Food for Thought –

Concerning Faith

     Faith is one of the most basic concepts of the Bible. It is absolutely essential that one have faith in God if one is to enjoy the redemption that He makes available through Jesus. Faith has been a prerequisite for those who walk with God from the most ancient of times. 

     Abraham is called the friend of God. (James 2:23) That same verse tells us exactly why he was called the friend of God - Abraham believed God. That is the essence of faith. One who has faith in God is willing to take God at His word. God had just promised Abraham that he would have a son and that He would be given the land in which he then lived as a possession. Abraham had no children at all at that time. He was an old man, even by the standards of that day. His wife was barren - she had not been able to bear children. But Abraham believed God. He took God at His word. That account is found in Genesis chapter 15, and reference to it is made in Romans chapter 4.

     Abraham's faith in God was tested and found true. God gave Abraham and his wife a son, whom they name Isaac. (Genesis 21) When the lad was still young, God told Abraham to go to a mountain which He Himself would indicate, and there on that mountain present this child of God's promise as a sacrifice to God. (Genesis 22) Abraham did as God told him. He took his son, the wood, and the fire and went up to the mountain. There he built an altar of stones, laid the wood upon the altar, and then bound his son Isaac and placed him on the wood. It was not until Abraham had drawn the knife to slay his son that God's angel called to him from heaven to stop the action. God then provided a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. God said to Abraham, now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. (Genesis 22:12) Abraham believed that God would keep His promise to give the land to Isaac's descendants even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead! (Hebrews 11:19) That's faith!

     The Bible also tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) We cannot put God into a laboratory and measure Him, or test Him, or even examine Him. God is not like you and me. God is spirit, not human. But He has left his fingerprints throughout this universe. The creation declares its Makers praise. (Psalm 19:1-4) The apostle Paul uses the creation as adequate evidence to understand that there is a Creator. (Romans 1:19,20) By examining the evidence, we can safely and rightly conclude that there is a Creator. Call that "faith" if you would. The writer of the Hebrews letter described faith like this: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith takes God at His word even if we only have the evidence of His word.

     The evidence of creation is sufficient to warrant a degree of belief in a creator God. But we can't know much about Him simply from creation. God has not left Himself without adequate other evidence. God has spoken throughout the ages to various individuals, such as the prophets. (Hebrews 1:1) These men wrote down God's word for their generation and for the succeeding generations. That word culminated in the teachings of Jesus and His apostles. Through those written teachings, we can know enough about God to put our faith, our trust, in Him to the same degree that Abraham did. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

     Faith takes God at His word. Faith takes God at His word that Jesus died for the sins of each of us. (1 Peter 2:24; John 3:16) Faith is the response of a person to the grace God has shown us in the cross of Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9) This response of faith enables you and me to share in the gift of God's son. His death on the cross becomes my death for my sins. By His stripes, I am healed. By faith I am privileged to have my sins forgiven.