What is faith anyway?
Photo by Jon Tyson
I remember when I was younger, the basic impression I got from religious people was that I had to have "faith." Faith just in general, but sometimes more specifically in "god," generically.
Yet faith is worthless first of all if it is not in Jesus, and also if it doesn't show itself in action. Let me unpack these two ideas.
A better word for faith and even belief, or at least a synonym, could be "trust." Take this definition of faith in the Bible, for example:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
That assurance is a type of trust, even if I can't see the object of my faith and belief. I trust Jesus and his promises, especially for the future. That is faith.
And it is crucial that the faith be specifically in Jesus and not just a generic god. Jesus is most clear about this point in the book of John, which is one of the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. Consider what he says here:
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. ... Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.
So the object of our faith/trust must be Jesus.
But, and it's a big but, faith isn't just a mental exercise. Another misleading way people speak is to treat faith (or belief) as if it were something you just think or say—a conviction. But, again, consider this biblical explanation of faith:
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
There is a lived-out aspect of faith/trust in Jesus that doesn't remain in our minds alone. In other words, not only do our minds change, but our actions change, too. They change by lining up with God’s ways. Those actions, or works, are evidence that the faith is genuine.
I'm talking to someone right now who is beginning to trust in Jesus, and I'm seeing changes in his life. God is clearly working in his life. The way he speaks, the things he does, his outlook, and the way he treats other people are changing for the good. It's not just a head trip for him. The faith growing in him is showing itself tangibly.
That's because faith in Jesus is a trust in him that is displayed in our actions. Our actions alone don't make us right with Jesus. Faith without works is dead. But so are religious works without faith dead, too. We need both.
