CCC#8: Faith - Part 1 - A Definition
The Corrupt Christian Concepts Series
(All scripture quotes are from the BSB unless otherwise noted.)
My introductory ‘faith’ articles discussed how faith is the vehicle through which we are gifted the love of God so that we can demonstrate that love for others. I covered how “living faith” is based on that gift, while “dead faith” is based on trying to keep the law of Moses or other rules. When behavior improvement is a primary goal or motivation, it is produced by dead faith by default.
Living faith produces living works; yet, these cannot be forced or compelled. They must happen as a by-product of the fruit of the Spirit (by faith). I emphasized how a gift mentality towards the gospel is crucial for genuine faith. We must have a mindset of receiving the divine gifts, not trying to produce them out of fear or other coercion.
I discussed how James does not oppose the gift of the gospel but emphasizes it. Much (not all) of James’ teaching is for those who do not have living faith, yet pretend or think they do - not for those true believers who possess living faith.
Finally, I discussed how faith is a firm belief (hope) plus trust. People of faith in scripture believed and trusted God's promises (and thus acted). We have these final great and precious promises from God through the new covenant gospel which we need to know, believe, and trust.
Thus, the responsibility of God's children is to place genuine, living faith in God's new covenant promises - in Jesus Christ. The new covenant gospel is a listing of the gift package we receive with Christ. This is condensed down as the fruit of the Spirit. These promises are the focal point of our faith.
Now, I am jumping into more direct scripture passages on faith. I believe scripture will continue to support my introductory ideas, and will help us gain further insight into what genuine scriptural gospel faith really is.
Faith: It Can Preserve your Soul
Hebrews 10:39 - “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Hebrews 11:1a - “Now faith is…”
I started with the last verse of Hebrews 10 because the author begins 11:1 by using the word 'now' as a connecting word. Thus, chapter 10 and 10:39 are pertinent to the context of chapter 11. Tiny words in scripture are important.
This verse shows that the goal of having faith is to “preserve the soul”. In this nasty world we live in, what a goal!
Soul is the Greek word psuché, from which we get psychology in English. It is the seat of our mind, will, and emotions. This is contrasted in scripture with our spirit (pneuma). Our spirit (or heart) - our core identity - is connected to Christ at salvation and secured by the indwelling Holy Spirit. But our soul can be influenced by enemy lies - it is still in progress - it is where we learn and grow.
When scripture says to “grow in knowledge” and uses the phrase “renewing of the mind”, it is referencing this ‘soul’ based growth. We must understand that we have a core that has been made perfect, yet another aspect of our being is in progress. We can choose to allow our Spirit infused spirit to influence our soul, or other things like the flesh and world (see Romans 6 - present your body).
When scripture references “walking by the spirit”, it is not absolutely clear if it means the Holy Spirit or our new clean perfect spirit. In the end, it doesn't matter since the Holy Spirit infuses our own. The point is that our own spirit is our connection to Christ which can influence the soul.
Given the “mental health” crisis in society today, who wouldn't want a gift that preserves the soul? Yet, many, even in the Christian world, seek soul preservation outside of faith. Not all outside interventions are bad, but when separated from faith they are nearly useless - temporary at best. This verse is important to show us the purpose of faith. God has promised to preserve our soul.
To be clear, this same verse promises that those whose spirit have been made perfect - their souls will be preserved. Christ, “who has begun a good work in you”, will complete it. But a good understanding of the soul during this process helps us cooperate better by faith - and avoid many consequences here on earth. Christ will preserve our soul - but why not use the gift of faith to make it easier for Him, right? Living faith does this.
Does God Abort His Children?
Hebrews 10 is controversial. I may go there one day, but Hebrews 6 and 10 seem to host the majority of verses used by those who say you can lose your salvation (along with Romans 11).
A proper understanding of the new creation squashes that notion. God doesn't abort His children for bad behavior. A new creation cannot die again. God doesn't kill us spiritually then give us life again. The entire idea is ludicrous.
The new creation eliminates any possibility of losing salvation: you are either God's child or you are not. A theology that supports God aborting His children is despicable. I have no patience with this ridiculous idea - it diminishes the gospel - it is not “good news”. Making God a promise breaker is never good news. The enemy's main talking point has always been that God can't be trusted.
Hebrews 10 is harshly warning those who continue to put their faith in the Hebrew religion - rather than in Christ and the new covenant. Because of the Jewish context to the epistle, the language can seem confusing. However, it is not as difficult to figure out as some make it. It cannot be about losing salvation, thus the only option is people who are not believers yet. The language does not allow a middle ground.
Chapter 10 ends by showing that those who’s faith is focused on Christ are not destroyed and their souls are preserved. Thus, the previous warnings of destruction are not aimed at those who have put their faith in Christ. But I'm going to stop there, Hebrews 10 could be many articles, given how it has been corrupted.
My point: as the author transitions into defining faith in chapter 11, he demonstrates the importance of where you put your faith. All humans have the choice of putting faith in their own works (law based living) or in the finished work of Christ.
My main focus: once we have faith in Christ for salvation, we have a choice of continuing to focus our faith on the promises or gifts that come with Him, as opposed to our works. This is where many believers go off the rails.
Faith is a crucial element here - it is defined by a focus on the new creation in Christ as the proper motivation and source of power to do any works. Faith based works naturally flow from our new creation - we are not doing them to accomplish anything - we do the works because the new creation has already been accomplished in us by Christ through the Holy Spirit.
The Object of Faith is Key
Did the Pharisees have faith? I would say they had massive faith. They had faith that keeping the Law, given by God, would keep them in good standing with God. Clearly they had human based faith in Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But ultimately their faith was misplaced.
They thought God gave them the Law so they could please Him. They would not believe He gave it only so that they would realize their need for Christ. Only faith in Christ pleases God. Ultimately, they were self-focused. Their trust was in their ability to keep the Torah, not in God. Unlike pagan religions, they had a form of faith focused on God. But, it was ignorant faith, and thus was not effective - it was dead faith. A God based dead faith is the most subtly destructive idea imaginable.
They thought the Torah would preserve their souls - they refused to believe that only Christ could do that. The Law has always been “weak and useless” at preserving the soul! (Heb. 7:18) No one can preserve their soul by keeping any law. This was the Pharisees identity, and Christ exposed it. And they hated Him for it (as many do today).
Thus, they rejected the very God (Christ) they claimed to have faith in. Their faith was proven false by their treatment of Christ. The author of Hebrews was concerned about those in his audience in the same place. They heard the gospel, but they had not invested faith in it. They may have believed - in the sense that they accepted it intellectually. But they had not trusted it for salvation. Their faith process was incomplete - they were not new creations in Christ.
Their faith was still in the old covenant, not in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Thus, much like in James, they were pretending. It was like a Christian club to them, but in their hearts their trust was still in the Torah and temple.
In 10:39, the author reassures those who do have faith in Christ and the new covenant: their souls will be preserved. This is his transition to explain living faith to both those who do have it, and those who don't. Christ is the only reliable object of faith - everything else, especially your own works - will fail you. Only Christ has the life you need.
Faith: Assurance and Certainty (or Substance and Evidence)
Hebrews 11:1 - “Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.”
Once the author establishes that the believers in his audience had living faith that preserves their souls, he then defines and gives examples of this faith. The definition is fascinating.
He uses the word ‘hupostasis’ to modify 'hope'. Again, unlike in English, the Greek word translated 'hope' already means that you are absolutely certain. In scripture, hope is a certainty based on God's promises. Yet, this certainty alone is not faith. It is like a mental knowledge - you believe something is true. Faith goes further than hope - it adds reality or substance to hope. In my last article, I described this as trusting what you believe leading to acting on it.
In defining faith, the author adds this word 'hupostasis'. Discovery Bible Copyright 2021 has this to say about it:
5287 hypóstasis(from 5259 /hypó, "under" and 2476 /hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, (to possess) standing under a guaranteed agreement ("title-deed"); (figuratively) "title" to a promise or property, i.e. a legitimate claim (because it literally is, "under a legal-standing") – entitling someone to what is guaranteed under the particular agreement.
The author strengthens the certainty of hope! He says that faith puts reality or substance to the belief we have in God's promises. Believing the new covenant strengthens hope into faith. As new creations, God's children, we have a legitimate claim to these promises. You can consider these promises as legally binding to God. His very nature binds them - He cannot forsake His promises. This assurance, combined with our own certainty or hope, creates faith.
As I have emphasized, faith is receiving a gift (God's promises). You must believe the gift is being offered, it is a good gift, and it was given with good favor. Otherwise, you won't trust the gift. You may never open it (unbelievers); or if you do, you will toss it aside, and not use it properly (many believers). As new creations, we have received all of God's new covenant promises or gifts. Yet, we must choose to trust and use them. It is up to us what we do with the gifts we have been given.
The author of Hebrews gets to this important aspect of faith in a bit, so we will cover more then.
Confirmation of the Invisible
The author realizes that many could doubt the invisible. Thus, he completes the definition of faith as a conviction or proof of that which you cannot see. The word ‘elegchos’ is famously used in 2 Timothy 3:16.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction (elegchos), for correction, and for training in righteousness”
The word ‘elegchos’, translated 'conviction' here, is not exactly what we normally think. Here is what Discovery Bible Copyright 2021 says about the root of this word:
1651 elégxō – properly, to convince with solid, compelling evidence
It is no coincidence that scripture is indicated to assist with being convinced about the gospel. Conviction is often corrupted and wrongfully applied to sin for believers (a future CCC). But you can see that in this definition, it means helping you to believe in God's promises when you cannot physically see them. We walk by faith, not sight. We believe God's promises even when our physical senses don't seem to provide proof.
Thus, faith is what convinces you that things you can't sense with your physical senses are real. 2 Timothy 3:6 indicates that scripture helps with that. Truth from scripture helps to convince us that God's promises are legitimate and trustworthy.
In John 16:10, Christ said the Holy Spirit would convince (convict) believers of their righteousness, so He plays a part in this convincing. We must be convinced we have been gifted righteousness so we will have faith in that promise! If we have faith that we are righteous, then it enables us to act in righteous ways.
Scripture is Useful - It is a Tool
Permit me an important sidebar: scripture is a tool, and like all tools, it can be used to build or destroy - scripture can build or destroy faith. Scripture is good, and I am convinced it is authoritative inspired truth from God. However, how one uses scripture makes all the difference, especially when it comes to faith.
As Paul puts it, scripture is 'useful' or ‘profitable’ for convincing you. It provides a benefit in convincing you of that which you cannot see (God's promises). This is one of the main four uses of scripture listed by Paul. Instruction, correction, and training are the other three. All are focused on helping us believe God's gospel truth - and avoid lies.
The way the Greek word for convincing is used, it does not leave you without evidence! And scripture is useful for helping with this evidence. In scripture, we have eye witness accounts of Christ and assurance that God has inspired scripture and made it authoritative. We have historic proof that it is trustworthy. Thus, faith, though it is focused on the invisible, is not without evidence. Faith is never ‘blind’. We are not left to wonder what God's promises are - scripture makes them clear.
Scripture is an Authoritative, but Not Exclusive, Evidence
I want to carefully make a point about scripture and faith - some may take offense, as this could be a bit of “idol crushing”. Yes, scripture can become an idol, though it is not actually scripture itself, it is our interpretation that becomes the idol. This is tied into repentance (changing our mind). We cannot hold so tightly to any interpretation that we are never open to opposing scriptural evidence.
In Christian circles, sometimes scripture is elevated higher than scripture itself indicates. When God makes a direct promise from scripture, we can believe it. But, the idea that every word of; and especially specific interpretations of; scripture are always truth can be harmful. This should be obvious, but sometimes it is not.
I understand the impulse to idolize scripture; it is often reactive to those who would demean scripture or place their own 'revelation' or experiences above the authority of scripture. There is danger in going to either extreme when related to understanding faith.
Certainly, if scripture is recording something God has said or promised, if it is clear, and not contraindicated by other scripture, then we should believe it. However, this is not always true for what the Christian world touts. God spoke the Torah or Law; yet we see later revelation that His intention was never to have His children put themselves under it. There is much scripture about how we are no longer under the ‘tutor’ of the Law.
Thus, God may have said it, and you may have believed it, but it still may not be “rightly dividing the word of truth”. When God gives new revelation that supercedes past revelation, then we should believe the new revelation. John 1 and Hebrews 1 covers this well. Christ is the final revelation of God: His new covenant supercedes the old.
Thus, great care should be taken when interpreting scripture. Your faith may be improperly placed, even if a concept is in scripture. The Pharisees thought they were upholding scripture to the uttermost, but it was misplaced faith. Don't let the enemy use scripture to diminish your faith, as he tried, and failed, with Christ.
This is my entire reason for writing this ‘CCC’ series. Scripture portrays the enemy using scripture to tempt Christ as a warning to us. It is often the most potent weapon. If we can be convinced that a corrupt concept is actually from God, then we are now in a destructive place. A reminder of my titular scripture passage:
John 5:39-40 - “39-You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40-yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.”
If any study of scripture does not have as its objective or result to strengthen our faith in Christ’s life within, then it is a mostly pointless endeavor. If it points us towards faith in our own efforts, even accidentally, then it is harmful. God can use anything, even sin, and turn it to good. But how much better if we use scripture to point to Christ’s life and the new covenant promises that are gifted to us? There would be much less wasted time, at a minimum. And we would likely avoid a lot of harm.
Other “Proofs” are not Excluded
2 Timothy 3:6 does not leave other ways of convincing us out, with only scripture as the way to convince us. The word translated useful, by definition, doesn't make it exclusive. Something ‘useful’ doesn't imply you must use it (though it would be stupid not to).
Do not get me wrong. As I have pointed out before, I study a lot of scripture. Scripture points to itself as being authoritative for God's truth. We should never go with our own experience, or any other revelation, if it is clearly going against scripture. Scripture should ALWAYS be the measuring stick for God's spiritual truth.
However, my point, in the context of faith, is that Romans 1 says that God's creation is enough to start the process towards saving faith. No one has an excuse. This spark will cause someone to want further confirmation, thus seeking truth from scripture, but it is clear that gospel faith can be engendered by someone seeking God through wonderment at His creation.
As faith begins to allow our union with Christ to transform our attitudes and actions, that proof of His power within will also serve to strengthen faith. The Spirit uses many things in combination to help us grow and strengthen our faith, so don't ignore or miss these other things.
As I reflected on with the Pharisees, there are many who know scripture quite well yet still don't point their faith at the right place. Has anyone in history known scripture better than the Pharisees? Yet, it did not translate into saving faith.
Further, with translations, we have a layer of translational bias, and then interpretation on top of that. Again, the enemy himself used scripture to try and tempt Christ! Thus, scripture can be used as a weapon to damage faith. Like any useful tool, it can be used to destroy. A hammer can hit a nail or a human skull. It is not a distinction without a difference.
Rightly Dividing
My point is not ever to demean scripture, simply to instill some caution. It is a tool, and with any tool, it can be used correctly or incorrectly. It can help or hinder faith. It can be used to confirm faith killing beliefs, since so many times humanity can read what they want into it. Just read some of the historical accounts of religious leaders using scripture to justify slavery.
Or, as scripture itself says, we must “rightly divide the Word of truth”. The “Word of truth” is the new covenant gospel. This Greek word literally means to “cut straight”. We cannot mix the gospel with teaching that diminishes it. We cannot mix law and grace. We cannot mix old and new covenants. We cannot mix lies and the truth. We must cut straight and divide these things.
I am only warning that we be diligent to make sure that in our own study - and while taking in other's teaching - we allow scripture to strengthen our faith, not weaken it. Again, Christ and the gospel are the proper lenses through which we view all teaching. Anything that waters down the gospel or turns it into “bad news" is suspect.
As Hebrews 1 instructs, keeping Christ, and hence the new covenant gospel, as our lens is the only sure way to rightly divide and build faith. Any other use of scripture, including a focus on behavior improvement, will mess this up.
Don't Idolize or Legalize Scripture
My final point here is don't idolize or legalize scripture. If you miss your “quiet time”, it should not diminish your ability to have faith throughout your day. Scripture should never replace the indwelling Christ in our mindset. I wish I could communicate this well without misunderstanding! It is such a subtle lie of the enemy.
The idea that you must read scripture daily in some ritual in order to have faith is a faith killer. Again, as Christ reminded us in John 5:38-40, don't search the scriptures for life, come to Him! Consider how destructive this idea is - if you don't perform a daily ‘work’, then your ability to live life from Christ's power within is minimized! Can you see how this idea can kill faith?
Our power to bear fruit and live life well comes from our new creation - our connection to Christ. While scripture helps us believe this truth, we should not view it alone as any source of power. It can help us have a mindset of trusting Christ’s power within, but not if our actual trust is in our scripture reading rather than the living Word - Christ. Again, point your faith towards Christ and nothing else. Certainly not your scripture reading ritual!
If you must have your “quiet time” to have a good walk, then perhaps that is a bad sign that your quiet time is hurting your faith, not helping it. It is never the volume of knowledge that helps: better that you have a small amount of genuine knowledge about Christ that builds faith than a large amount of scriptural knowledge focused on other things that helps destroy it.
Thank you for reading this sidebar - it is essential in this discussion of faith. It is easy to get distracted from the main objective: pointing our faith at Christ and His work. Scripture is the most valuable tool in existence to help us with that objective. But, it does not replace the objective. It is a means to an end - the end is Christ. I pray you understand my point and will be mindful to use scripture well.
I am never discouraging scripture study! My only point is to keep the proper lens. Use this same principle to judge my writing! If my perspectives are causing you to take your eyes off Christ, then you should no more listen to me than anyone else.
Back to Hebrews 11
So, faith is a power that helps to convince us with solid evidence of the truth of God's promises and other things which we cannot see, but yet are as real as the world around us that we can see. The author of Hebrews continues refining the definition in verse 6:
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
The author is writing to Hebrews - some who think that keeping the Torah to the best of their ability is pleasing to God. And the author blows that idea to smithereens. Again, Paul explicitly states that the Law is not of faith. (See Galatians 3:12). Thus, putting ourselves under law cannot please God.
That is not what I want to emphasize here - I want to continue the definition. The author describes faith in this verse at a more basic level that he did before! This gives us valuable insight into faith.
Pleasing God by faith means you are willing to approach Him because…you believe that He exists! Did you pass that test of your faith? Do you believe God exists? Then you have an incomplete form of faith because we have a problem. As I referenced before, James says the demons believe in God. And certainly the Pharisees believed God existed. So, what are they missing?
There is a pesky little connecting word 'and' in the passage. God pleasing faith means you believe He exists AND that He rewards those who seek Him. Notice the positive! The author doesn't say “rewards those who seek Him and punishes those who don't”. This is the most crucial idea for genuine faith. You cannot have living faith without believing God has good gifts. The ultimate gift package is Christ's life infusing our own - the new creation!
Those demons James mentions; who believe in God and tremble and fear Him; don't believe He is good. They believe His gifts are horrible and nasty. This is a very crucial ‘and’. Consider the Pharisees. They also did not believe God's gift of His Son was good. They believed the Law was a better gift than God's own Son. The Law is a curse, not a gift. (Galatians 3:13)
This verse is evidence that faith that pleases God means you believe that He gives good gifts. You believe the gospel is actually good news. You believe that these gifts God offers are beneficial to you in a real way - these are benefits you actually want - that you will enjoy! God's rewards are not drudgery! You will never have to force yourself to pretend to enjoy them once you know and understand them.
Legalism tries to turn bad gifts into good. But in our hearts, we realize this is not true. We don't need to pretend that the real gospel is good. It will simply demonstrate that it is, once faith makes it a reality in our lives. The genuine good news is always good! Once we grasp that, we never need to pretend or be fake again.
About ‘Legalism’
I have had people tell me that I overly focus on ‘legalism’ because it was so destructive in my life. To some extent, I do focus on that which caused so much destruction. However, I am in good company with the apostles, especially Paul. Paul writes how legalism nearly destroyed him too!
Thank God, Paul was never able to keep the coveting commandment as a devout Pharisee (see Romans 7). He was able to hide it, so his contemporaries thought he kept the law perfectly (see Philippians 3:1-10). However, he knew that he had never truly kept it. Thus, when he met Jesus, he was able to see the answer to his problem - it had never been the law. However, as he wrote later, the holy and good Law of God did it's work: it showed him his death and pointed him to Christ.
Thus, he could write:
Romans 7:24-25b - “24-What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25-Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Romans 6:17-18 - “17-But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. 18-You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Paul writes that through Christ, (not through the law), we have been set free from sin. His answer to his own Pharisee legalism in Romans 7 was Christ. The answer to legalism is the power of Christ within making us “slaves of righteousness”. It is a power we can trust.
The Epic Struggle: Legalism vs Faith
Legalism is far more than what music we listen to or clothes we wear. Those are Christian distractions that cause us to take our focus off the actual destruction of legalism. Legalism is the enemy of faith. It was Paul's primary fight his entire life. As he put it in Galatians 3:1-3:
“1- O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2-I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? 3-Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh?”
Paul's meaning is clear - it is foolishness to think that we “receive the Spirit” by faith and then grow some other way. Especially by our own activities! That is the destructiveness of legalism - it is adamantly opposed to the gospel. It is ANY mindset that makes ANY aspect of both becoming AND living as a Christian anything other than a gift.
Legalism is any mindset where we are trying to make something happen that the gospel already promised has happened. Example: legalism thinks our ‘righteous’ actions make us righteous or help us grow. Faith thinks that we are already righteous because Christ made us righteous, and growth is growing in trust of that gift.
Paul would say that every believer should be constantly focused on rooting out this destructive mindset. And it takes so many subtle forms! The enemy uses the stupid ones, like haircuts or clothes, to obscure the actual destructive mindset of trying to please God using the flesh - without faith.
Mindsets and Motivations are Often Hidden
It is also subtle because mindset and motivation play a key role in determining whether our thoughts and actions are legalistic. These are sometimes difficult to ascertain and to observe. Take the above discussion of scripture - a personal anecdote about that.
I study scripture far more than when my mindset was that it is some kind of requirement to please God! I'm not going to stupidly claim that even now my motivation is purely from faith, but it is much more so than before.
I study scripture so that I learn more about God's new covenant promises. Now that I understand a small part of the gift I have been given through Christ, I want to explore every corner of that gift. Not because God is coercing me - because I see the benefit to those I love and myself; I recognize that God's gift is good; why would I avoid learning about it every chance I get?
In my past, I have read every word in scripture at least 10 times as a legalistic requirement. I can look back and see that my motivation was mostly flesh and little faith.
Can I say God has never used this activity to help in some ways? Of course not. Objectively, that was a far better activity than lying drunk in a ditch. The primary benefit has been recalling the scripture that I now understand from a more gospel focused mindset. But, for the most part, it was a significant waste of time. There was little benefit, and much harm. It did not grow my faith, it mostly entrenched my faithless mindsets.
From an external observation, in a video documentary of my life, my scripture study activities would look similar before and now. However, due to my changed mindset, the time to benefit ratio has drastically changed! A single verse that builds faith is worth more than a thousand that don't. And that is one example of the many harms of legalism.
Legalism: the Enemy of Faith
I believe legalism is the “original sin”. Adam and Eve wanted to know what was “good and evil” so they could be ‘good’ without depending on God for their goodness. And this is another great definition of legalism - trying to “be good” and “please God” by following rules - even God's rules. Any attempt to achieve goodness from activity.
As we read above, without faith it is impossible to please God. If you want to please God, then work on your faith. See everything as a gift! Scripture is a massive gift! Focus on the gift of fruit of the Spirit. Stop acting out of guilt, coercion, or peer pressure. Learn the faith motivation of God’s love within. Learn that the gift of Christ within is amazing. You can trust and rely on it.
Legalism comes in many forms. But, I believe the most subtle and harmful form is the idea that the new creation, Christ in us, our salvation, is not enough to properly live the Christian life. This type of legalism diminishes the power of Christ. Perhaps not intentionally, but out of ignorance of how the new creation works through faith in God's promises.
Consider the logic - if there is any activity that we must do, beyond faith, in order to walk a pleasing walk for God, then what are we saying? The new creation is not enough? What Christ has worked in us is not enough? Our slavery to righteousness is not enough? The gift of the Spirit is not enough? Can you see how subtle this is? I’m fearful I'm not explaining it well enough.
Walking by Faith is Easy - We are the Ones who Make it Hard
The only activities that we should focus on are those that build faith and those that come from faith. But, I have probably made this seem harder than it is, and if so, I apologize.
One of the first promises Christ made is His yoke is easy and burden is light. Walking by faith falls under this promise.
Another of God's new covenant promises I just quoted above is we are a slave of righteousness. There are only two ways to walk for believers - according to the flesh or the spirit. Thus, unless we actively in our mind, using our will, choose to do something from the flesh, then we will be acting from faith as a slave of righteousness. Example: unless we bump our gum and curse God, we always brush our teeth from faith, LOL.
That is why the gift mindset is so important! What happens is - we get freaked out about how we are doing in relation to God, and then decide we need to take action to fix things. We have a false ‘karma’ gospel - our life is going wrong because of “fill in the blank” - usually something we are or are not doing. Example: if only we studied scripture 30 more minutes per day, then we could conquer this “fill in the blank”.
I would say we probably brush our teeth from faith more often than we study scripture! Because we think God is neutral about teeth brushing while He cares about the studying. We think He is neutral about our non-ministry job while He cares about our service in the church. We think He is neutral about us shopping for groceries while He cares about when we feed the poor.
But - Christ is our life! He is our life when we brush our teeth and in everything we do. A faith mindset recognizes this and simply lives. As choices come along, whether hitting our gum, or an opportunity for service, we begin to be more and more informed by Christ within than by the flesh from without - there is no stress.
This growth comes as we learn to trust all of God's new covenant promises. Faith begets stronger faith! And as you see faith begin to work from within, it whets your appetite for more! Sure, the temptation will always be there to try and please God through legalism. That is an existential fight. But when you are able to compare the results of faith to the results of legalism - you will learn to choose faith every time.
The true fruit of faith is so much tastier than the wax fruit of legalism.
Conclusion to Part One
Scripture has given us a vital clue to understand faith. Please ponder and meditate on it as I begin to study further ‘faith' passages for my next article.
A vital component of faith is not only that it is pointed at God, but that it is focused on His goodness to you and others in His family (those that seek Him - believers). It is not enough to believe in any so-called gospel, you must believe and trust it is “good news”. A gospel that is not good news is a fake gospel, pure and simple. Pointing your faith at fake gospels is useless at best, and utterly destructive at worst.
Again, I must emphasize that God's goodness is real, recognizable goodness. The enemy loves to try and use scripture to convince us that God's goodness is not real. I have often heard the phrase that “God's ways are not our ways” to justify describing God in ways that demean His goodness or cause Him to break His promises. Yes, His ways are not our ways; yet scripture - through the new covenant gospel - has described His ways for us, and we cannot ignore that.
Like I demonstrated in my article about love, God treats us exactly the same way He has shown us we should treat others. We love only because He first loved us. One of the first elements of someone's character that helps you judge if they are trustworthy is truth telling. They keep their promises. We certainly cannot expect less of God! If we diminish His promises, then I cannot see how we could then trust Him. The enemy will do anything to convince us God cannot be trusted.
Example: the gospel says believers will not be punished for their sins; they have permanent peace with God. Hebrews says both “the Lord” and the “Holy Spirit” will “remember our sins no more”. Thus, we cannot reconcile messages claiming God is punishing His children for sin, even to the point of taking their life. Those messages imply that God is breaking His promise - thus they damage faith. They are enemy messages - twisting scripture to make them.
The truth is that when we make idiotic choices to participate in destructive thinking and behaviors, God is there ready to save us. As Paul says in Romans 10:8 - “…the Word is near you…”. When the sin in this world brings sickness or other destruction upon us - that we did not choose - God is still there to help us through it.
If you want to know God, get to know Jesus Christ. Not once did Christ hurl sickness or death at anyone. Not once does scripture show Him making the Pharisees sick so they would repent.
Instead, He healed. He would have healed the Pharisees too if they believed that He could. But they thought He was an emissary of Satan - why would they ever come to Him for anything good? By that example, we see the opposite of faith. Believing God gives bad gifts is anti-faith. That is when any transformation of our living becomes based in fear, not love.
The goodness of God, based on His essence of being love, is the basis of our trust in Him. If He cannot be trusted, then we cannot have faith in Him. There can be no inkling of fakery in our belief. We cannot apply a standard to God that, applied to anyone else, would make them a monster, and then claim He is good. This cognitive dissonance will eventually destroy our faith. Simply quoting “God is good”, while believing evil things about Him, is not enough.
God is not Zeus, and it is high time we stop believing messages that treat Him like He is. Yes, evil is abhorrent to His very nature. Light repels darkness. Goodness repels evil. Life repels death. Those who choose these things over God get what they want and deserve. But Christ did not come to condemn or judge, He came to save. He says those who do not choose Him are “condemned already”.
Or as Paul puts it in Romans 5:10 -
“For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”
If God did this for His enemies, imagine the good gifts He has for His own family! Christ did His work and finished it before anyone was ever saved! He did the work - His death, burial, and resurrection - while the future church, His body, were still enemies. And that is Paul's point.
We must believe God's gifts are good. They are not bad or evil wrapped in a shell of goodness, they are actually good. When we have faith that they are good, we are not trying to be ‘holy’ by pretending bad news is good. We don't have to pretend bad is good, we acknowledge the bad is truly bad, and comes from the enemy. Thus, the good is truly good, and only comes from God.
The enemy gives bad gifts and tries to turn the good news into bad. And then tries to convince us that these bad gifts and news are from God! Sadly, many messages in the Christian world support this effort. They actually have God treating His children worse than an unbeliever! This is truly blasphemy of the worst kind. And it is a faith killer.
Why Is This Important?
Another CCC that I will eventually write about is sin. There are certainly corrupt concepts about sin. Some people get creative at finding sin around every corner, while others justify clearly harmful sin.
My point now is that when Paul's says “whatever is not of faith is sin” and Hebrews says “without faith you cannot please God”, they are pointing at something profound. The root of all sin is unbelief. This is the only sin mentioned in the first 12 chapters of Hebrews. These people were struggling to believe in Christ. The sin that so “easily beset” them was unbelief.
Now that we see that a vital aspect of faith is believing in God's goodness; can you see how NOT believing in God's goodness is the root of all sin? Consider this concept for a moment.
Not Trusting God's Goodness is the Root of all Sin
If Adam and Eve truly believed God had given them good and perfect things, would they have sought more? Would they have wanted the knowledge of good and evil so they could setup their own good by creating a false religion and following rules? Of course not. If they believed what they had from God was perfect, why seek anything else?
When a believer is one of the very high percentage addicted to porn, what is the root? This is crucial to know. All the accountability and other programs are useless to fix this root. Ultimately, we don't believe God's goodness. The life we have, the spouse we have, etc., is not enough. Or, we don't understand or believe that we are new creations, so we think we want the endorphin rush and deserve the guilt, shame, and agony.
Same for someone who steals: God hasn't provided. Or someone who lies: God hasn't caused their reality to be good enough. Any addiction is an attempt to seek fulfillment in an outside source. We desire what the fruit of the Spirit offers but lack the faith to receive it from the true Source. Why do people get drunk? They are seeking peace - a peace the Spirit offers freely as a gift if we only accept it.
Essentially, like Adam and Eve, we believe God is holding out on us - that we need to take action to meet our own needs. But, before anyone condemns those committing these obvious sins, consider the root of religious sin - those who seek to maintain their relationship with God based on legalism or rule keeping.
Again, we don't believe God or trust His promises. We don't believe the gospel is good enough. We don't believe that God, through Christ and His finished work, has taken care of us spiritually. We think we need to take things into our own hands and improve Christ's work. ALL sin has this lack of faith as it's source.
Legalism, in all its forms, is the sin of attempting to gain and/or maintain spirituality, closeness to God, righteousness, fellowship with God, etc., by what we do - not who we are. Christ gave us our identity as a gift, He made us who we are - a child of Light. Yet, if we don't fully trust His work in and to us, then we seek identity elsewhere. This lack of faith is the root of all sin.
The results can be a religious or a depraved performance, but the root is all the same. We don't believe God is good. We believe He is holding out on us. We believe in order for our lives to be fulfilling, we need to assist God to make it happen. His promises and power are not good enough for us. We have an Adam and Eve mentality.
Faith Causes Us to Willingly Receive and Use God's Gifts
A faithless life is one that is not based on receiving God's gifts through His promises because we aren't sure those gifts are actually good. It is a life based on achieving in our own power and means, the good things God has already promised. This definition covers every level of faithlessness from the religious to the depraved.
From the person who never believes the gospel in the first place to the believer who struggles to believe what he has been given - it is all faithless, and it is all sin. And it is based in unbelief. We become convinced the gospel is too good and the promises cannot be true. God hasn't really forgiven me, my closeness to Him depends on me and my performance, etc. And to be fair, this temptation is hurled at us constantly from every corner, from both the “church” and the world. It is often a faithless message claiming to be of God.
As we learned from Hebrews, the first major element of faith is focused on God's goodness. He rewards His children! Thus, if you are not His child, why not become one? How can being His child be bad? It is easy and light. If you believe God gives good gifts, what's the holdup? Most likely, you don't believe His gifts are good, or you would run to Him. It would be the most sensible thing to do!
If you are already His child, then do you know who you are and what you possess? Do you believe God's promises that pertain to you? Do you believe Christ has given you a new good heart? Do you believe you are a slave of righteousness? And even further, does your thinking and actions reflect that you believe and trust these promises? That is faith. Faith is the reality in your life of the promises of God - applied to and for you.
Substance or Reality
“…the substance of things hoped for…” Many times in scripture, the gospel is referred to as the great ‘hope’. Again, this word is not uncertain - quite the opposite. Thus, we are certain we have these things promised to us through the good news or gospel. That is ‘hope’ in scripture.
The substance of this hope is transformed thinking and life. Not because we are trying hard or striving to transform ourselves, but because we trust in Christ's transforming power within. Because we believe we have already been transformed in spirit. Because this is a promise from God through the finished work of Christ. And thus the faith circle is complete.
The tragedy of the Christian world is so many are convinced that their attempts at self-transformation from various motivations like fear, guilt, shame, etc., are from God. These motivations are not rooted in God's goodness; they are not good news. Thus, it is not faith based transformation! And it doesn't last.
This is the root of why Paul says the Law is not of faith. It is ultimately based in fear, not love. Yes, it is righteous and holy, because it came from God. But as humans, we cannot try to keep it without using flesh power. It is automatic! The Law has penalties, thus creating obligation. Unfulfilled obligations, with penalties, creates fear. This fear motivation is always fleshly. The Law is good, yet combine it with humanity, and it always engenders flesh motivation.
God gave us the Law for that very reason! He did not expect us to keep it; He knew we would fail. Thus, through our own failures, we learn to come to Christ for transformation. Flesh power always fails. The law cannot transform, only accuse. It shows us our failures; it does not make us righteous. Thus, we need Christ, and faith is the mechanism through which we access Him.
Galatians 3:24-25: “So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 - Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”
Final Review
We learned that faith is believing God’s promises no matter the circumstances. Example: God says we are righteous because of Christ's work in us. Thus, more faith is required to believe that promise after we commit a sin than before. Yet, trusting that righteousness is what helps us recover from and avoid stumbles in the first place.
Flesh powered deeds can often mimic faith powered deeds. It is not the results that please God, it is being empowered by Christ through His indwelling Spirit by faith. You must have faith that you have the Spirit and you are a new creation to avoid flesh powered dead works and walk in faith powered living works.
Hebrews indicates that if you are a believer, a child of God, you have already had faith that saves your soul. Christ has taken your punishment, you are no longer under condemnation, much less will you ever be destroyed. Now, you must use the same faith that is saving your soul to believe those promises and let them transform your walk and life.
This same passage shows us that soul saving faith must be pointed at Christ, the gospel, and His new covenant finished work. Thus, the focus of the faith is important, not just faith itself. Faith in the wrong things is useless spiritually. Example: faith in Law keeping, either as a way to save yourself, or to help keep you in good standing with God and grow, is useless to please God.
Hebrews defines faith as something that makes reality out of those invisible things you believe in. We reviewed that ‘hope’ in scripture is actually a firm belief. But faith takes hope and belief further by “fleshing them out”. It makes the conceptual into an active living reality in our lives.
We learned that faith also provides proof or conviction of invisible things. This is common sense - once faith begins to make God's promises real in your life, then it becomes easier and easier to believe them. We don't have to “fake it ‘til we make it,”: the gospel will simply become the reality through which we naturally live. Because our faith is convincing us, this convincing then builds stronger faith. Thus, it is a cycle of faith that leads to growth.
We learned that the same word “conviction” in Hebrews is used to describe scripture. Thus, scripture is the primary tool God uses to convince us of the proof of His promises and other invisible things. Not the only proof; yet, an authoritative and powerful one. But scripture is only a tool, and can be used to destroy faith as easily (or more easily) than to build it.
Finally, we learned from Hebrews that true faith is focused on the fact that God give good gifts or rewards to those who seek Him (His children). Painting the face of God with enemy colors will destroy faith. Making it seem like God is doing the things to us that He is actually saving us from is a major enemy tactic. Again, scripture is often used to make this attack, and many fall for it. It is a faith killer.
We must believe that God is truly for us, not against us - in a real common sense way. We cannot turn cancer into a tool inflicted by God on His children to punish them or “set them on the right path”, etc. No, the enemy, using the power of sin, brought the cancer. God will use it, turn it for good, but it is a cruel being that would backhandedly give us what He has promised to save us from. This mentality makes God a promise breaker, and it is from the enemy.
I hope this article has set a foundation for this study of faith. I know it has helped my understanding immensely. I had a gut feeling about these things, but as we learned, it is affirming to have scripture confirm the truth and help to convince us of it. Scripture is an amazing gift from God!
Once you are convinced that God's promises, His gifts and rewards, are truly awesome, and your faith begins to produce the promised results, is there any better motivation to truly seek out all the promised gifts you may not even know about? This is the true faith motivation to study scripture and it kicks the butt of all legalistic motivations. It builds a true excitement to learn about our treasured inheritance. And scripture is the primary and best place to learn.
We have a long way to go! We will see how many articles this takes. My schedule is still crazy, so I will do my best. But I am excited to continue. And I hope that you are also! I pray the Spirit will use this, as with all my articles, to help renew your mind so that you focus on God's good gifts and begin to see, or see more deeply, their reality in your own life.
And in this way, faith will continue to perpetuate itself - the results will be a better life and walk for you. God's gifts are truly good! Until next time, enjoy them immensely.