What in the World is Faith?
What In The World Is Faith?
By: Dr. Danny Purivs
In my humble opinion, faith, for the Believer, is one of the most nebulous constructs related to our salvation. Think about how often we refer to that word in relation to our salvation. We use it as a noun to refer to our Christianity. We refer to it as an adjective in reference to our character in Christ. We use it as a euphemism to illustrate our very Christianity…such as when we say that our faith is very important to us. The literal word is used some 228 times in the New Testament alone. It’s derivative, ‘faithful’, is mentioned literally some 43 times in the New Testament. These numbers do not take into consideration how many times it is referred to using other words. And it is directly connected to our salvation as Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8 that we are “saved by grace through faith”. Faith is as important to our salvation and as a part of our ongoing sanctification as anything is. And yet.
Have you ever tried to write a one sentence definition of the word. It is not as easy as it sounds. You could have a 100 people write out a definition and though many aspects would be similar, you’d probably get differences in all 100 examples. So, how could something so important be so difficult to accurately and completely define? It is so difficult that even God’s definition of faith actually encourages more questions than it answers. Because the Bible does, in fact, include a one sentence definition of this vital construct. You can find it in Hebrews 11:1. The writer of Hebrews states: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. If we are being honest, that is a very intellectually unsatisfying definition that, as I said before, raises more questions than it answers. What does that sentence actually mean as it relates to the all-important idea of faith?
In the original language the word ‘assurance’ literally means “that which has actual existence”. It is the literal substance of reality. The word ‘conviction’ literally means “proof of a thing that has been tested”. But that begs the question: How can a person have assurance of something that is “hoped for” and proof of something “not seen”? Those ideas are contrary to our very nature which is disinclined to believe in a God that we cannot see…and embrace a Messiah we have never seen. This tendency even showed up in the Gospels. After Jesus rose from the dead, not all of His disciples had witnessed Him post-resurrection. One of these guys was Thomas. If you remember, Thomas, in fact, steadfastly asserted that unless he could see and physically touch Jesus’ crucifixion wounds, he would not believe that He had risen from the dead.
When Jesus did reveal Himself to Thomas He said something interesting. Even though Thomas did believe after seeing Jesus (even to the point of calling Jesus God), Jesus responded like this: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We (Christians) are “those who have not seen and yet have believed”. But as I said, believing in things we have never seen or will ever see is not natural to us. Part of our sinful nature is to be skeptical of things in general, and skeptical of the things of God in particular. We will not see Jesus until we get to heaven. We will not see God until we get to heaven. And yet, we place all of our faith in God Whom we have never seen nor will we ever see this side of heaven? How in the world is that possible.
In the world…it is not possible. And that’s the point. You want to know why I think we have a hard time defining faith? I will assume you do if you are still reading this. Because we have not seen faith in its proper context. We can certainly quote Eph. 2:8 that faith is a “gift”. But we do not see it in its totality. It is not just a gift…it is a miracle. Faith is a miracle. And how do you define a miracle? It is not “normal” to have assurance of something we simply hope for. It is not normal to have conviction of something we cannot see. It is counter to everything we know to believe in something we cannot see, smell, taste, touch, or hear. And yet, if we are His children, we believe that very thing. That has nothing to do with us…and everything to do with Him and His gift. His miracle.
It is a miracle that I have faith that the God of the Bible exists. It is a miracle that I believe every single thing in His Word. It is a miracle that I believe that Jesus existed…that He was the God-Man…that He lived a sinless life…that He died for my sin…that He rose again…that He paid for my sin…that I will be with Him forever once my time on this planet is done. I never saw or experienced any of that. I don’t personally know anyone who saw or experienced any of that. There is no natural, worldly-rational reason for me to have faith in any of that. Not one. In fact, in my natural state…I shouldn’t believe any of that. It should be “foolishness” to me (1 Cor. 1:23). But because He loved me…saved me…gave ne eyes and ears to see and here…I believe it all. And that, my brothers and sisters, is a miracle. How cool is that?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purivs
In my humble opinion, faith, for the Believer, is one of the most nebulous constructs related to our salvation. Think about how often we refer to that word in relation to our salvation. We use it as a noun to refer to our Christianity. We refer to it as an adjective in reference to our character in Christ. We use it as a euphemism to illustrate our very Christianity…such as when we say that our faith is very important to us. The literal word is used some 228 times in the New Testament alone. It’s derivative, ‘faithful’, is mentioned literally some 43 times in the New Testament. These numbers do not take into consideration how many times it is referred to using other words. And it is directly connected to our salvation as Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8 that we are “saved by grace through faith”. Faith is as important to our salvation and as a part of our ongoing sanctification as anything is. And yet.
Have you ever tried to write a one sentence definition of the word. It is not as easy as it sounds. You could have a 100 people write out a definition and though many aspects would be similar, you’d probably get differences in all 100 examples. So, how could something so important be so difficult to accurately and completely define? It is so difficult that even God’s definition of faith actually encourages more questions than it answers. Because the Bible does, in fact, include a one sentence definition of this vital construct. You can find it in Hebrews 11:1. The writer of Hebrews states: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. If we are being honest, that is a very intellectually unsatisfying definition that, as I said before, raises more questions than it answers. What does that sentence actually mean as it relates to the all-important idea of faith?
In the original language the word ‘assurance’ literally means “that which has actual existence”. It is the literal substance of reality. The word ‘conviction’ literally means “proof of a thing that has been tested”. But that begs the question: How can a person have assurance of something that is “hoped for” and proof of something “not seen”? Those ideas are contrary to our very nature which is disinclined to believe in a God that we cannot see…and embrace a Messiah we have never seen. This tendency even showed up in the Gospels. After Jesus rose from the dead, not all of His disciples had witnessed Him post-resurrection. One of these guys was Thomas. If you remember, Thomas, in fact, steadfastly asserted that unless he could see and physically touch Jesus’ crucifixion wounds, he would not believe that He had risen from the dead.
When Jesus did reveal Himself to Thomas He said something interesting. Even though Thomas did believe after seeing Jesus (even to the point of calling Jesus God), Jesus responded like this: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We (Christians) are “those who have not seen and yet have believed”. But as I said, believing in things we have never seen or will ever see is not natural to us. Part of our sinful nature is to be skeptical of things in general, and skeptical of the things of God in particular. We will not see Jesus until we get to heaven. We will not see God until we get to heaven. And yet, we place all of our faith in God Whom we have never seen nor will we ever see this side of heaven? How in the world is that possible.
In the world…it is not possible. And that’s the point. You want to know why I think we have a hard time defining faith? I will assume you do if you are still reading this. Because we have not seen faith in its proper context. We can certainly quote Eph. 2:8 that faith is a “gift”. But we do not see it in its totality. It is not just a gift…it is a miracle. Faith is a miracle. And how do you define a miracle? It is not “normal” to have assurance of something we simply hope for. It is not normal to have conviction of something we cannot see. It is counter to everything we know to believe in something we cannot see, smell, taste, touch, or hear. And yet, if we are His children, we believe that very thing. That has nothing to do with us…and everything to do with Him and His gift. His miracle.
It is a miracle that I have faith that the God of the Bible exists. It is a miracle that I believe every single thing in His Word. It is a miracle that I believe that Jesus existed…that He was the God-Man…that He lived a sinless life…that He died for my sin…that He rose again…that He paid for my sin…that I will be with Him forever once my time on this planet is done. I never saw or experienced any of that. I don’t personally know anyone who saw or experienced any of that. There is no natural, worldly-rational reason for me to have faith in any of that. Not one. In fact, in my natural state…I shouldn’t believe any of that. It should be “foolishness” to me (1 Cor. 1:23). But because He loved me…saved me…gave ne eyes and ears to see and here…I believe it all. And that, my brothers and sisters, is a miracle. How cool is that?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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