Faith

Faith is another of these huge subjects and today I want to focus specifically on two aspects of faith.

1) Faith is a belief beyond all evidence.

Faith cannot be compelled upon anybody, either by explanation, witnessing a miracle, scientific argument or any other means. If you can 'prove' to someone that God exists or Jesus died for them, etc. then it is no longer a matter of faith.

That is not to say that faith doesn't require reason or evidence. The Bible tells us that we are to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds and strength. We are not to check our brains at the door. There are many rational arguments that point people towards faith. We can also understand our faith and beliefs in a rational and systematic way. This however is not faith.

2) Faith is a verb.

One problem with English is that the word faith is a noun. A noun is a describing word, it describes a state of being. I have faith.

In Greek the word for faith is a verb. It is a 'doing word'. You don't have faith, you do faith.

Faith is therefore not something you have because you believe a doctrinal statement or you pray a specific prayer. Faith is when you decide that you want to tell your friends that you believe in following Jesus, even though they will think you are stupid. Faith is deciding to give some of your income back to God because you recognise that all gifts come from God.

Faith is not an act of works. We can't 'do our faith' into heaven. But we also can't 'have faith' our way into heaven. The bible is quite clear that God will judge us by our works not by our having of faith.

What do you think?