Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, and certainty of what is unseen. But does that mean faith is based on nothingness? Is it simply “belief” á la The Polar Express where you just close your eyes and trust somethings is real? That idea is actually the opposite of the Biblical idea of faith. In fact, the reason there is a Bible to tell us what faith is proves the point that faith is not merely an emotional feat or a mental ascent. Faith is to be built on something solid. Faith is not a leap in the dark as some describe it. What ,then, is faith and how are we supposed to define and engage it?
For some Christians it seems faith is basically positivity wearing a cross necklace. You hope for something good and then put Jesus’ Name on it and believe it a whole bunch. This is a problem for obvious reasons. You don’t need Jesus to be positive. You don’t even need faith to be positive. You just need to be positive in order to be positive. This is a very non-Christian description of faith and actually pulls it down into a category the culture is much more comfortable with; a preference or choice equal among other options and choices. If Christian faith is slapping a “Jesus Fish” (Icthus) on the bumper of whatever philosophical car you’re driving then IT IS merely a flavor of belief amongst other beliefs, be it big foot or the tooth fairy. Faith that requires no foundation nor any reason is not Biblical faith in the least. Blind Faith was a band in the 1960’s, not a Biblical command. Let me explain what I mean…
Help My Unbelief
God always desires us to know Him and therefore He provides evidence of His existence all around us and inside us. This is why we wonder at the night sky as the stars twinkle or melt as the sun comes up over the white sand beach. It is why we cry when babies are born, marveling at the miracle that is the human body that can generate and produce another life and deliver it into the world safely. These evidences are all there to build our faith so that we don’t have to take a leap in the dark and simply hope we’re believing in the right God or in what is true. No, as my friend Josh Baldwin sings in his song Evidence, “I see the evidence of Your goodness all over my life. I see your promises in fulfillment, all over my life.” God provides us evidence in order to give us assurance. Paul writes in the book of Romans, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20)” We understand by what has been made. It is clearly perceived. (Read my post The Goldilocks Gospel)
In his book True Spirituality, Francis Schaeffer wrote, “Just as the only basis for the removal of our guilt is the finished work of Christ upon the cross in history, plus nothing, so the only instrument for accepting that finished work of Christ upon the cross is faith. This is not faith in the 20th century concept of faith as a jump in the dark – not a solution on the basis of faith in faith. It is believing the specific promises of God; no longer turning our backs on them, no longer calling God a liar, but raising the empty hands of faith and accepting that finished work of Christ as it was fulfilled in history upon the cross.” Do you see the idea? We can have certainty in our faith because it is based on historical people, places, and things. Our faith is built on the most tested written document ever to be produced and scrutinized, The Bible. Therefore the faith we have, built on the Scriptures and on those of whom it testifies is not equal to the faith people have in Sasquatch or Nessie.
The Proof Is In The Pudding
Any time we see examples of “blind faith” in the Bible where God is asking Abraham to offer up Isaac or Jesus is asking Peter to walk on the water, it is often against the background of God having revealed and proven Himself beforehand. Jesus is already walking on the water when He invites Peter to join Him. God has already allowed Abraham and Sarah to bear a child at their impossible ages. God doesn’t owe us these assurances, but He loves us enough to provide evidence BEFORE asking us to believe. This is His kindness. (Read my post The Transformational Truth)
So, the next time you are asked about your faith in Jesus you don’t need to equate it to a feeling or a moment of heightened emotion (though those times can be precious and powerful). You need only point to the years of God proving Himself through the ages, in history, through the Scriptures, proven by academics and scholars for ages, tested by critics and yet still standing. And to it, you can add your own personal testimony of life change. That kind of faith is not positivity or good vides dressed in a choir robe. That kind of faith is built on reality, on actual life change, and on the rock of ages who does not change like shifting shadows. What a comfort that is?!
From The Bible
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. – Hebrews 11:6 ESV
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. – John 20:30-31 ESV
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. – John 3:16-18 ESV