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“Faithful Examination”
Categories: DOCTRINEWhat is faith? When we have faith, do we have faith like when we sit on a chair or fly on a plane? What type of faith does the Word of God say that we should have? How many different types of faith are there? We all are given a measure of faith, but yet, the Word says that there is only one faith; what does this mean? Do we function on different faith, or do we all function on the same faith… but differently?Sincerely,
Finding FaithDear Finding Faith,
The word ‘faith’ simply means ‘to place your trust in, to believe’. In the context of the Bible, the word ‘faith’ is specifically referring to our trust in God.
Faith is an inevitable element of life. Anytime you trust something you can’t see, it is an act of faith (Heb 11:1). When we take an aspirin, we have faith that it isn’t laced with arsenic. When we drive, we have faith that the traffic light is telling the other lanes to stop when it tells us to go. We visit restaurants because we have faith in the recommendation our friend gave us, and we buy houses based on our faith in the home inspector’s report. Everyone lives by faith – this is an important aspect of life.
Sadly, most people are quick to place their trust in manmade things like airplanes and cars, but very slow to place their faith in God. The Bible says that faith comes from hearing God’s Word (Rom 10:17). That is what the Bible means when it says there is only one faith (Eph 4:5). There is only one standard for a faithful life – the Bible. The Bible is the book of the faith and then how we follow the faith determines our level of individual faith.
When we study and then live by the teachings found in the Bible we are living a life of faith in God. It isn’t enough to just say we believe in God, our works must back that statement up (Jas 2:14-17). Even the demons believe in God (Jas 2:19), but salvation comes to those who do something about that belief.
