Romans - What is Faith?

Romans

 

When I come across a well written explanation of something biblical, I feel there is no reason to re-invent the wheel, so to speak. This writing was pulled from the pages of the side bar on ‘Faith’.

 

What is Faith?

 

“Faith is a word with many meanings. It can mean faithfulness as in Matthew 24:45 (“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.”). It can mean absolute trust, as shown by some of the people who came to Jesus for healing as seen in Luke 7:2-10 (“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, ‘I tell you; I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’”). It can mean confident hope as in Hebrews 11:1 (“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”).  Or as James points out in James 2:14-26 (“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”). What does Paul mean when, in Romans, he speaks of ‘saving faith’?

We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul uses the word because he ties faith so closely to salvation. It is not something we must do in order to earn salvation ... if that were true, then faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us as in Galatians 2:16 (“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”). Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us ... Ephesians 2:8 - “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” It is God’s grace, not our faith, that saves us. In his mercy, however, when he saves us, he give us faith...a relationship with his Son to helps us become like him. Through the faith he gives us, he carries us from death into life ... John 5:24 - “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

Even in OT times, grace, not deeds, was the basis for salvation. As Hebrews points out, “it is not possible for the blood or bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4) God intended for his people to look beyond the animal sacrifices to him, but all too often they instead put their confidence in fulfilling the requirements of the law...that is, performing the required sacrifices. When Jesus triumphed over death, he canceled the charges against us and opened the way to the Father (Colossians 2:12-15 ... “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”) Because he is merciful, he offers us faith. How tragic if we turn faith into deed and try to develop it on our own! We can never come to God through our own faith any more than his OT people could come through their own sacrifices. Instead, we must accept his gracious offer with thanksgiving and allow him to plant the seed of faith within us.”

Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

This post was taken from The Life Application Study Bible, pg 2471.