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Faith

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Simon_Templar

Simon_Templar

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I tend to define faith as belief which is evident through action.

Effective faith has to be more than just mental agreement to an idea.

The scriptures say "Faith is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for." One aspect of that to me is that faith is evident, and substantive.

Faith ultimately flows to us, and through us, from God. We can choose to have faith.. but the choice to have faith is ultimately simply the choice to rely upon God. To take action upon his word, and trust that he will see to results and consequences, and ultimately that he will uphold your faith itself.

There is no salvation apart from faith and it is impossible to please God without faith. Anything that is not of faith is sin.

This is the idea that faith is tied to the will of God. Those who live by faith and act by faith, truly, do what God wills, not what they will.
When we indulge our own will it is not an act of faith, but rather of sin, no matter how 'good' we imagine our will to be.

this is why many peolpe who think they are living by faith and acting by faith are really fooling themselves, because they are trying to work up faith that God will give them what they want, and will give them success in doing what they want to do. Doing what you want, and hoping that God will prosper it, is not faith.

Here we come back again to Faith is the evidence of things not seen. The Spirit of God within us is not seen, his work in us is not seen, but Faith is the evidence of those things, which is seen. When God's work in us comes to fruition in our lives, that is faith.
 
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MN John

MN John

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I'll have a go...

Faith is the vehicle, conduit, or means to salvation. "It is by grace, through faith that you are save. And this is not of yourselves, but is a gift from God."

We have a capacity (gift) for faith given to us by God the Holy Spirit. The greater one's capacity, the easier having faith comes to them. Those of us who struggle more are the "weaker brother (and sisters)" that the stronger ones are commanded to be sensitive to.

Faith is an actie word. Faithis not merely a mental idea but it comes out in actions. "Faith without works is dead." So faith is not grammatically a verb, but it is, in a sense, a thing we do.

And faith is also a choice. We are created in God's image and this includes free will. Yes, everyone who is saved is chosen by God (and this shows God's grace). But each one also is saved through their faith. "It is by grace you are saved, through faith, and this is not of yourselves, but is a gift from God."

By choice, I mean that a person eventually reaches a point of realizing that faith is the substance of things not seen. Once we realize that we never will see absoulte proof of what we have faith in, we either choose to believe, or we choose not to.

So my ideas come down to faith being a capacity (gift) given to us by God, a choice we make, and a lifestyle (not just a one-time action, but living faith that results in continuous faith-driven actions).

That's just off the top of my head and I didn't look up the references for the scriptures I talked about... so it's a very informal response ... thanks for prompting me to doing that thinking.
 
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£

£amb

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Simon_Templar said:
I tend to define faith as belief which is evident through action.

Effective faith has to be more than just mental agreement to an idea.

The scriptures say "Faith is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for." One aspect of that to me is that faith is evident, and substantive.

Faith ultimately flows to us, and through us, from God. We can choose to have faith.. but the choice to have faith is ultimately simply the choice to rely upon God. To take action upon his word, and trust that he will see to results and consequences, and ultimately that he will uphold your faith itself.

There is no salvation apart from faith and it is impossible to please God without faith. Anything that is not of faith is sin.

This is the idea that faith is tied to the will of God. Those who live by faith and act by faith, truly, do what God wills, not what they will.
When we indulge our own will it is not an act of faith, but rather of sin, no matter how 'good' we imagine our will to be.

this is why many peolpe who think they are living by faith and acting by faith are really fooling themselves, because they are trying to work up faith that God will give them what they want, and will give them success in doing what they want to do. Doing what you want, and hoping that God will prosper it, is not faith.

Here we come back again to Faith is the evidence of things not seen. The Spirit of God within us is not seen, his work in us is not seen, but Faith is the evidence of those things, which is seen. When God's work in us comes to fruition in our lives, that is faith.
Click to expand...

I like it when someone posts something similar to what I want to say, but say it alittle better...sooooo....

what he said :)
 
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GratiaCorpusChristi

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The simple, one-syllable word 'faith' contains so much it's hard to describe.

On the one hand, there is the faith that saves us- not mere intellectual assent to the propositional truth of the gospel (assensus), but a deep and abiding love of that truth (fiducia). It is both faith and love for the content of faith (that which is believed) that saves us. This is central.

Then there is the more divisive issue regarding the place of works. Allow me to take a stand somewhere between Lordship salvation and the Eastern Orthodox understanding.

We confess faith alone, but not a faith that stands alone (to paraphrase John Calvin). A faith that is not mere intellectual assent, but a deep and loving faith (fiducia), always produces good works. These good works do not merit anything in-themselves, but they are inexorably tied to that which does merit- true faith.

For faith is not just a leap in logic, an unjustified belief to which we cling when reason fails. For reason always fails. If postmodernity has given us anything, it is the understanding that all our most cherished and fundamental beliefs--even belief in the 'outside' world beyond our minds--is uncertain. And yet we act as though we were certain of the world beyond our minds, anyway.

Faith is not a blind leap that takes over where reason ends. Faith is what we do when we realize that reason can never provide certainly, but acting on our world as if our probabilities were certainties nonetheless.

And thus, true faith always acts-- the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord must necessarily produce a life that lives under the command, the lordship, of that same Jesus Christ.

But this is all on the subjective side, the noetic side, of the equation- all about our faith, and our faithfulness. There is a deeper faith beyond the one we hold in Jesus Christ- the good faith Christ has demonstrated in being faithful to his covenant promises.

Recall that faith and faithful(ness) are the same word in Greek (pistis). The most important meaning of the word faith (the most important signitive intention) is not the faith we hold, but the faithfulness of God to his covenant promises.

God promised in Genesis 3 that he would redeem mankind from their own fallenness; he promised in Genesis 8-9 that he would never again utterly destroy the world; he promised in Genesis 12, 15, 17, and 22 to multiply Abraham's seed beyond measure, to bless all the world through these descendants; he promised in 2 Samuel 7 to make David's dynastic line into a mighty house; he promised in Jeremiah 31 to renew the special status of the exiles as God's chosen people.

All these things are fulfilled in Christ through his incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Because of Christ, the people of God are renewed. Because of Christ, David's line endures forever. Because of Christ, Abraham's seed has blessed all the world and his descendants are more numerous than the sand on the seashore. Because of Christ, God has poured out his world-destroying wrath on one instead of the many. Because of Christ, all mankind is redeemed.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been faithful- has been true- to his covenant promises to his people through the faithfulness of his Son, Jesus Christ, to the law and those same promises of God.

And that is why we have faith in him. That is why we say his word is true. That is why we are faithful to our Lord and Savior. Because he was first.
 
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