Faith in Christ
One of the most common misconceptions of Christianity is that it’s built on blind faith.
As defined in Hebrews 11:1, “faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see”.
The Greek word used for “faith” is “Pistis”, a term centring on trust and reliability and originating from the word “Peitho”, which means to persuade. In essence, when we express faith, there is confidence in the reliability of what we place it in. This confidence is built on logic, not wishful thinking or gullibility.
“Is it insane to believe in the one who can neither lie, nor fail, nor error? To trust God is the most sane thing a man can do. It is no leap in the dark. Faith demands the surest evidence and finds it in God’s unfailing Word”. – William MacDonald
So if faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17), then it suggests that through his Word, God has made extensive effort to reveal himself as trustworthy.
Jesus, being the physical revelation of God (Col 1:15), ultimately proved himself trustworthy by laying down his life for us while we were enemies of God in sin. (Romans 5:10)
Genuine Faith in Jesus carries such potent results that even when faith as little as a mustard seed is planted within him, the impossible is made possible (Matt 17:20). Cliffe Knechtle elaborates on this concept with the Thin Ice argument, “You can have all the faith in the world in thin ice but once you step onto it you go right through. Have even the tiniest faith in thick ice and you will be upheld”. The point he makes here is that the object of our faith is far more important than the strength of our faith.
An example of this is seen in Exodus 3 when God tells Moses to lead his people out of a 430-year old oppression in Egypt. Initially, Moses protests by saying, “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11). Moses’ immediate objection with the task was found within his own capacity, he lacked faith within himself. However, God didn't convince Moses to go by telling him to believe in himself. In fact, Moses could’ve had all the faith in the world, but if it was placed within himself it would’ve been pointless, just an overconfident 80-year-old Hebrew man. Instead, God replied, “I will be with you” (Exo 3:12). In this, God was saying, “Go, not because of who you are but because of who I Am”. You see God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. All Moses had to do was transfer his faith from his limited self and onto the God of his ancestors.
“Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” – Matt 19:26
True faith in Jesus is shown in our act of surrendering. It’s a transfer of our faith for the salvation of our souls away from our good works or self-righteousness and into the hands of the redeemer (Jn 17:3). Completely trusting Jesus not just as our saviour but as the Lord over our lives (Romans 10:9).
When we come to know more of Christ through his Word, in each season of our lives, whether it be through hardship, trials or milestones, we discover him in a new, intimate and personal way, affirming the trueness of his Word and prompting us deeper to extend our faith in him to other areas of our lives.
