What Faith?

As we repent from sin and turn to God, what must also be included?

“I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:21 NLT)

Repentance is also from unbelief to faith. Are good works evidence of repentance? What did Paul say?

“but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.” (Acts 26:20 WEB)

We are not saved by good works, but saved for good works.

Faith and Belief

What’s the difference between belief and faith? They are related. We’re not interested in a modern dictionary definition that is influenced by the ideas of a corrupt world. We need a lexicon, because we want to know how those words are used in various contexts in the Bible.

In biblical Greek, a word translated as belief (pisteuó) means to have faith, to trust or have confidence (in God). A word translated as faith (pistis) is similar, because it means faith or belief, but includes the concept of faithfulness. Godly faith is higher than mere human belief, because it comes from God. What is faith?

“Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB)

Source

What is the ultimate source of this kind of faith?

“... Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you.” (Romans 12:3 CEV)

Faith or faithfulness comes from the Holy Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23 CEB)

Faith is also built up by hearing. So if we want to grow in faith, we need to hear from faithful preachers, who actually believe that the whole Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). A Christ-centered message is the most important. We can also hear the Bible read, or read the Bible aloud to ourselves, an ancient practice.

“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (Romans 10:17 NLT)

The original Greek literally says, “hearing through the word of Christ,” so listening to Christ-centered instruction is important. How do we discern that? If a sermon quotes Jesus and expounds upon what Jesus taught, we can be more sure that we are hearing through the word of Christ. However, if Jesus is quoted, but the preacher springboards to an unrelated subject entirely, or creates an application that is mere man-made rules, then we should be wary that the word of Christ is being misused.

Ancient Faith

Faith is not just a New Testament phenomenon. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets all had faith (Hebrews 11). Just as they had very different circumstances to us, so too do Christians believe a wide variety of different non-essential doctrines, but can have the same faith in the weightier matters. The patriarchs and matriarchs understood the weightier matters even in the Old Testament.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23 HCSB)

How Much Faith

Even with little faith we can do great things.

“... If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20 KJV)

Justified

Since nobody can keep the law perfectly, faith is the only key. It renders us just, innocent.

“Therefore, since we have been justified [made innocent] by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 ESV)

The Original Faith

Is the original faith in traditions of post apostolic church fathers, much much later Protestant doctrines, modern emotional experiences, or any other thing that came along after the faith written about in the New Testament? Or, should we contend for the faith that was already there when Jude wrote?

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.” (Jude 3 NASB)

There is nothing wrong with seeking the advice of early church fathers, Protestant reformers, or others who have had faith in Christ, but we must be wise when they deviate from or add to the God-breathed words in the Bible. We need life-long personal study of the Bible, like the Bereans.