True Faith

I have been pondering for the last week or two on what true faith really looks like. It began to bother so much that I really had to look into it. This is the aftermath of the last two weeks of meditating and thinking on what it really means:

What is true faith?

We learn from God’s Word that there is only one-way to have salvation: faith in Jesus Christ. But when one stops to think about what that means, it can become very confusing. What is meant by faith? How can I know that I have that faith? I believe in God, is that good enough? Or does it require more? That starts to sound like legalism then. So, what does true faith look like?

That is what I hope to cover: the meaning of true faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But before we start defining it, let’s take a look at what true faith looks like. There are many instances in the Gospels where Jesus heals someone because of their faith, but I want us to look at one instance in particular. This is from Mark Chapter 10:

“46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging.
47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."
50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."
52"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

That is an amazing encounter that Bartimaeus had with Jesus, and one that he was sure to never forget. Here we have a man that has been blind for who knows how long, possibly since birth, and with one sentence, “Go, your faith has healed you.”, he could see again!

It was because of Bartimaeus’ faith that Jesus restored his sight, and it’s because of faith that Jesus will restore your soul. Bartimaeus exhibited the three basic principles of true faith as recorded by Mark.

The first of these three principles was that he (1) knew God’s Word. True faith always starts with knowing. You can’t believe or listen to God if you never first knew He was there. If you don’t know anything, you can’t have anything to put your faith toward. Knowing starts the basis of every single piece of faith that you have. Bartimaeus knew that Jesus could heal him, or he would have never called out to Him. He knew that Jesus was a miracle worker, or he would have never thought that He could heal him. At some point, Bartimaeus had to have been told that this Jesus guy from Galilee was able to heal people, and to make them whole, and once he was told that, it began a process that led Bartimaeus to true faith.

It works the same way today. Before you can be saved, you have to know that you need saving. You have to know that ultimately, you are simply a sinner and nothing more. You have to know that nothing you can do will ever lead you to righteousness, and nothing you can do is ever good enough for God. Don’t get me wrong, true faith is not mere head knowledge (we’ll talk more about that in a bit), but it does start with head knowledge. For you to believe or trust anything, you have to know that that thing is there.

There is an age old illustration of faith where one person stands directly behind another, and the first person falls back while the other is supposed to catch them. It is a great illustration, and one that I use a lot, but that person falling has to know that that person is back there before they can ever trust them to catch them in the first place. Faith begins in the head as a seed that grows.

This is why it is so important as ones already following Christ to go out and tell others about Him. Not only that, this is why it is important for us to let others know what sin is. If they never know that they are sinners, they will never know that they need to be forgiven of that sin.

Now, I know this is rocky ground because people throw the word “judge” around a lot. You start telling others what they are doing is sin, and they are quickly going to be offended and come back with, “Don’t judge me!”

This is true – you are not supposed to judge others. But, there needs to be a clarification of the word “judge”. To judge someone is to criticize them. It is to say that you have it all figured out, and you are looking down on that person. A lot of the times, not every time, people who judge are simply hypocrites who think they are super-spiritual.

However, telling someone what sin is, is not judging. In fact, we are called to do it! James ends his epistle with, “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins.” It is our job to help lead others to Christ, and that all begins with letting them know that they are sinners. But it is important to never forget that you too are a sinner! This is the point when people start becoming hypocrites. The godly way to go about it is to point out to them, through the Word of God (because remember true faith begins with knowing God’s Word), that the activities they are taking part in are sin. Once you do this, you can drop it. You have done your job. You have let them know that it is sin, and not that you are any better, but simply what they are doing goes against the Will of God.

Secondly, though, remember that we are to also tell them about Christ. Once a person realizes that they are a sinner, and that they need a Savior to get to God, then we can show them to Christ, and (again, using God’s Word) show them that Christ can and will forgive them of their sins.

Now, the second attribute of true faith that Bartimaeus exhibited was (2) believing that Jesus was who He said He was. Bartimaeus had heard that Jesus could heal him, and that he had done all of these miraculous things, but he would have never called out to Him if he didn’t truly believe that Jesus could do it. The head knowledge led to something else: a belief.

A belief is defined as an acceptance that something is true or that something exists. Someone can have all kinds of beliefs. They can believe strongly in one political party or ideology, they can believe whole-heartedly in a certain product, or that something or someone will make them happy. All of these things are beliefs, and believing is the second step of true faith; it is believing that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God, and that He came to earth to die for our sins on the Cross, and then three days later, He defeated sin by rising from the death and ascending to Heaven.

Hailing from the Bible belt, most people truly believe this. They have learned their whole lives about Jesus, and if you were to say that they truly didn’t believe it, you would offend them much. Many people believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But if that is so, then why do not all people have true faith? Well, lets look at this verse from James 2:19: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.”

The demons even believe in God, and they believe in Jesus Christ – they have even seen God with their own eyes! – but that belief does not save them. So, if they are not saved by this simple belief, then what makes us think that we can be? We can’t! Simple head knowledge and belief together does not save you. There is another aspect of true faith that is missing here.

You see this is the main problem with the American church. So many people know what God’s Word says, and they believe in God, but it ends there. There is nothing more. They go on about their lives and think that they are in good shape. By now, I probably have your attention, and I hope so, because this last part is very important to having true faith.

Bartimaeus knew who Jesus was. Bartimaeus believed that Jesus really was who He said He was. But he did one more thing that showed that he had true faith. What was that one thing? He actually called out to Jesus.

True faith involves (3) doing God’s Word, or in other terms, taking action. So many people hear about Jesus, so many people believe that it is true, but not a lot of people actually apply it. This is why the American church is in ruins. This is why abortion rates are so high among believers and non-believers alike. This is why there is not much difference in “Christians” and non-“Christians”. This is why!

James asks the question just a few verses up, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” (vs. 14). Then he goes into a parable: suppose you run across someone who is without clothes or food, and you say to them, “God bless you! I wish you well.” – but you do nothing about it! What good have you done? You haven’t! That person is no better off than before. There is action that is required.

Now before I go any further, I want to make a separation so that you don’t think I am legalistic. What is legalism? Legalism is the belief that you get to God by what you do. The fact of the matter is, though, that legalism is so contradictory to the Bible. Of course I can’t get to God by what I do because nothing I can do is worth anything. Jesus Christ did it all for me on the Cross! The Bible firmly teaches us that there is only one-way to be saved: by grace alone, through faith alone. Meaning that you can only be saved by the grace of God (grace meaning something that you do not deserve, but get anyway) through a faith in Jesus Christ.

So, you ask, if that is the only way to do it, then why are you saying that I have to do anything? Because true faith still involves action! Bartimaeus had to call out to Christ before Christ healed him, because when he called out to Christ (and not just once, but continually), Christ saw his faith and healed him.

For more clarification, the difference in the two is something like this: a legalistic person believes that for them to be saved, they have to follow a certain guideline of rules. Meaning that if they do this, this, and this, then they will surely be saved. However, all of their faith is in themselves, not in Christ. A person relying on grace alone by faith alone does just that – they let the Holy Spirit guide them and they live their lives accordingly. What James teaches us is that true faith involves action – it doesn’t require it. In fact, he even says in verse 17 that faith without action is just plain dead!

You see, a legalistic person believes that what they are doing will save them; a grace person will do the things because they are saved. They are complete opposites. A legalistic person knows what God wants, and they do it, but they don’t really believe Christ saves them; they believe that what they are doing is saving them.

Why do I love people? Because I am saved, not so that I will be saved. Why do I try my best to live according to God’s Word? Because I am saved, not so that I will be saved. It is because of the grace of God that He has poured out over me, and the Holy Spirit that guides me that I walk in what God teaches. The faith is part of the action, not a separate entity.

It all goes down to one basic principle: what (or should I say, who) are you doing the action for? I can either do it because I truly believe that God’s ways are better than mine, and I have faith that in that concept (notice it takes on the form of an action-word here), or I can do it because I think that by doing the action, God will look on me with favor. The first is a life of grace; the second is a life of legalism.

The truth is that I can do nothing to please God. The Bible teaches that the best I can do to please God is like filthy rags that the leper’s used to tear off of their skin. That is not too well! The only way to ever please God is by putting your faith – true faith – into Jesus Christ, His only Son, who died so that your “filthy rags” could be clean before God.

But this true faith involves the actions of living according to what God says, because this is saying to God (through your actions) that you really believe that He is God, and that He is Lord of your life, and that He truly knows that is best. It is also saying that you realize that you are nothing, and that He is everything, and that you are going to “die to yourself”, meaning putting off the things that you want, so that He can live through you. This is the life that God calls us to. This is the life He wants for you and me.

Whether you believe it or not, God really does know what is best. He really does have a plan for everyone, and really does want everyone to come to salvation. However, He is not going to force it on you. Just as Jesus never forced the healing upon Bartimaeus, God is not going to force you to come to Him. He has given you a choice – life or death, His way or your way. But if we choose Him, we have to do like Bartimaeus and call out to Him. We have to take action and reach for Him. He doesn’t make it hard either. In fact, He says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13). He is simply waiting on the edge of His seat for the lost to make that first move. That is all He wants – that first slight hint of action and then He comes running just like the father of the Prodigal son to embrace His child and take them home.

In more layman’s terms, remember the trust fall earlier where one person falls into another’s arms? Well, this trust fall involves all three aspects: (1) first they know the person is behind them and that person has promised to catch them, (2) they truly believe that person is going to catch them or they would not blindly fall, and (3) they actually do the action of falling. If one of the three steps were missing, it would not work, and the person would not have true faith in the person behind them. This is especially true of three because they could say all they want about how much they trust that person, but until they actually do it, they are tacitly (without expressing) saying that they really don’t trust them after all.

I am reminded of the story of the man who was caught in a flood, and so he goes atop his house because the water is too high. A boat comes by and tells him to get in, but he declines saying, “God will take care of me.” A few hours later, and a few feet deeper, another boat comes by telling him to get in, but he again declines saying, “God will take care of me.” Finally, the man is treading water because it is so high when a helicopter appears and drops a rope. The pilot yells for him to climb, but the man declines saying, “God will take care of me.” Soon, the man drowns and stands before God. He is sort of confused and asks God why He didn’t take care of him. God tells him, “I sent two boats and a helicopter – what more did you need?!”

Sometimes, though, we are just like that man. We sit back and know about God, and truly believe in God, but our faith is dead because we don’t do anything about it. We go on about our lives just living for ourselves, even though we know better. We go on about our lives living of the world instead of just in the world. We have no action. We have no works. We are unlike James who says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” Sometimes our faith is head knowledge and nothing more. This isn’t the life God called us for. This isn’t the life He wants for us.

He wants us to be like Abraham who, by faith, did the deed of offering up Isaac for the sacrifice. Because of his true faith, Abraham and Isaac both were saved. He also wants us to be like Noah who, by faith, performed the action of building the ark even though it had never rained on the earth before. Before of his true faith, he and his family were saved. Finally, he wants us to be like Bartimaeus who, by faith, called out to this Jesus that he had heard so much about and believed that he could him, and because of his faith, was healed and restored.

Remember that knowing and believing only is disobedience. Knowing and doing only is legalism. Believing and doing only is Christian Existentialism, which is a false view that anyone can please God in their own way, without need for the Biblical commandments.

True faith requires all three: (1) knowing God’s Word, (2) believing God’s Word, and (3) doing God’s Word.

I am going to leave you with these words of Dr. James MacDonald: “Put some action behind what you believe and watch God work.”

Not Good Enough - Galatians 3:2-4

I was reading The Message translation tonight, and began to think about what Paul had writeen to the Galatians in Chapter 3. Check this out:

"Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!" (Galatians 3:2-4, The Message)

No one ever said the Christian life goes uphill after you are saved. In fact, the Christian life, with all of its spiritual highs and lows, looks more like a heart monitor, or a printout of an earthquake. There are going to be times when you are so spiritually high that you just have to tell everyone you know run into about this Jesus who saved you, and then there are going to be times when you are so spiritually low that it is totally discouraging.

But after reading this, I stopped to meditate on my own walk with Christ, and on my spiritual highs and lows, and something occurred to me: when I am at my lows is when I take my eyes off of Christ!

It is not new information, and something that is so obvious that I probably new it, but I just never brought it into consciousness. It is those times when I start thinking that I have this whole "Christian" thing figured out, and I really start feeling good about myself, that I come crashing down. When I really start puffing up my chest and feeling super spiritual because of what I have doneand not because of what God has donethat I fall flat on my face. Why? Because I can't do it on my own!

No, it is impossible to live the Christian life yourself. In fact, the way the Bible puts it, you can't live the Christian life at all! Paul says that nothing he does has anything to do with his Christian life - it is ALL JESUS! That is amazing, disheartening, and encouraging all at the same time.

It is amazing because of the sheer supernatural activity that occurs. God lives through me! I don't know why He would even want to, but He does, and that is amazing in and of itself. God knows what is best for my life, and as long as I believe that and focus on Him, then the best will come about for my life. However, when I decide that I know what is best (which is what happens, either consciously or subconsciously whenever I choose sin over God), I usually mess things up horribly and have to run back to God to clean it up.

It is disheartening because, as a human, I can't do it. Paul says that to live by the law is void. You can try your whole life to live by the Law, and it still will not be good enough because you can't do it. Jesus said on the sermon on the mount that to even look at someone with lust is sin, or to hate your brother is the same as murder - so there is no way a human can make it through this world without sin!

But, in the end, it is encouraging, because I know that I am not good enough. That sounds like an oxymoron, I know. But the good news of the Gospel is that, while we were not good enough, Jesus Christ decided to step down and take the punishment for us so that we could be good enough. He started the whole process of salvation, and He will end it - not us.

So, we must stop thinking that we can do it. We can't. We have to give our lives totally to Christ every second of the day if we are to live this Christian life. That is what is meant by the phrase "dying to ourselves". We have to say no to what we want and focus on what God wants, and in the end, we have a much happier life because of it - and also an eternal home in Heaven.