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Life of Faith
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MESSAGE: G15
Preached: 1 Jun 1980 ▪ Edited: 7 Jul 2007
Questions about faith | Misconceptions about faith | What is true faith? | Outworking of faith | Man of faith – one who loves truth and righteousness | True faith builds upon knowledge and understanding | Importance and meaningfulness of living by faith | Concluding remarks
In this message, I would like to consider with you the important subject of faith. Many
passages in the Scriptures deal with this subject and there is one whole chapter devoted to
it - Hebrews 11 - which describes men of faith and how they lived their lives.
There are many misconceptions about faith and some are quite serious. Many regard the
concept of faith as rather mysterious and very difficult to understand and live out.
Let’s consider what faith is. Does faith mean believing without good reason? Does it mean
believing in the unseen? Why is faith so important? Why does one who exercises faith gain
approval with God and why is it that without faith it is impossible to please God? Why is
it essential that we relate with God and live our lives on the basis of faith? Why do we
constantly have to live with reference to the realm of the unseen? Does this not make life
very difficult and at times rather confusing? Sometimes we may feel a bit awkward or even
foolish that we are expected to act without full understanding. Why can't we live a healthy
life without exercising faith?
In a subsequent message, I will consider with you whether faith is something that we just
have or do not have, and whether we should just wait for faith to come upon us or for God
to give it to us. If faith is something so important in our lives, we would want to know
how we can have faith and how we grow in it.
In this message, we will concentrate on trying to understand what faith is and the
importance and meaningfulness of living by faith.
First of all, let us consider some misconceptions about faith. Here, I am using “faith” in the sense of healthy, biblical faith - faith that God approves of.
We often make the mistake of measuring our faith by how we feel. If we feel low, we think our faith is at a low level and our life is in a poor state. This is clearly an inadequate way of understanding our lives and the meaning of faith. Our spiritual health and the quality of our faith are not measured by the state of our feelings. Consider, for example, the life of the Lord Jesus in Matt 26:37-38.
Matthew 26:37-38
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and
distressed.
38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and
keep watch with Me.”
We may also go through times when we are grieved and distressed. And we may mistakenly think that our life is in a poor state. But clearly, in the case of the Lord Jesus, it was in fact one of the great triumphs in His life of faith. Although He was deeply grieved and distressed, in verse 39, He went on to pray to the Father:
Matthew 26:39
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if
it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Not only was He willing to face the Cross, He actually went through it all triumphantly -
the terrible, agonising death on the Cross. Although He felt distressed and grieved, He was
faithful and obedient to God the Father.
We see a similar situation in the life of the apostle Paul from his writings in 2
Corinthians. Many verses in this letter help us to understand the meaning of the fullness
of the Christian life. Some people have the wrong idea that the victorious life is one that
is lived at a plane that transcends the human experience, where we are not subject to human
emotions, where we are not taxed or in distress. But this is far from the truth. As Paul
tells us in 2 Corinthians 1, “We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we
despaired even of life.” He tells us in 2 Corinthians 4 that they were afflicted,
perplexed, persecuted, struck down. There were various distresses that came upon his
life.
So let us be careful not to think that when we are feeling low and distressed, sad and
grieved over certain matters, our faith is at a low level. Conversely, when our feelings
are high, we can easily mistake it to mean that our faith is strong and healthy. We may be
feeling high, but that kind of high feeling may be superficial. It can be emotional and
temporary.
In the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus tells us about the seed that fell on various
kinds of ground. The Lord Jesus compares the seed that fell on rocky soil to the man who
receives the word of God with joy, but after some time, falls away. Some people feel much
joy when they become Christians and they may be under the impression that their faith is
very good. But after a while, they become discouraged when they notice that their walk with
God is actually rather poor and they are rather puzzled. Why has this happened to me? Why
does my faith fluctuate like that? At one moment in time, I feel so high in my walk with
the Lord. My faith is so strong. Why then does my faith become so weak and my life so
miserable all of a sudden? The truth of the matter is not that their faith was very high
and strong and it has now become rather low. Even during those times when they feel very
good and high, their faith in God may not be all that strong.
Another misconception is that we are exercising faith when we believe and act on something we do not understand. So for example, when you ask someone who cannot give a good or reasonable answer to the course of action he is taking, he may answer, “I am doing this in faith.” But the fact that he does not understand and he thinks that he is acting in faith doesn’t mean that all will be well. Sometimes, it can be quite tragic. Take for example the experience of some Jewish exorcists in Acts 19:
Acts 19:13-16
13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name
over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by
Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about
Paul, but who are you?”
16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and
overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
These Jewish exorcists didn’t really understand what it was all about. They thought they could exercise the same kind of power as Paul did just by using the name of Jesus over the evil spirits. But the result was not positive. It was something disgraceful and negative. So it does not mean when we embark on something we do not understand, we are doing it out of faith.
There are also some people who think that so long as their belief is strong, that is faith. They misapply Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” They think that so long as they hope for something and believe very strongly in it, they are exercising faith. They think that the more they believe in it, the stronger their faith is and the more likely the thing will come to pass. For example, some students may believe strongly that they will pass the examination and they think that the stronger they believe in it, the more likely it will come to pass. But when they find that they have failed, they get very discouraged and think that God has not honoured their faith. Some may think in another way. They may think that they failed because they did not believe hard enough and conclude that their faith was not strong enough.
There are some who associate manifestation of faith with embarking on something dangerous and risky. So for example, if you dare to row a small boat across an ocean, then it indicates that you have great faith. If you don’t have great faith, how can you do a thing like that? Or, if you see someone leaving a nice home in a developed country to serve the Lord in a poorly developed country, then it means this person has great faith. If not, how can the person do that? But is this how God looks at our lives? Is this how He commends us? Does it mean that the more difficult or riskier the thing we embark upon, the stronger our faith is?
Even when we are sincere in the things that we do, it does not guarantee that our actions
would be proper acts of faith. We can be very sincere and yet totally wrong. We may believe
sincerely that we should act in a certain way, but it can be a deception of the evil one.
And if we were deceived by the evil one, then it would not have been a proper act of faith.
So we need to be very careful. Eve believed the serpent’s lie and ate the fruit. It
resulted in disastrous consequences. It was not an act of faith. Instead of believing in
God, Eve believed in the lie of the devil. Thus, having full confidence in something or
someone does not guarantee that all will turn out well.
There was a small boy from a primitive tribe who lived in the jungles of Africa. One day,
he wounded his leg. So his mother brought him to the witch doctor. She had great confidence
that the witch doctor would be able to heal her son. The witch doctor brewed a concoction
and placed the mixture on the boy’s wound. After a few days, an infection developed and his
leg was infested with maggots. In order to save his life, his leg had to be amputated.
Though his life was spared, his leg was tragically lost. His mother trusted and believed
that all would turn out well. But the fact that she sincerely believed the witch doctor and
had acted accordingly did not guarantee that all would turn out well. This is not the kind
of faith that God approves of.
What then is true faith? It is very important that we are clear about the kind of faith God approves, the kind of life of faith we ought to live.
Biblical faith is belief in the truth and the appropriate, positive response to the
truth. These two ingredients are essential. What we believe in must be
based on facts, on what is true, on spiritual reality. If we believe what is untrue,
we cannot exercise true faith. But belief in the truth in itself is not faith. There must
also be the appropriate response to the truth. It is important to have that positive
response to the truth. If we do not live according to the truth, we do not have biblical
faith.
So we must believe in the truth and live in accordance with it. And the truth includes
total reality, and total reality includes the realm of the seen as well as the realm of the
unseen. Now if we live like that, this would mean we are trusting in God and obeying Him,
because God is the God of truth. It would mean we are believing in His word, because His
word is truth.
We must check the various concepts of faith that may come to our mind against this
understanding of true faith. Is it really a belief in the truth? Are we living in
accordance with the truth?
The faith that we have must be in accordance with God’s character, with the principles of God and the promises of God. If we wrongly interpret the Scriptures or we believe in lies, or we are under a deception, it would not be a proper expression of faith.
Let us consider John 14:1, 6.
John 14:1
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father
but through Me.
The Lord Jesus asks us to believe in Him, and it is proper for us to do so because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The three aspects - the Way, the Truth and the Life - go together. We believe in Him as He is the Truth. We believe that He is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. This belief is not mere mental recognition of who He is. It requires the appropriate response of receiving Him as our Saviour and Lord, and living according to His teaching and His guidance. We also believe in Him as the Way - the Way to the Father, and the way we ought to live our lives, learning to walk in Him. We also believe in Him to be the Life. We come to Him for spiritual life and nourishment and we live the life that He gives to us, the life that is meant to be manifested through us.
Let us now turn to Hebrews 11 to see illustrations of the outworking of faith that God
approves.
The writer to the Hebrews shows clearly the meaning of true faith and how it can be worked
out. True faith involves our first coming to know the truth, knowing what God has said and
what He desires. After that, there must be a proper response - of obedience, of living
according to the truth revealed. There will then be positive outcome. The illustrations in
Hebrews 11 show us that ultimately those who exercised true faith were not disappointed.
God rewarded them and the consequences were positive. So there are these three aspects -
the first two, knowing the truth and living the truth, are expressions of our faith and the
third, the positive consequence.
Let us look at two illustrations here. First, we will consider the life of Noah.
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark
for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of
the righteousness which is according to faith.
Noah was warned by God about things not yet seen. Now faith very often would involve areas
that we do not fully understand, areas in the realm of the unseen, issues and things we
have not yet seen.
He heard God and he responded by preparing an ark. Then, there were the consequences. His
obedient action led to the salvation of his household and the pronouncement of the
Scriptures that he was an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Note that Noah was commended for his faith not merely because he heard about something and
acted on it although he did not fully understand and it was difficult. He was commended for
his faith because he acted on God's instructions.
So this is true faith - hearing first of all what God has said and then responding in a
positive manner to what He has said - and the consequences that follow will be
positive.
Now, let us consider the life of faith in Abraham.
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to
receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Many people think that it is an act of faith to go forth when they do not know where they are going. But very often it is not. The question is: Has God really called? Abraham’s going forth was an act of faith because God called him. Even if Abraham were prepared to take all kinds of risks, he would not have acted in true faith if God had not called him. Abraham went forth when he was called and he obeyed by going out. Yes, there were things Abraham was not very sure about - “he went out, not knowing where he was going”. There were many uncertainties. He couldn’t fully comprehend all that would come into his life by going forth in this way. From a human point of view, there were risks involved. But one thing was clear and certain. God had called and given Abraham instructions and he trusted God; he responded to the voice of God, to the voice of truth. He obeyed - that was a step of faith.
Hebrews 11:10
for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is
God.
Abraham trusted in God and he was looking forward to the heavenly city that God has promised. And the Scriptures goes on to tell us of the consequences that followed the act of faith of Abraham and his wife, Sarah. For example because of their faith, Isaac was born. And in verse 12, we are told of the promise of God concerning Abraham’s descendants:
Hebrews 11:12
Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many
descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the
seashore.
Even though Abraham was old and incapable of producing a son, “him as good as dead” as the Scriptures puts it, he trusted in God’s promise. Because of his faith in God, there was positive result - descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And the Scriptures holds Abraham up as an example of a man of faith.
As we have seen earlier, faith has these two essential aspects: knowing the truth and living in accordance with the truth. It involves an exercise of the will. Faith is a response of our total being. It involves our mind in understanding, and our spirit in perceiving spiritual reality. It also involves the will. Unless our will chooses to live in accordance with those truths that we have come to understand, it is not yet the complete act of faith. The will must choose to live in accordance with the truth that we have come to understand.
When we begin to live in accordance with the truth, it will involve the realm of the unseen and it will involve things that we do not fully comprehend. But some understanding and some knowledge are important and essential to faith. If it is something that we are completely ignorant about, how can we even begin to believe? For example, even though we may not fully comprehend God, we must know something about Him to believe in Him.
Who then is the man of faith? As I see it, the man of faith is one who has love for the truth and righteousness. There is an earnest desire in such a person to grow in understanding in order to live according to the truth. If you want to be a man of faith, you must delight in the truth and you must love truth and righteousness. This is what God looks for in a man. No matter how intelligent, how quick you are to grasp issues, if there is no love for truth and righteousness in your heart, you cannot be a man of faith. Even if you are able to understand certain issues, the degree of your ability to grasp and gain insight into these things will be hindered, and you will not properly and effectively express the life of faith.
In other words, faith is a moral issue. This is a very important fact to note. Faith is not something that just descends upon us or is given to us. That is why God’s approval is upon those who exercise faith. God doesn’t praise us merely because we are gifted - whether in preaching, in teaching, in counselling, or in other areas of life. God doesn’t reward us for the fact that we have certain gifts because these gifts are what He has given to us. When God praises us, when He approves of our lives, it has to do with our moral response to issues. Though some people may not be able to understand very much with their mind, they can still exercise faith as faith is ultimately a moral issue and has to do with whether there is hunger in our hearts to know the truth and to live it out.
It is helpful to note that acts of faith need not be spectacular or dangerous. Sometimes we think that an act of faith must be of that category for it to be an act of faith. It need not be. A daily life of obedience to God, a daily life of trusting Him, of living in accordance with His word - all these are expressions of a life of faith. Simple acts of love and kindness are also acts of faith. A life of faith is manifested in a life of confidence in God, faithfulness to Him and a life of consistency.
I now want to summarise the relationship between faith and knowledge before going on to
consider why faith is such an important aspect of our lives. First of all, let us be clear
that biblical faith is never blind. Biblical faith is not one where we despise knowledge or
understanding; it is not an abdication of the mind. It is never this way. Rather, true
faith builds upon the foundation of knowledge and understanding, and just as a building
rises above its foundation, so a man of faith will act beyond what he can fully grasp and
understand but not in contradiction to the totality of what he is able to grasp and
understand.
We can act on issues with conviction even when we do not fully understand them, so long as
they are instructions from God, whom we know to be perfect and therefore absolutely
reliable. Faith does not merely act in accordance with what we can fully understand and
comprehend. But it does rest upon knowledge and understanding. Our actions must go beyond
what we can fully grasp and understand. But although we cannot fully grasp and understand
some of the issues involved, it does not mean that we are acting in contradiction to the
totality of what we are able to grasp and understand.
For example, Abraham might not have fully understood the meaning and implications of God
asking him to go forth in faith to another country, to take so risky and dangerous a step
(from a human point of view), but that does not mean that when he went forth, he was acting
in contradiction to the totality of what he was able to understand and grasp. He had
already come to know God, and he knew God loved him, God cared for him and that God was
reliable. So when God called him, he could go forth in faith.
This point is important because communication between God and man is not perfect. There
will be times when we are considering embarking on a course of action and we are not clear
whether God has spoken to us. What do we do then? At such times, we need to evaluate
carefully whether or not we should proceed, by considering the relevant factors -
especially if the issues involved are significant. If we think that the course of action we
intend to embark on may be contrary to scriptural principles, we should pause and not
simply go ahead with it. We ought not proceed with a course of action that we recognise to
be contrary to the fundamental principles we have already come to understand. On the other
hand, we need not act only when we are able to fully understand. In other words, faith
builds upon understanding and knowledge. Although it rises above and goes beyond what we
can fully understand and grasp, it must not contradict what we have already come to
understand. So faith is not blind.
Let us now go on to consider why faith is an essential part of healthy Christian living without which we cannot please God. Why can’t we just live a life that is pleasing to God without exercising faith, since faith can sometimes appear so difficult and confusing? Why is faith so important? Why do we have to act beyond what we can fully grasp and understand? Why is the conviction of things not seen an essential and important part of a life of faith? Why does God require us to live even on the basis of the realm of the unseen? Isn’t it so much easier if God only requires us to act in accordance with what we are able to see? We will consider why such a life is important and meaningful to us.
A fundamental reason for our need to exercise faith has to do with the being of God - who He is. Indeed, His attributes have vast implications as to how we should live our lives and consequently, the vital need for faith. Let’s consider just two attributes of God.
One attribute of God is that He is invisible. If we wish to relate with the invisible God, we cannot live our lives only in the realm of the seen. Not only is God invisible, often we cannot even feel His presence. And so our lives will have to be lived on the basis of what we have come to know and understand of God, not on the basis of what we can see or feel.
Another attribute of God is that He is infinite. He is infinite in His knowledge, in His
wisdom, in His power. We, on the other hand, are finite and fallen creatures. So how can we
fully understand God? There is a huge gap between God and us. It is not feasible for us to
fully comprehend or understand God and His ways. Of course God will do His best to teach us
and bring us more and more into maturity of understanding. But along the path of growth and
development, there will be many things that cannot be fully explained to us. Yet there are
paths He wants us to take even though we do not fully understand the whys or the hows. Our
lives will become very poor if we insist on living only on the basis of what we can fully
comprehend and grasp because we will then limit and restrict the way the almighty God
desires to work in and through our lives.
There are many examples in practical daily living which show that this manner of approach
to life is a reasonable one:
For example, let’s consider a father-child relationship. When the child is young, he
doesn’t understand many things. When he falls ill, the father says, “Take this medicine, it
is good for you.” He doesn’t like to take it because it’s bitter and doesn’t seem to be
good for him. He doesn’t understand that his illness requires the medicine. But because he
trusts his father and believes that his father loves him and knows what he is doing, the
child takes the medicine and benefits from it.
In the same way, the many trials that we go through can very often be likened to the
medicine that is bitter. But as we go through it, trusting God, it leads us into a much
deeper experience of God and His grace. We grow in the knowledge and understanding of the
realities in the spiritual realm and our lives are transformed.
Consider another example from daily life. When we board an aeroplane, we may not fully understand how the aeroplane is able to carry us through the air and land safely in another airport. We do not fully understand how it works and how the pilot is able to control the plane. But through experience and some understanding of pilots and aeroplanes, we have sufficient confidence that the plane will bring us there. But of course, aeroplanes can fail us. Likewise, many other things in life that we put our trust in can fail us, yet we do put our trust in them. But we can fully trust God. He is the perfect God. He never fails.
Likewise, when we undergo surgery, there are risks involved. But because we have sufficient
confidence that the surgery will do us good, we are prepared to take that risk. Of course,
the risks that I am referring to in the area of obedience to God are very different from
the risks that people take when they fly in an aeroplane or when they go into a surgery
room. In the latter, when things go wrong, the effects on their lives can be disastrous -
unless it is part and parcel of a life of faith.
But when I talk about taking risks in a life of obedience to God, I am referring to the
fact that the Christian life can at times be very difficult and dangerous. It is not always
smooth sailing, pleasant or easy. Just think of what the apostle Paul had to go through in
his service to God. Still, we know that as we trust in God, the result will always be
positive. If there is a true recognition of what God really desires, followed by a positive
response to His desire, the result will always be positive. It will never be negative
though it may involve physical injury or even death.
It is true that as we seek to trust God and live a life of faith, it can often appear quite risky or difficult. We have reflected on the example of Abraham going forth in faith. Let us now consider Noah and what God required of him. He trusted God even though what God asked him to do was not an easy task. He had to build an ark, a very huge ark that could house all the animals. How difficult it must have been for him to build that ark. And how difficult it must have been for him to believe that there would be a flood so severe that if he had not built the ark, he and his family and all the animals would perish. And it was also possible that as he was building that ark, many people ridiculed and jeered him, saying, “What a foolish man you are! What are you trying to do? On this dry piece of land, you are building such a huge ship.” And it must have been very hard for him to explain to them. Who would believe him? It probably took him a long time to build that ark. No matter what people might have said or thought of him, he steadfastly believed God and persevered in building the ark day after day.
We go on to consider the way God has created man. We know that God has created man with a
constitution and capacity for a higher quality of life than merely living according to our
five senses. Our lives do not merely consist of sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing -
the physical aspects. There are higher aspects of man’s life which God intends and these
are in the realm of the unseen - the spiritual and the moral aspects.
The more important aspects of the being of man are not in the visible realm - his physical
body, but in the invisible realm - the soul, the spirit of man. Related to that, also in
the realm of the unseen, are our character, our love, principles, moral values and so on.
The highest and richest experiences of man are not in the visible, physical realm like
eating and drinking. In the eternal purpose of God, they involve the higher aspects, which
centre on relationships - spiritual fellowship with God and spiritual fellowship among the
brethren. These are the highest and richest aspects of man’s experiences. And these are all
in the realm of the unseen.
And so, living by faith, which takes into account the realm of the unseen, must form an
integral part of a wholesome and full life. Otherwise, it would be like a child who merely
eats plain rice and leaves out the dishes. If a child merely eats the plain rice, he will
miss out on the important nutrients from foods like fish, meat and vegetables. If we do not
enter into the richer, spiritual aspects of experience, it will be worse than a child who
merely eats plain rice because such a life will be a tragedy.
A major reason for the Fall is the lack of faith in God and in His love and goodness.
God has ordained that the way to personal salvation requires the reaffirmation of faith in
God and in His love and goodness. We were not there at Calvary and we did not witness the
Lord Jesus dying on the Cross. And we may not fully understand how or why God provides
forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to Himself through the death of Christ. Yet, we need
to respond positively to God, to trust Him and His word before we can be saved. This
requires a measure of faith.
In the same way, spiritual growth also requires faith. To grow spiritually, we need to
trust God and His instructions revealed in the Scriptures. If we do not trust and obey, we
will not be able to grow. We may not fully understand many of God’s instructions, but once
we are clear that God has revealed how we should live, we ought to live accordingly. Thus,
spiritual growth also requires faith.
As fallen creatures, we need to remember this: emotions are unstable and they fluctuate. They do not always correspond to reality and they do not always incline us to do what we ought to. At times, the circumstances we go through may raise doubts and discourage us and also move us in a direction that is unhealthy. At times we may feel low. At times we may feel as if God doesn’t care. At times, it may seem as if everything is going wrong. And so it is important for us to rise above the realm of the seen, beyond what we can feel and see, and be able to really come to know God and who He is, and to be able to trust Him. Otherwise, not only will we be unstable, our lives will veer away from the path of truth and holiness. And so it is needful for us to be grounded in God and in the Scriptures. We need to know that God is unchanging in His attributes. He is always great, always all-powerful, always present wherever we may be. At the same time, He is always loving and good to us. Although circumstances may seem to indicate that God doesn’t care, we know that He cares. We know that He loves us. So our lives must ultimately be based on the truths and principles that we have come to understand. And living in this way requires faith.
The element of trust is an important aspect of relationship. It enhances the beauty and
quality of the relationship. For example, as we trust God - that He is a God of love,
wisdom and faithfulness - it enhances the quality of our relationship with Him. This is a
beautiful thing. It is illustrated by the lives of those who love God. We can see the
beauty of that kind of relationship with God. For example, there was an incident where Paul
was on a ship together with many others and the ship was caught in a storm. From all
physical appearances, they were in dire straits. Their lives hung precariously. They threw
everything overboard, yet the dangers persisted. The others on the ship had already given
up hope that they would be safe. They were so frightened they didn’t even have sufficient
courage to eat. But Paul assured them with words to this effect: “Take courage, because an
angel of the Lord has appeared to me and God has already assured me that every life will be
preserved. You will all be all right.” “And I believe,” he said, “I believe God.” You can
read this in Acts 27:18-26. Paul said, “I believe God.” Now as far as the physical
circumstances were concerned, Paul was in the same situation as the other men and it would
appear as hopeless to him as to the others. So it is indeed heart-warming to see how a
person under such circumstances can still trust in God - in the God who is loving, faithful
and wise. And if God has promised that He will preserve, we can trust Him that He will do
so even if from the physical appearance of things, the situation seems hopeless.
Even in our own lives, we know that confidence and trust in each other are essential
ingredients of deep friendship. If your relationship with another person is good and
healthy, you will have confidence in that person such that when he asks you to do something
and says, “I have no time to explain to you why I am asking you to do this, but please do
it for me”, you would do it. It may appear a little foolish, but you would agree that a
relationship is beautiful if the level of trust and confidence is such that you would go
ahead and do something for a friend even if he does not have the opportunity to give you a
full explanation.
We will also be glad if other people are able to trust us. Human beings like to be trusted.
The only problem is that we are not fully reliable. Of course, we should try our best to be
reliable. But God is always fully reliable and it is good if we are able to grow in faith,
to be able to really trust God.
Faith ultimately is the medium through which God can express His infinite love, power and
wisdom through frail and finite creatures like us. It is through faith that God can work in
us, transform us and work through us. God does not compel us. As we have seen, one of the
ingredients of faith has to do with the exercise of the will. We must be willing to live a
holy and righteous life. We must be willing for God to do a work in our lives and we are
willing to trust Him, to obey Him and to live our lives accordingly. God has created us as
moral creatures and as such He will not compel us. If we do not exercise faith, if we are
not willing, then God cannot fully express His purposes in and through our lives.
And just as for the power of the electricity to come forth, there needs to be the
connecting wire to the power station, in the same way, faith connects us to all the power
and wisdom and knowledge of God. If we do not exercise faith, then the greatness and the
goodness of God cannot be expressed through our lives.
Just as the pipe that leads to the reservoir has to be installed so that when we turn on
the tap, water can come forth, there needs to be a connecting link before God’s power can
be expressed through our lives. And that link is faith.
To live well, we need to understand the scriptural revelation of God's purposes and how we
can do our part in accomplishing His purposes. It requires faith for us to believe the many
things that God has set out for us, such as how church life should function and how we
should live. But often, according to our own thinking, they do not seem to be the best way
and we may want to substitute them with our own ideas and methods. This is the tragedy that
has been taking place in relation to the work of God. The work of God suffers as a result.
It is essential in the outworking of God's purposes, that we have faith in God, in His
revelation and the way He desires us to accomplish His purposes. We need faith to believe
that God is true to His promises, that as we abide by His word, the best possible result
will occur, even though at times it doesn’t appear to us to be so.
Faith enables us to understand and appreciate what took place in the past - what has been
recorded in the Scriptures of how God dealt with the nation of Israel and what Christ has
accomplished for us. Faith continues to be relevant in the present as it helps us
understand how we should function as Christians and what we should concentrate upon. And
finally faith assures us of our future - the hope that is before us and the glorious
kingdom of the future.
Our enemies, the devil and the powers of darkness, are invisible, and they seek to oppose God and His purposes. Without faith, it is impossible for us to fight and win in the spiritual war. In fact, we cannot even begin to fight. How can we fight a spiritual battle if we do not have faith? If we are prepared only to live according to the realm of the seen, it is impossible for us to fight a spiritual battle. The whole armour of God portrayed in Ephesians 6 is in the invisible realm. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit - they are all divinely powerful but also all invisible. Thus, it requires faith for us to fight the spiritual war. We cannot use or rely on physical weapons in this war.
The need to live by faith is a constant reminder to us that the realm of the seen is of the fallen world and is temporary, and that we should neither live for it nor by it. And it is a constant reminder to us that the eternal and spiritual realm is unseen and that the more important aspects of life such as the kingdom of God are invisible. This is what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison,
18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;
for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
This perspective of Paul and his co-workers undergirds their effective lives and ministries. Likewise, the more we align our lives with the eternal and spiritual kingdom of God, the more fully we will identify with what truly matters, and the more we will appreciate the significance and meaningfulness of living by faith. In so doing, we will more and more be able to live by faith, and grow from strength to strength and from faith to faith.
It is important for us to be clear what true faith is so that we will not be deceived. We
need to be clear about the kind of faith that God approves of. If what we believe is based
on falsehood, it will be useless. We need to exercise care so that we grow in understanding
of the truth and have a deep desire to abide by it. Otherwise, the knowledge we gain will
be useless to us and there will be no true faith. We need to recognise why faith is so
important to our lives. We need to understand how we must constantly live our lives, taking
into consideration the total reality, which includes the realm of the unseen. In fact, we
need to recognise that the realm of the unseen is far more important than the realm of the
seen. God is invisible, and many important aspects of our lives on earth take place in the
realm of the unseen and involve issues we may not fully comprehend.
Let us not hinder God from working in and through our lives because of our lack of faith.
Let us nurture our love for the truth and deepen our commitment to live by the truth. Let
us be diligent in seeking to grow in our knowledge of God and His ways and what He has
revealed in the Scriptures so that we can respond appropriately and live out the life of
fullness God intends for us in Christ.
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Scripture Quotations
Scripture quotations unless otherwise stated, are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD Bible ®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission.
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Life of Faith
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