Forthright Fixation

Sometimes I wonder if most Christians really understand what faith means. Faith isn’t just a blind trust. It’s not hope – Paul talks about “faith, hope, and love” and isn’t being redundant. It’s more than just trusting in something. Faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1, ESV) It’s a certainty in hope, but it’s more than that.

Often I’ll hear people talking about situations where they are helpless to change things, and they’ll conclude that they just need to have “faith that it’ll work out.” I’m sorry, my friends, but that’s not faith. Faith is hope in action. Faith takes an earnest belief in the unseen, and lives in light of that. It’s acting upon what you believe. James tells us that faith is not faith unless it’s acted upon:

[F]aith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. …You see that [Abraham’s] faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:17, 22, & 26, ESV)

This semester I was faced by the reality of this, especially in terms of friendships and in terms of studying. I knew that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, (Rom. 8:28) and that He has been, and will be faithful to me. I had total trust in Him—that these friendships and conflicts, and that my grades and schoolwork would work out to give Him glory and be good for me. But I had to force myself to act upon that trust and live it. I still had to study, to talk through things with those people and to be honest with myself. I still had to act, to change, to repent and grow. Trusting in God’s goodness was not going to get me through—although it might help my attitude.

Paradoxically, as a sinner, I can’t do a whit to change myself, to even desire to act in the manner I was called to. By God’s grace and His Spirit’s work alone, I am enabled to walk in His ways. The combination of a steadfast trust in my Savior and acting upon that trust by His grace—that is faith. Throughout the semester I was continually humbled by this truth. I needed to constantly acknowledge my insufficiency for what I was called to, and to plead to be given the ability to rise to the next challenge. I had to trust that He would enable me to do it, and to start working and doing the hard thing that was before me.

And I was constantly amazed at the flood of grace that He lavished upon me. He always got me through, even when I was unfaithful, tired, and weak. But that’s the glory of the Gospel. And that’s the beauty of faith.

Filed under: Faith