What is faith?
Last week, we wrote It Is Not About You or Me; It Is About Jesus; today we would like to talk about faith.
It is a word we often hear from our preachers; yet a word that may even be confusing to many (including me).
Are we saved by faith alone? Or does faith requires action for us to be saved?
Below are some of the explanations regarding faith:
Faith is defined as belief with strong conviction; firm belief in something for which there may be no tangible proof; complete trust, confidence, reliance, or devotion. Faith is the opposite of doubt.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines faith as “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence; unquestioning belief in God, religious tenets.”
By Mary Fairchild, LearnReligions.com
Genuine biblical faith expresses itself in everyday life. James writes that “faith by itself, apart from works, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith works through love to produce tangible evidence of its existence in a person’s life (Gal 5:6). Put another way, the obedience that pleases God comes from faith (Rom 1:5, 16:26), rather than a mere sense of duty or obligation. There is all the difference in the world between the husband who buys his wife flowers out of delight and one who buys them simply out of duty.
Christianity.com
What does the Bible says about Faith?
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.
Romans 1:17
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8–9
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:17
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Galatians 5:6
What is my personal conviction?
At this stage, this is how I understand my faith.
Faith is a living manifestation of what I believed in: that by grace, I have been saved through faith. It is not of my own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of my good works. Who am I to boast that I should be saved because of my good works? Like many others, I have sinned, and am ashamed of my wrongdoings and shortcomings. For when I seek God and ask for his forgiveness, in the name of Jesus, I have been saved.
I believe that faith works through love, and that faith is not merely believing. Faith stems not from my own volition. Faith is a grace from God that can transform lives as it has transformed many lives in the past until the present. Faith directly comes from God, through the Holy Spirit. Because of which, Faith manifests through love.
Faith is a living manifestation of who truly resides in my heart: Jesus.
By God’s grace, I have faith.
Because of faith, I become a living witness of God’s love and forgiveness.
Related post: A Gift from God: You Have Been Saved Through Faith