heaven and still praises God, that is faith. (See Job 1:21, such a great testimony.).

But whether we lose the most precious things in life or only the trinkets and baubles, in the long run, it’s all good.

All the blind beggar had to give up to get to Jesus was his rags (see Mark 10:50). I imagine he fought dogs for that garment day after day. But when Jesus calls, he throws it aside and comes. Anything we give up to come to Jesus is worthless anyway, whether it was a career or a lifelong friendship or a thousand other things.

Faith keeps its focus on the eternal.

11) When one says ‘no’ to a habit or some pleasure which he enjoys but knows is displeasing to the Lord, that is faith.

Faith gives up dead weights, hobbies, pleasures, and relationships which hold us back and interfere with our obedience to the Savior. “Laying aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us” is how Hebrews 12:1 puts it.

This may be what Paul had in mind in Romans 1:17 in the expression “going from faith to faith.” We take a step of faith today, and instead of arriving at a plateau where we may rest, the Lord puts another step in front of us.  It’s all about growth in Christlikeness, or sanctification.  It’s about growing stronger and thus more useful to the Savior.

12) Faith means continuing to praise the Lord and staying near Him after we have received our request.

The once-blind and no-longer-a-beggar “began following Him, glorifying God” (Luke 18:43).  This is what faith does: it continues.

How many more statements of explanation can we find to define faith?  I imagine as many as there are believers willing to step out “in faith” and come to Jesus. Each one will see the Lord in a special way and each will be given his/her own experiences unique to them.  Therefore, each will have a testimony, a song, a praise unlike anyone else in the congregation (see Romans 12:6-8, among other places).

The big question, the greatest of all perhaps, is Luke 18:8. “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

Let’s you and I answer, “Yes, you will, Lord. Starting here, with me!”

It’s not easy. If it were, everyone would be doing it. So we pray by faith. We worship by faith. We give generously, even sacrificially, by faith. We leave home and take the gospel to other lands by faith. And eventually, we will die by faith, knowing that He is faithful who promised.

I love the promise of Luke 14:14. “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Amen.

 

 

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