The faith in God is a reflection of our trust in Him, which in turn is based on a true understanding of Who God is. By placing our faith in God, we embark on a long journey in which we acknowledge God, taking into consideration certain facts. The first such element is that God exists. Once this is established, we have to go beyond this. James 2:19 states “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” The second step is that this belief is to be substantiated with a firm commitment that will prove that our belief leads to concrete action. Thus, the logical way forward is works emanating from such belief. James 2:21-23 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” Finally, James sums up in James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
This is not the end. There is more to it. Faith in God that motivates us to action is not enough. For faith in God to be genuine, we must accept Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. We should not accept some of the attributes of God while rejecting others. The moment we do this we are putting our faith in something else which is not the god as revealed in the Scriptures. For faith in God to be genuine, it must be based on the genuine God. It cannot be a god according to our likes and dislikes with conditional faith.
Faith in God is not a blind leap without any evidence or, even worse, contrary to the evidence. Faith is simply trust. The believer trusts in God. Just like a sinner needs God likewise a sick person needs medicine. The medicine is taken for healing by the trust reposed in the medicine. Whether the medicine is taken with confidence or distrust, it, in any case, works. Great faith in bad medicine will not cure a person. It is the object of faith, not the strength of faith that makes the difference. Faith is not the opposite of doubt; in fact, doubt can exist even in the heart of the faithful. Mathew 9:24 “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
One of the areas of faith that is perplexing at times is that we have to acquire more faith and that some people have much faith, while others have virtually none. We spend a lot of effort, like a dog chasing its tail, trying to get something we already have. Every born-again Christian already has the same quality and quantity of faith that Jesus has bestowed on us. It's only a matter of exercising it. It is impossible to live without trusting in something, even if it is only in the reliability of our five senses. The object of our faith is what makes all the difference.
Faith is thus the touchstone of acceptability of our relationship with God and our confidence that He exists and does all for those who believe and have faith in Him.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in