Part V: Understanding Faith
The second of Paul’s metrics that we’ll examine is faith.
It’s central to Christianity. It’s the seed within man that alone can please God and produce all other fruit. According to Ian Thomas, if the Holy Spirit is our spiritual engine, faith then is the clutch that engages it and connects our life with the Lord’s empowerment. If there is one concept that is most practical to our journey, this would be the one.
But what is faith? What is it really?
The word most commonly used in the Bible for ‘faith’ in the New Testament is the Greek word pistis (πίστις) which is most accurately translated trust. Why didn’t the translators just use the word ‘trust’ in the Bible instead of ‘faith’? Well, it has to do with when Bibles began first being translated from Greek into Latin. The Latin word for trust is fides, which when translated back to English is (you guessed it) ‘faith’. So whenever you see the word ‘faith’ in the Bible, it is accurate to substitute the word ‘trust’.
Once we properly recognize faith as simply trust, ‘faith’ changes from being merely a noun to also being a verb. It suggests an associated action. In other words, faith isn’t just something we have, it’s something we do.
While it’s accurate to say faith is ‘trusting in God’, I think it lacks precision. To me, leaving it there is a little vague and could lead some people into a shallow understanding or (even worse) into dangerous thinking.
- Is it enough to trust that God is real?
- Do I trust that God will give me everything I ask him for?
- Is this trust broad and general or am I supposed to trust Him in specific things?
- Is trust a mental assent to a set of facts about God or is something else expected of me?
Looking Closely at Hebrews 11:1
So, to get a more precise understanding of faith we need to get a better understanding of the object of our trust. We also need to understand how we demonstrate it. Hebrews 11:1 is often quoted as the go-to verse for a formal definition of Biblical faith. Below are three popular translations:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (NIV)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (ESV)
I’m going to admit to you that none of these definitions ever really helped me understand biblical faith. At best, I got the impression that faith is ‘certainty about what we believe’. But I always felt that there was a deeper meaning hidden somewhere in that verse. It wasn’t until I read Watchman Nee’s Normal Christian Life that I finally understood what it was.
In the book, Nee explains that the Greek word hupostasis, (ὑπόστασις) when translated as confidence, substance, or assurance is an imperfect translation due to the verb-like nature of the word in Greek. He suggested that the Darby translation instead provides much greater insight:
Now faith is [the] substantiating of things hoped for, [the] conviction of things not seen.” (Darby)
According to this translation, we demonstrate trust through substantiation. But, what does it mean to substantiate something?
When we substantiate something we give substance to it. We provide evidence for it. For example, I substantiate my employment by showing up at work each day, working hard all day, and doing my best to add value for my organization to the work I’m assigned to do. I substantiate my role as husband and father by loving my wife, loving my children, protecting them, and providing for them. To substantiate something is to live it out by our thoughts and actions.
What then are to substantiate? What are we supposed to “live out”?
Now faith is [the] substantiating of things hoped for… (Darby)
In the previous post we learned that a believer’s ultimate hope is wrapped in a future, culminating eschatological event that includes an assuredness of bodily resurrection, the end of suffering, the reconciliation of the universe, uninhibited communion with the Lord, and the redemption of our original purpose. These are the things are the things hoped for. They have been set in motion and guaranteed through the authority vested in Christ the King.
But it doesn’t merely exist in the future. Recall that Peter referred to our hope as a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). It’s a hope that’s presently alive. Because Christ was inaugurated King at His resurrection, we can substantiate this hope today and every day until it is one day revealed in fullness.
Faith in Practice
Given this discussion, I’ve been working on a definition that provides fuller and broader meaning to what God has in mind when He asks us to have faith. For faith is…
A recognition of
our King’s sovereign reign
that we demonstrate by
our thoughts and actions
The balance of Hebrews 11 speaks of the ways throughout history that various ‘heroes of the faith’ gave substance to their hope as they understood it in their time. Their hope was substantiated by offering God unrestricted access to their will.
So what does faith look like when practiced? Well, the confirming action can be proactive, premeditated, and specific. But sometimes we act in faith in response to a situation in which we find ourselves. Here are some examples to explain what I mean:
1. A person recognizes that Christ is King and puts their trust in Him as not only their Savior, but as their Lord. By their baptism, they are severing ties with the world and the systems that oppose Christ and declare Him publicly as the King of All. As they responded to the Spirit’s revelation of Christ’s Lordship in their heart, they acted in faith.
2. A Christian community recognizes Christ as reigning Lord. As they abide closely in the Lord with other believers, they offer up their time and resources. They collectively sense His prompting to engage the marginalized and impoverished in their city. Rather than pursue what seems like the “churchy” thing to do in that situation, they acknowledge the Lord as their Head and engage Him in prayer to lead them into a specific work. They listen, recognizing that His sheep hear His voice. After a period of earnest searching by the entire group, they collectively sense the Spirit’s leading to first develop relationships with those in the target community. Over the course of discerning the path of Christ into this community, the community of Christ acted in faith.
3. I’m at work giving a presentation when a competitive colleague begins pointing out the inconsistencies in my proposed methodology. He deliberately makes me appear incompetent in front of my peers and my supervisor. The response of the flesh would be to make excuses, lash out at my co-worker, and do just about anything to deflect blame and save myself from embarrassment. However, by faith, I trust that God is the only righteous Judge of my character. I trust that He loves me and knows me and is perfectly fully content with me in Christ Jesus. I confirm this trust by remaining humble and civil to my co-worker, finishing my presentation without offense. In that moment, I acted in faith.
4. Your daughter has an incurable illness. Despite your earnest prayers and the prayers of friends and family, the prognosis appears bleak. In time you aren’t even sure what to pray for anymore and fear forces itself upon you. In the flesh you may blame God (certainly he could take the illness away), you might search for some ‘sin’ that you believe He is punishing you for, or you may turn from Him (even when you need Him the most). However, by faith, you trust that God listens earnestly to every word from your heart. You realize that while He is allowing this illness to continue for now, He is completely trustworthy and is using the situation for a greater good, a weightier glory. While continuing to make your wishes known to your Abba father, you confirm your trust by submitting to His sovereignty and His love regardless of the outcome During that time of deep and penetrating anguish, you acted in faith.
In each of these examples the believer recognized Christ’s rule as a settled fact. They then acted in accordance with that fact. In my own experience, I’ve found faith best practiced in the context of intentional living. They key is to maintain a keen awareness of both the Lord’s presence and our own circumstances.
What Faith is Not
Needless to say, faith is not merely a mental assent to the idea that God exists or only that Jesus died for your sins. Of course these things are part of it, but it’s much more pervasive than that.
Neither is faith a belief that He will grant every wish from a misaligned heart.
Rather, faith is a continuous, abiding trust where we act in accordance with the reality and promises of our Reigning King.
There is a tendency by some to consider quantifying how much faith needs to be exercised to ensure their salvation. Frankly, we need to quit thinking this way. What is important is that we exercise the faith we have when the opportunity arises. The Lord wants our trust in Him to increase. Dependence on the Lord is a sign of spiritual maturity. We will be stretched for our faith to grow. We’ll be put in situations where God’s sovereign rule is easy for us to reject.
Where we refuse His rule, we will have missed a valuable opportunity to grow.
Where we choose to exercise faith (even faith as small as a mustard seed), we will grow. Not only will we grow, we’ll mark ourselves as kingdom-citizens–demonstrating, embodying, and proclaiming the reality of His present and future Kingdom.
Image Credit: Dami Wurtz from Pixabay