What is faith really?

            Faith is a keystone truth that the Reformation once again brought to the forefront of our Christian lives and experience.   The clarion call of Luther and the other reformers was that it was  “…by grace you have been saved through faith.”  But faith is not just an important part of our salvation.  As Paul reminds us in Romans 1:16 we are told that “…the gospel,… is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, … For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."”  Faith is more than just part of the entry point into the Christian life.  It is also a significant part of the on going continuing life of the believer.  But what is faith?

            As mentioned in my previous blog, I had been seeking to find the answer to victory over the problems that I was facing in Ireland and had been praying for more faith so that I could overcome my problems.  I had been looking at faith as though it were something that I could top up with when I didn’t have enough, like filling up a car with more fuel.  I thought, the more faith I have the more power I will have with God.  However, this was a mistaken understanding of what faith is.  Firstly, faith is not something that can be measured on a faith meter.  If I feel my faith is weak then I need to do something to increase its power as though it were possible do something about it.  Secondly, I was praying for faith and so overcome the problem by myself, as though faith was the key that enabled me to do what I was unable to do myself.  If I had enough faith I could overcome the world!  However, Jesus’ comment was that if you have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed you could move mountains (Matthew 17:20).  Further, Jesus added that a mustard seed was the smallest of seeds (Matthew 13:32).  The point is not the amount of faith that we have or don’t have but where that faith is being place – God or me!

            In Ephesians 2:8-9 we are told that our salvation is because of grace and faith. It is not based on what we do but rather is a gift of God.  If it is a gift, then the glory goes to the giver and not to the recipient of that gift because of anything in the recipient.

            In Ireland my understanding of faith increased significantly as a result of a testimony by one of the team. He described the experience of his search for God like climbing a mountain.  He was feeling discouraged because he didn’t seem to be making any progress in his search for God.  It was at this point that he describes his experience like falling over the edge of a precipice.  His fall was broken by a branch that was sticking out of the side of the mountain.  As he assessed his situation he realized that he couldn’t do anything to save himself.  He was relying on the branch as he hung on but realized that he couldn’t trust it indefinitely.  In desperation he cried out to God, “God! If you are there, save me!”   God in his mercy and grace answered him.  “Let go and trust me to save you.”  Faith in God will let go.  But why?

            What is going on in this exchange?  The team member was in a desperate situation.  He was relying of the branch but realized that he could not trust the branch for ever.  Furthermore, there was nothing he could do to save himself.  So he cries out to God.  This is something that God is pleased to respond to.  When we are at our wits ends and there is nothing that we can do but acknowledge our weakness to God, God responds to that humble request. 

            Secondly, what are we to make of God’s response to ‘let go’ and trust him to save us?  Of course, the team member is using this story to illustrate what happened to him spiritually.  However, as we consider faith’s response to God what is clear is that it is a response to a promise of God.  If God had, even in this physical situation actually spoken those words, and we were sure that it was God, then faith in God’s word would obey and let go.  Why?  Joshua reminded the people of Israel in Joshua 23:14 that God keeps his promises.  “…you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”  Joshua could say at the end of his life that God was faithful.  Every one of his promises he has kept.  We are reminded in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?”  In fact “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18).  God would not be a god to be trusted if he could not be relied upon to keep his word.  That God does keep his promises is reassuring and the basis upon which we can commit our lives to Him.  As we experience this promise keeping God in the circumstances of life our faith is strengthened to trust him with even bigger situations as time goes along.  We might find that what we are being asked to do is something that is outside of our comfort zone or beyond our ability to carry out.  God will not change but will continue faithful, even in situations that seem impossible.  When the disciples were surprised by Jesus’ comments about how hard it was for the rich to be saved he told them "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27).  If he makes a promise he is also able to keep it fully.  This was the message to Mary when the angel came and told her about the child she would conceive.  “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).  What a promise!

            Faith, therefore, is not something that we obtain when we need to do something but rather it is what the Holy Spirit does in our lives that causes us to trust God and believe what he has said.  It is the Holy Spirit’s enabling that helps us to commit ourselves to God for what he has promised he will do for us.  My brother quoted Hudson Taylor in a letter to us recently.  It captures the essence of what we have been talking about here.  ‘I have learned not to trust in my faith but in God’s faithfulness’.

There is a further aspect of faith I recently came across while reading the book, Esther: An Honor-Shame Paraphrase. This helps to give a complete and rounded understanding of faith. In this book, Jayson Georges has divided the book into two parts.  In the first part he elaborates on some of the cultural aspects of the story that have a bearing on how we should understand the cultural significance of the story.  In introducing his subject he touches upon our English word ‘faith’.  He points out that in our western culture we understand the word to be someone’s personal belief about something which reflects our individualistic values in our culture.  However in the Old Testament “an Israelite’s ‘faith’ is a commitment to their covenant obligations to honour Yahweh.”  Similarly in the New Testament the word translated ‘faith’ (Greek: pistis) suggests loyalty and fidelity to a relationship.  Biblical faith is not merely ‘belief about God,’ but ‘allegiance to God’ (Kindle Locations 72-78).  We in the West miss the relational aspect of ‘faith’.  This covenant relationship, this allegiance to God aspect of faith involves more that just belief.  It includes action or more precisely obedience to God’s word.  This is not to gain credit by what we do but rather because our response to our new relationship with God causes us to want to do what will please him because we love Him.  Jesus said to his disciples in the Upper Room, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  It is because we love him that WE WANT to keep his commandments.  This aspect of faith as seen in both the Old and New Testament carries with it a responsibility towards the new relationship that we have with God.  This is seen in our obedience to our loving heavenly Father.  I like the way the New Living Translation (NLT) puts Isaiah 26:8. “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart's desire is to glorify your name.”  This summarizes perfectly the cultural meaning of the word ‘faith’.

So faith is that Holy Spirit induced attitude by which we trust God, believing His word as true and dependable and as a consequence acting upon that belief in God by our response of love to Him as seen in our obedience to His word.

All scripture quotations are taken from the ESV unless indicated.  English Standard Version Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA. All rights reserved.

The Bible text designated (NLT) is from HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION ®  Copyright © 1996, 2004, by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

When God calls He equips and enables – Part II

            The previous blog mentioned my lack of experience as a cause of concern and how the Lord opened a door for me to get practical experience and training in Dublin as I continued my preparations for service in Japan.

            We learn the most when times are hard and that was certainly the case in Ireland.  As newly weds we were suddenly thrust into communal living.  Initially this was as house parents to the ladies on the team!  Later in the year we moved into a house of men.  Not the best move for newly weds nor something we would advise now.  The Bible is clear in its advice to young men when they marry that their first year should be without undue responsibilities (Deuteronomy 24:5).      

            Among the many lessons that I learnt during that time, two stand out as key for me as our preparation progressed towards leaving for Japan.

            A big lesson the Lord taught me was the meaning of trust or faith in God.  These words can be interchanged readily.  Two things helped me in my understanding of this truth. 

One was my belief that I should be able to gain victory over the problems I was experiencing.  Try as hard as I might this elusive victory, whatever it was, was not becoming a reality in my life.  I prayed hard for God to give me this victory.  Perhaps it was that I didn’t have enough faith?  I prayed for more faith.  But the weeks and months passed and I didn’t seem to be making any progress with this problem.  What was wrong? 

The second thing which contributed to me ultimately finding this victory was the time I was given to do a Bible study.  As part of our team experience we were given the opportunity to take classes and our team decided that they wanted to learn to touch type.  I could already touch type having learnt it at school.  I was therefore given the opportunity to do other studies.  This proved pivotal in providing answers to the two key lessons that I needed to learn.

I had heard previously that 2 Corinthians was Paul’s missionary handbook.  So I thought that would be a good book to study for a missionary in preparation while the rest of the team were out at their class.  This proved to be God’s over ruling because the key lesson that I learnt from that study was that God is everything and has done everything.  From our salvation, our call, our sufficiency, our service, our spiritual gifts down to our final glory – all that we have and are now in Christ is all of God.  Furthermore, in our weakness God’s grace enables us to be strong.  This was a new revelation to me, and it gave me greater confidence in God that every aspect of my life was all part of his plan and provision.

This provided the answer to my first question – how do I get victory over my problems.  The very clear truth that came across to me was that I didn’t need to strive, need more faith or anything else that I could do to make it happen – God had already given me the victory.  I needed to believe it.  Because I had everything I needed for the situation I was facing.  I thanked God for the victory he had given me and left the problems with him.  The amazing thing that happened was that, in one sense, nothing happened!  The problem didn’t suddenly vanish.  It was still very much present, but what did happen was that God changed my attitude to the problem, so that it became more bearable.  It was as though I had a burden lifted from my heart.  I felt lighter in my spirit, and was able to cope with the problem until our time in the Republic of Ireland came to an end.

The answer to the second problem I had – can I really do the work of a missionary that I thought I was expected to do, was also answered.  If God has done everything for me as I discovered from my study of 2 Corinthians, then I don’t need to worry because if God calls me to a specific work, he will also equip me to be able to do it.  All I needed to do was trust Him and follow His leading and he would equip me to do it what he was leading me into.  This became a reality when I was thrown into the deep end when we moved from Kobe to Nobeoka in Kyushu. This was after our first term in Japan which had been spent mainly in language study.  The first six weeks or so that we were there I was asked to speak quite a number of times in Japanese, firstly at a camp and then in church.  Previous to this I had only spoken once every couple or so months but God is faithful and enabled me to do something I thought I would never be able to do. 

As a result of our time in the Republic of Ireland, God provided the answer to my biggest concern about serving him in Japan – can I meet the expectations of the mission field.  What God taught me instead was that I need not worry about expectations or whether I could do it, but rather as I trusted God He would guide and enable me to do everything He wanted me to do.  I needed to thank him and rest on His grace and power for all he was going to do in and through me.   

When God calls He equips and enables – Part I

            As I mentioned in my piece about my call to serve the Lord abroad, I had a number of concerns about becoming a missionary. The first was my lack of experience and ability to do what I felt those in Christian work should be doing. 

From the time I had spoken with the elders about my call to Japan and finally being sent out to Japan, God graciously taught me some important lessons.

            On the elders’ recommendation I went to a Bible school in New Milton in Hampshire run by Dr. A. Hudson.  This was a small Bible school which offered a one year course. Each term focused on a specific area of study.  The first term was Bible study, the second term was leadership, and the third term was missions.  I really benefited from time out to get into the word and to learn from Dr Hudson and other lecturers who taught the various subjects.  I particularly remember Mr. Webb-Peploe who took four sessions on personal evangelism.  His anecdotal class lectures with Biblical references were very helpful to me and I remember being challenged about my lack of experience in evangelism, and this was the impetus that prompted me to look at ways to meet this lack.  That was in the first term.  The studies in the Pastoral Epistles and on leadership in the second term too provided a good foundation for me as I prepared for service abroad.

            However, my biggest concern was how to overcome my inexperience in Christian service.  I did not feel that the third term on missions would benefit me much.  I felt I needed practical experience rather than the theory.  I saw three possible options open to me.  The first option was to decrease my working hours at the hospital and use the rest of the time to serve in the local church in whatever ways I could.  The problem with this option was that there wasn’t really anyone in my local church I felt who could mentor me and from whom I could receive training in the work of the church.  The second option was to go with a mission’s organization like GLO or OM, or something similar to Europe.  The experience would be good but the draw back was that I didn’t really feel I would get the most from the training because of my inability with the European languages.  The third option was to go to the Republic of Ireland where there was a Literature team called Ireland Outreach.  So rather than do the third term at the Bible school I ended up on the year team in Dublin, Ireland.

            By this time I was going out with the girl who was later to become my wife.  At the mid term break in the first term of the Bible school, we met up and during that time she mentioned that she had applied to go on the Ireland Outreach Team.  This came as rather a shock!  I hadn’t had any inkling that she had been thinking this way.  I did not want to give the impression that I was going to Ireland because she was going.  I wanted to be clear in my own mind and so for the next six weeks or so until the Christmas break I was much in prayer about it.  The application needed to be in by the beginning of January.  During the Christmas break I realized I needed to make a decision and soon.  So my first night at my parents’ home I asked the Lord to give me a clear indication the next day which way I should go.  I asked that if I was to go to Ireland then it would be drawn to my attention very clearly.  In the morning I came down stairs and mum was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.  After a few pleasantries she started to ask if I had heard about my younger brother’s plans to go on the summer team that following year in Ireland, not knowing that I was also thinking about Ireland Outreach.  I hadn’t heard that news but felt that this was the confirmation that I needed from the Lord.  So without further delay I filled out the application form and sent it off. 

The next problem that we needed to deal with was how we would cope with the strict boy/girl relationship rules on the team considering where we were in our relationship.  As a consequence I proposed to her that Christmas holiday and we made the decision to go to Dublin as a married couple.    

So we left for the Republic of Ireland as husband and wife and began the next stage in God’s preparations for the mission field.