Have you ever noticed that in our language, we take words of meaning and significance, and sometimes, through overuse and misuse, we often will deplete the meaning and the significance of that word?
The word “love” comes to mind. This is a word that we just really overuse, I think, these days. We just seem to LOVE everything, don’t we? We LOVE our dog, and we LOVE our new dress, and we LOVE our car, and we LOVE the new furniture that we got for the house, and we LOVE the barbecue down at that new barbecue restaurant that we just found, and we LOVE our new hairdo, and maybe we even love our hairdresser—I’m not sure! But we just LOVE everything!!
Well now, think about it. We use the same word to express our feeling, our sentiment about our dog and about a meal that we just had, and maybe about some new clothes that we just bought—and that same word is used to express the way we feel toward our spouse, the way we feel toward our children, the way we feel toward each other as brethren—as children of God. And, yes, we use the same word to express our feeling toward God Himself and how God looks to us—that word “love”. We use it so much that I’m afraid that the true significance, the true meaning of it gets “watered down”.
You say, “Well, John, you know, we know what we mean.” But do we really? Or is that just a word that we kind of throw around sometimes without really thinking about it? Maybe it’s unfortunate that our English language is not as colorful, and doesn’t have the depth of words and meaning that some other languages do.
In thinking about this word “love”, for example, the Greek language that our New Testament was written in has several words that express the feeling of sentiment. And you use a different word, you know. If you’re talking about the love that you have for your new car, you’d use one word. If you’re talking about how much you enjoy and appreciate and like your new hairdo, you’d use another word. But when you’re talking about the love that you have for your spouse and for your children, you would also use another word. Different words in the Greek language convey different meanings.
When we would be talking about our love for God, and His love for us, we use an entirely different word in the Greek language. And there would be no mistaking—no misunderstanding—about what we were meaning. And there would certainly be no “watering down” of that word.
Another word that comes to mind is the very Name of God. God’s Name has, sadly, crept into just regular, ordinary, everyday expressions during this day and time. And, thus, to many people, God’s Name has lost some of its significance. I think you’d agree with me when I say that God desires His Name to be used only in a reverent and loving way.
The ancient Jews felt so strongly about the use of God’s Name that they wouldn’t even utter the Name of God in their conversation or even in the reading of their Scriptures. They just felt that God’s Name was too holy, too sacred to even spill from their lips! And, therefore, they came up with a word to use in substitution—a word which we would translate loosely into English as “My Lord”. What a contrast with what is done today when God’s Name is relegated to an everyday expression of anger, surprise—even delight, I suppose. God’s Name indeed has lost its holy and its reverent significance—not only to the speaker, but also to the hearer.
Another word that comes to mind is the word “faith”. This is a word that all of us regularly use in our conversation. And in our everyday manner of speaking, it has come to be understood as practically synonymous with such words as “luck”, or “good fortune” or even “chance”. We have “faith” in our favorite team. You Dallas Cowboy football team fans had “faith” today that the Cowboys were going to prevail over the Chicago Bears—I know you did! We have “faith” that some great feat will be accomplished by a particular person. We have “faith” that the Publisher’s Clearinghouse prize patrol is going to ring our doorbell someday and say that we’ve won millions of dollars! (And so we meticulously keep our house clean because of that.) That’s “faith”!
We were up in northern New Mexico the latter part of the week—we came back yesterday. And I hadn’t made that trip in a long time. I’m not sure how many “gaming palaces” and casinos and other places like these there are in this State. I think we saw about 50 of these gambling places between here and the town of Chama yesterday. And the parking lots were full! And I suppose, in a manner of speaking, in the way we use this word “faith”, we might say that a lot of those folks who were in those gaming casinos yesterday and today, and so on, had “faith” that they were going to…win something, I suppose.
I’m certainly not condemning the everyday use of the word “faith”. It’s in our vocabulary, and it’s a word that does have meaning and expression. But I submit to you that we must be careful that we do not allow this word to lose its significance so as to impair our understanding as it relates to our spiritual lives.
And this is the subject that I want to explore with you tonight—FAITH. And I want to answer the question, “What IS faith?” Now, I admit that this is an often talked about, and often studied, and probably an often preached about subject. Yet, I think it’s good for us to go back to the fundamental themes of the Scriptures from time to time to help us to reinforce and reaffirm their proper meaning and perspective. And as we’ve indicated in these introductory remarks, it may be that our regular and ordinary everyday use of this word “faith”, and the misuse of the principle—the concept—behind it has caused us to lose the true understanding. Certainly, the spiritual significance and need for faith is indisputable in our lives and beliefs as Christians, and in our relationship with God.
First, let’s look at the significance of faith. That’s a good place to start. Alexander Campbell, who was, of course, one of the pioneers of the last century, says, “Faith is the link between man and God.” And in the Scripture itself, we see the significance of faith in several places.
First, we see the significance of faith in Peter’s listing of Christian virtues, in 2 Peter, the first chapter, and verse 5. It’s no accident there that Peter lists faith as first on the list. And I believe that the reason he listed faith first is because faith starts it all off. Faith is the basis—faith is the foundation of everything that will follow. First comes faith, then goodness, then knowledge, then self-control, then perseverance, then godliness, then brotherly kindness and, finally, love. But faith starts it all off. Everything else listed here is built upon that foundation of faith.
Also, faith is necessary for us to be, and continue to be, a child of God. Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Faith is essential to salvation. In Ephesians 2, verse 8, Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.”
Faith is vital to everything! In the Roman letter, Paul writes in Romans 14, verse 23, that “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” And in the Hebrew letter, Hebrews 11, verse 6, we see that “Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.”
And so, I know you agree with me that “faith” is a vital and very important subject—one which we need to understand as much about as we possibly can.
Well, in answering the question, “What is faith?”, perhaps the best place to start is with a definition. And I didn’t go to a Webster dictionary or to a Bible dictionary of some sort for the definition of this word. Rather, we can go to the Word of God, and we can find the very best definition, I believe, that can be found for what “faith” is—or how to define the word “faith.” And that’s found, once again, in the great “Faith Chapter” of the Bible, Hebrews 11, and verse 1. And the writer starts out there and says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” So, there’s our definition for the word “faith”.
Understanding the definition—or seeing the definition, then, let us delve a little deeper. How does faith function? How does faith operate? What are the characteristics of faith?
And the first thing I’d like to point out to us is that faith is seeing the unseen. Faith is SEEING the unseen. I believe there’s a tendency for us, as human beings, NOT to do that. Our tendency, rather, is to have things as visible for us as we possibly can. Hebrews—the entire book of Hebrews—seems to have been written to answer this very kind of problem that the first century Jewish converts to Christianity may have been having. It seems that the thrust of the book of Hebrews is to turn the Jews back away from a return to Judaism—a return back to the visible services that they had, and the visible shrine that they had—the Temple. Many people today seek a religion that is pleasing to the eye. We can think, and we don’t have to think very hard, of religious groups that have so many visible signs that are central to their worship. Crucifixes, icons of all sorts, pictures, stained glass, statues—all of these kinds of things appeal to the eye. They feed the visual sense that we as human beings have.
True faith has always looked to what is NOT SEEN and been able to SEE it. We accept creation on this basis. Hebrews 1, verse 3, says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what was seen was not made out of what is visible.”
Faith believes that GOD IS—without seeing Him. Again, Hebrews 11, verse 6 this time: “Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Moses persevered by seeing the invisible God. Verse 27 of Hebrews 11: “By faith he [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He persevered because he saw Him Who is invisible.” The Patriarchs saw their reward by faith only. Verse 13 of Hebrews 11 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” Seeing the unseen. Can we do that? Is your faith such that you are able to see what is unseen? This IS a characteristic of our faith.
Also, a characteristic of our faith is acting on divine knowledge. Having seen by faith, then we must be compelled by that same faith to act upon our knowledge. James says, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is DEAD,” James 2:17. And James goes on to say, “You believe that there is one God? Good! Even the demons believe that and shutter,” James, chapter 2, verse 19. The implication here, of course, is that demons have faith…but so what! Their faith is not accompanied by righteous works. Biblical faith has always been obedient faith. It has never been faith separate from works. From the very outset of man’s relationship with His Creator, this has been so. Abel worshipped God and offered sacrifices. Hebrews 11, verse 4 says, “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did.” [This shows that Abel’s faith produced an action.] Noah was moved to build an ark at God’s command. Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 7, says, “By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family.” And by the way, those things that were “not yet seen” were rain and floods! Noah had no idea, no concept of what God was requiring of him because he had never seen rain—he had never seen a flood! Yet his faith COMPELLED him to ACT.
Moses and Aaron were successful in leading the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and eventually in conquering the land of Canaan. Through faith, they kept the Passover. Through faith, they passed through the Red Sea. Through faith, the walls of Jericho came down, Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 28 through 30. Like Abel, like Noah, like Moses and Aaron, we, too, must have an active and working faith. In speaking of Abraham, James says, “You must see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his FAITH was MADE COMPLETE by WHAT HE DID,” James 2, and verse 22.
So, the characteristics of faith include being able to see what is unseen. They include us acting on the divine knowledge that we have. And also, a characteristic of faith is that it allows us to endure to the end. This seems to be the Hebrew writer’s chief point that he’s making in the 11th chapter. He actually sets this up in the 10th chapter, verses 35 and 36. He writes, “So do not throw away your CONFIDENCE. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the Will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” And then, verse 1 of Hebrews, chapter 11: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” In other words, the Hebrew writer is saying, “Don’t be discouraged! Have faith!” Or, as we might say, “keep the faith”, and let that faith be lasting and enduring to the end! This principle of endurance and perseverance is illustrated for us by the great men of the Bible throughout this 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews. We’re told in that chapter 11 that Abraham endured. Verses 13 through 16 tell us that the Patriarchs endured. Verses 21 and 22 tell us that Jacob and Joseph endured. But the chief example of endurance and perseverance is Christ Himself.
And if we look at the following chapter, Hebrews, chapter 12, and we look at the first three verses, we see here what a great example Christ is for us in this area. It says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with PERSEVERANCE the race marked out before us. Let us fix our eyes on JESUS, the PIONEER and PERFECTER of our faith, Who, for the joy set before Him, ENDURED the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him, Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will NOT grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus looked beyond the moment. He looked to the final joy that He knew awaited. He endured the cross while scorning, or despising, the shame of it. He was victorious by faith and is NOW at the right hand of the Father. He was the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, or, as some of the old Bible translations translate that, He was the author and finisher of our faith. He is our prime example!
So, let’s remember. True spiritual faith involves, first, seeing the unseen; second, acting on that divine knowledge; and third, enduring to the end. Each one of us needs to be faithful.
And as we conclude tonight, let me ask, “What IS the condition of your faith tonight? Is your faith a dead faith?” We’re reminded once again of what James had to say. He said, “Faith without works is dead,” James 2:26. So, if you have faith, but works do not accompany the faith, are we better off than the demons, which James writes about? They have faith, but their faith is not accompanied by righteous works.
Is your faith tonight a little faith? In Matthew, the 8th chapter, the story of Peter making his attempt to walk on the water is recorded for us. And as Peter sinks, Jesus chides him and says, “O ye of little faith!” Peter, at that moment at least, had little faith. What about us tonight? How much faith do we have? Do we have much faith? Or do we have little faith?
Is our faith tonight a weak faith? Paul writes in Romans, the 14th chapter, and verse 1, and he urges the brethren to “accept him whose faith is weak.” We generally understand that to be, perhaps, a new convert—maybe someone who has not grown in the faith as they should. And so, tonight, is your faith a weak faith?
OR, conversely, is your faith a strong faith, like the faith of Abraham? Paul writes in Romans, the 4th chapter, verse 20, “Speaking of Abraham, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in the faith, giving God the glory.” Is your faith tonight a great faith? Do you have a great faith like the Centurion, who asked Jesus to heal his sick child by just speaking the words? He believed that Jesus, even from afar, could accomplish that. And this caused Jesus to remark in Matthew, the 8th chapter, verse 10, “I have not found so great a faith, no, not in all Israel!”
Is your faith tonight a perfect faith? James, once again speaking of Abraham, says, “Ye see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete (or perfect) by what he did.”
So, I leave those questions with you. You consider those. Is your faith a dead faith? Is it little faith? Is it a weak faith? Or is your faith strong? Is it great? And is it perfect, or complete, like that of Abraham?
One of the great truths about faith is that we never get to the end of it. Just like we never get to the end of our ability to gain knowledge, we never get to the end of our ability to grow and develop in faith. And so, understanding what we’ve talked about tonight, I urge each of us to examine our lives. And if we need to strengthen our faith, let’s make up our minds to do that, and do it this very night—begin this very night.
Faith is also the first step on the road to obedience and becoming a child of God. If you have faith—if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, then you need to act upon that faith, and you need to be obedient in baptism.