9. You Can Have a Reason for Your Faith

When the apostle wrote this advice to the early Christians, they were about to enter a period of extreme difficulty and persecution. Later in the same epistle Peter begged them "not to be unduly alarmed at the fiery ordeals which come to test your faith." 1 Peter 4:12, Phillips.

Soon after this the city of Rome burned, and the Christians were falsely blamed for the disaster. Thousands were cruelly executed. But they did not waver in their allegiance to God. They were ready for the time of trial. They had a reason for their faith.

Some years before, a jailer in Philippi had asked Paul what was required of him that he might be saved in the kingdom of God. Very briefly the apostle had replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Acts 16:31, R.S.V.

Why did Paul tell the jailer that he needed only to believe? Is it not also necessary to have faith?

Sometimes quite elaborate efforts are made to distinguish between belief and faith, but is there actually any significant difference?

The story is sometimes told of the tightrope walker who was about to set off across Niagara Falls pushing a wheelbarrow. He asked an interested onlooker if he believed he could make it across.

"Certainly!" said the bystander.

"Then climb in my wheelbarrow."

"Not on your life!" came the fearful reply.

You see, runs the explanation, he believed, but he did not have faith.

There is another possibility. He had faith, all right, but he didn't like high places.

The fact is that the New Testament, as it was originally written, uses the same word for both "belief" and "faith." The Greek pistis is sometimes translated "belief" and other times "faith." Therefore, it would be correct to quote Paul as saying to the jailer, "Place your faith in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

Does this mean that faith in Christ is the only requirement for heaven? Is this adequate?

It all depends, of course, upon what the term "faith" is understood to mean. We hear the word used in so many superficial ways today. A boxer succeeds in knocking his opponent into a state of insensibility. When asked to what he attributes his great success, he may reply devoutly, "To my faith." Faith in what?

According to legend, a schoolboy once defined faith as "believin' whatcha know ain't so."

Surely we wouldn't go this far. But is faith, for us, believing something we are not too sure about? This would suggest that the less certain we are, the greater is our faith. Is this why we have faith in God–because we have such grave doubts about Him?

Is faith by itself a way of knowing anything? Does faith prove that something is so? If it does, then all the various ideas about God believed by men the world around must all be true.

Think of how many Christians there are who believe sincerely that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is in heaven, interceding on our behalf. Yet there are many other Christians who believe with equal fervor that she is not in heaven at all, but rather still in her grave awaiting the resurrection.

Both these positions cannot be true. Yet both are sincerely believed and accepted by faith.

Faith then, does not make something so.

Fortunately we have the familiar definition of Hebrews 11:1 to help us. We are told there that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Consider first the phrase, "the evidence of things not seen." This could be more precisely rendered in modern English, "conviction about things which we cannot see."

Compare now the other phrase, "the substance of things hoped for." For many years Bible translators wrestled with the meaning of the Greek word rendered "substance" in the 1611 King James Version.

Near the end of the last century, archaeologists working in the Near East discovered ancient papyrus documents which were records of business transactions, bills of sales, guarantees, title deeds to property. And the customary name for these documents was none other than the Greek word translated "substance."

Since this discovery it has been possible to understand Hebrews 11:1 to mean that faith is, as it were, a business transaction entered into, an agreement between the believer and God.

God has much to offer us. He has promised forgiveness, restoration, eternal life. But God never asks His intelligent creatures to believe anything for which He does not provide adequate evidence. God does not expect us to run the risk of accepting gifts from a stranger. Instead, He first reveals Himself to us. Through His Son, through the Scriptures, through the world of nature about us, in many ways, He seeks to make Himself well known to us.

If in the light of this ample evidence about God we choose to trust Him, to love Him, to accept His guidance, we have entered into that transaction with God which the New Testament calls "faith."

As Phillips has translated Hebrews 11:1, "Faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; it means being certain of things we cannot see."

I am always looking for better ways to define this saving faith. At present I like to describe it something like this: Faith is a word we used to denote a relationship with God as with a Person well known. The better we know Him, the better this relationship may be.

Faith implies an attitude toward God of love, trust, and deep admiration. It means having enough confidence in Him, based upon the more than adequate evidence revealed, to be willing to believe whatever He says, to accept whatever he offers, and to do whatever He wishes–without reservation–for the rest of eternity.

Anyone who has such faith is perfectly safe to save. This is why faith is the only requirement for heaven.

A faith like this is far from blind. It is based squarely upon evidence. As Paul explains in Romans 10:7, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

The earlier manuscripts have the name "Christ" instead of "God." Thus Goodspeed translates the same passage, "Faith comes from hearing what is told, and that hearing comes through the message about Christ."

In Paul's day there was very little opportunity for a man to read the message for himself. If he wished to learn the truth about God, it was necessary for him to go to the synagogue or church and listen as the rare and costly manuscripts of the Bible were read out loud for all to hear.

In our own time, when Bibles are so readily available, Paul might have written instead, "Faith comes by studying the Word of God," or, "Faith comes by reading the message about Christ."

Is it not from the Bible that we gain our clearest evidence about God and His plans for us? Surely there is more than ample evidence for believing that God is worthy of our confidence, that He still loves us, that all his instruction is for our good.

What greater evidence could be provided than that God was willing to come to this earth in human form, to live as He did and die as He did? Surely He can be trusted. Surely we should be willing to do whatever He wishes.

This is why the plan of salvation is sometimes called "righteousness by faith." As Romans 2:4 tells us, the revelation of the kindness of God leads the sinner to repentance.

Dear God, he prays, I see both myself and You in a different light now. I had not understood so clearly before the kind of Person You really are. For You I have nothing but love, and trust, and deep admiration. From now on I would be willing to do whatever You wish–without reservation. But what about me? What about my sinful past? What about my inability to do what is right?

And God replies, as it were: There is really nothing you or I can do about your sinful past. It is all a part of history. What is important is that you no longer worry about it. So long as you continue in this relationship of faith, I shall not only forgive you, but shall treat you as if you had never sinned. I shall even regard you as if you had lived as righteously as My Son.

Such an offer is almost unbelievable. But if we have faith, we shall accept it and carry on from there.

Of course, the new relationship with God does not end here.

Because of his deep admiration for God, the former rebel is eager to learn all that he can about Him and His will. The more he learns, the greater his faith becomes. And the greater his faith, the more eager he is to increase his knowledge of God still further.

The result of continuing steadfastly in such a relationship with God is that the believer is gradually transformed into the likeness of the One who he so greatly admires. For it is by beholding Him that we become changed. If his faith does not weaken, someday the image of God, in which he was originally created, will be perfectly restored.

It is significant to note that the Greek word for "obedience" in the New Testament means basically "a willingness to listen." If we should wish to test the genuineness of our own faith, we must look to find within ourselves a complete willingness to listen, to learn, to do whatever God reveals to us. If it is not there, then there is no faith. And without faith a man cannot be saved, for he is not safe to save. He cannot be trusted.

The supreme demonstration of such faith was revealed during the last few hours of Christ's life on this earth. Apparently deserted by His followers, and even by His heavenly Father, Jesus cried out in anguish, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46.

But as He hung on the cross, He recounted the evidence upon which He had based a lifetime of faith. He knew the character of His Father. He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. In renewed faith, based upon what He knew to be true about God, Christ was able to pray in that last awful moment, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." Luke 23:46.

This is the kind of faith Job finally gained.

At first he questioned, "Why, God, why?" The only reward for a life of faithfulness seemed to be meaningless disaster and suffering. But later Job was able to say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Job 13:15.

Sometimes one sees such inspiring faith at the bedside of a seriously ill patient. It is always a marvel to hear a dying man say, "Though the Lord should let me die, I'll still love and trust Him. My faith in God does not depend upon His giving me everything I want. Besides if He does not heal me now, He will in the resurrection."

I shall never forget the last few days in the life of a very good friend. He had always been such a vigorous, athletic person. But now he was dying of leukemia, and his muscular body had wasted away.

A little while before he died, he asked that some of us come and pray with him once again. As we knelt down he said, "I'm not asking you to pray that God will heal me. You men know how much I would like to be well. But right now that doesn't seem to be what the Lord is planning. I'm only asking that all will be well for me in the end."

A faith like this makes it possible to accept and understand many other passages in the Bible.

For example, Revelation 3:19 tells us that whom the Lord loves, He rebukes and chastens. The word, "chasten" means literally "instruct as a child," "discipline." Surely we should never complain when God disciplines us. It is evidence that He recognizes us as His children, that He loves us and is working for our best good.

Compare Romans 8:28. According to the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament, this favorite verse teaches that "in all things God works for good with those who love Him." Of course! And faith accepts this truth about God, no matter what happens.

Then there is 1 Corinthians 10:13. "God... will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." The word translated "to be tempted" means rather "to be tested." Testing is necessary for the development of character.

If our faith were sufficiently mature, perhaps God would allow us to be tested as severely as was Job. But it is a comfort to know that God will not allow a man to be tested more than he is able to bear. Because He loves us, everything He permits is for our instruction and discipline.

According to Romans 5:1-5, if we have a right relationship of faith in God, even the worst of troubles can be accepted as blessings in disguise. I particularly appreciate the way Mr. Phillips has translated these wonderful verses: "Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things He has for us in the future.

"This doesn't mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys–we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us."

Faith, you see, is a relationship with God as with a Person well known. It implies an attitude toward God of love and trust and deepest admiration. It means having enough confidence in Him, based upon the more than adequate evidence revealed, to be willing to believe whatever He says, to accept whatever He offers, and to do whatever He wishes–without reservation–for the rest of eternity.

When God invites us to trust Him like this, He is not asking us to take a chance, to risk a leap in the dark. Nor is He asking us to trust some inner feeling, or some sign or miracle that Satan could easily counterfeit. His only request is that we consider the evidence so amply available in His Word and that we make up our minds whether or not we can regard Him as worthy of unreserved confidence and love.

For this kind of faith there is surely sufficient reason.

–A Graham Maxwell, excerpt from You Can Trust the Bible © 1967, Pacific Press Publishing Association.