What is Faith? Faith Means Trust
What is Faith? We tend to think that having faith means just believing in something. But in the Bible, faith means much more than this. It is much more about trust. Faith Means Trust.
The Bible tells us that. “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). Faith has two parts to it.
The first is believing that something is true, and the second is acting on that belief by trusting it. You can believe that a bridge will carry you safely from one side of a river to the other, but trust is when you walk across that bridge in thick fog. Faith means trust!
Martin Luther King Jr. said that “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Faith is trust, reliance, and assent to the promises of God, and acceptance of them so that you live your life based on those promises.
Faith Means Trust in Jesus!
Faith is even more than just trusting; it is trusting a person – Jesus Christ. Faith means trust in the Son of God!
Jesus said to the man whose son he healed, “All things are possible to him who believes!” (Mark 9:22). The man replied, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” This man understood that he needed God for everything, and he put his trust in the only place he knew could help him: Jesus.
The apostles carried that message to the new believers after Jesus’ ascension: “They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (Acts 16:30,31).
Faith And Trust And Helps Us Grow
Faith not only connects us with Jesus Christ, who justifies and saves us, it also helps us grow in the Christian life: “…for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Grace and faith go hand in hand in the New Testament. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:8). This is another important part of the definition of faith. Faith does not originate within us, because God gives us the faith to trust him and his promises.
Faith Unites Believers
Finally, faith unites believers in the family of God: “Resist [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).
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