Faith

Faith is one of the most important things in Christianity. Without faith, the Bible is almost useless and the sacrifice of Christ is pointless. But with faith, the Bible is a source of God's wisdom and love and Christ's sacrifice is humbling. In this post I'm going to explain the importance of faith and what exactly faith is.

What is faith? The dictionary definition for faith is: allegiance to duty or a person. Another, more fitting definition for my purpose here is: belief and trust in and loyalty to God. That's a good definition and it works fine, however, Hebrews 11:1-2 also defines faith, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." 

Faith is all that God requires of us and that's all it takes to be saved by Christ. Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." That's faith, believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. This message is simple and the most important part of Christianity. God's grace is nonexistent without faith. Ephesians 2:8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast."

In this, the five-hundredth year after the Reformation, the message of justification through faith is being celebrated. This what Luther and other reformers believed and they wanted the Church to return to this message. Works won't earn anyone salvation; it can't be earned, rather, it can only be given to someone by God. There's no way anyone could even hope to repay Jesus for his sacrifice and suffering on the cross. As Ephesians says, "it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast."

When Martin Luther was a monk he did everything the Church taught would earn him salvation, everything from prayer and fasting to going without sleep to self-flagellation. Through all of these acts he was trying to love God, but it resulted in the opposite. Luther began to see his wretchedness and began to see God as a tyrant who expected perfection from imperfect people. He even started hating God. One day he read Romans 1:17: "For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”" He knew he couldn't live by faith because he wasn't righteous.

According to Christianity Today:

Meanwhile, he [Luther] was ordered to take his doctorate in the Bible and become a professor at Wittenberg University. During lectures on the Psalms (in 1513 and 1514) and a study of the Book of Romans, he began to see a way through his dilemma. "At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I ... began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith… Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open."

This moment for Luther is what propelled him to write his 95 Theses and started the Reformation.

Now, faith without works isn't faith at all. James 2:14-17 explains, "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

This almost sounds contradictory to what Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, however, James is saying that works need to compliment faith. Grace through faith saves you, but works done for God bring Him glory. Matthew 5:16, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Ephesians 2:10 also elaborates, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." A Christian doesn't do good works to earn anything, a Christian does good works because they want to do what God created them to do.

The take home message here is live by faith as the ancients did, trust God and believe Him. Faith is all that is required of us to be saved. However, don't let your faith be a dead faith, do the good works of God to glorify Him and to be obedient to Him. Do good works because you want to, not because you want to earn anything.

A quote to end:

“The subject then of these chapters may be stated thus, — man’s only righteousness is through the mercy of God in Christ, which being offered by the Gospel is apprehended by faith.”

-John Calvin