“Faith” Is an Authentic Response to God
January 25th 2011 13:09
We are saved because we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ based upon “sola fide”, meaning that we are saved by “faith alone” and not by our works or obedience. Quite often, people have a misplaced faith because it is placed in a set of religious beliefs or knowledge rather than in the person of Christ.
In simple terms, faith is belief in the value or trustworthiness of someone or something. For the believer, faith is the confident trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ to the point we actually live it out.
In contemporary thought, the word “faith” is used primarily in connection with “the act of believing” rather than the “content of belief”. In other words, faith has been used in the context of placing the emphasis on the fact “of my belief” as opposed to “whom I believe.” It is as if “our faith” saves us instead of the “free gift of Christ.” Serendipity, a muse may have best summed up the contemporary use of the word “faith” in the movie “Dogma” when she was asked which religion is the right one, to which she replied “It's not about right or wrong—it's a question of faith. It doesn't matter what you believe in—just that you believe.”
To clarify the point; the central focus of faith can be applied as the act of believing or having faith, and not what is believed or the object of faith. It would be easy to over simplify this clarification by replying, “of course this is true!” However the reality of our postmodern world is that the object of faith can be so many different things such as love, hope, fate, the unknown, self, someone else, or God.
If we do not have a “clear and understood” object of faith, our life is filled with an empty vacuum. Recently I read the following statement, “It is important to make a leap of faith now and then because everyone needs something to believe in.” There is a rock song called “Faith”, which sounds like a great song on the surface. However, it is not about faith in Christ, but about dumping your partner and ending a relationship in order to “wait for something more.”
In a seeming contradiction; the more secular society becomes, the more spirituality is sought and practiced. However, spirituality and Christianity are not always one and the same. A postmodern world creates a spirituality that will meet their needs and satisfy their ideals according to their personal interest, feelings, and individual convictions. In many ways, our culture is “very religious”, but it must be remembered very few religious people will be open to a change in the object of their faith when their belief system is under attack by the Christian world. Instead they become defensive and resistant.
The key is to point them to the object of faith which is Jesus Christ. This is not accomplished through what we say, but how we live out our faith. We are so well trained in the Christian vocabulary that we know how to say all of the right things. However, an authentic expression of what it means to have “Christ as the object of our faith” is manifested only through the actual practice of the words we speak in our everyday lives.
The postmodern world is not concerned with “what we believe”, but rather with the question, “how will what you believe make a difference in my life?” In order to answer their question, we must first manifest the fact that “what we believe has made a difference in our lives.” Has it?
In simple terms, faith is belief in the value or trustworthiness of someone or something. For the believer, faith is the confident trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ to the point we actually live it out.
In contemporary thought, the word “faith” is used primarily in connection with “the act of believing” rather than the “content of belief”. In other words, faith has been used in the context of placing the emphasis on the fact “of my belief” as opposed to “whom I believe.” It is as if “our faith” saves us instead of the “free gift of Christ.” Serendipity, a muse may have best summed up the contemporary use of the word “faith” in the movie “Dogma” when she was asked which religion is the right one, to which she replied “It's not about right or wrong—it's a question of faith. It doesn't matter what you believe in—just that you believe.”
To clarify the point; the central focus of faith can be applied as the act of believing or having faith, and not what is believed or the object of faith. It would be easy to over simplify this clarification by replying, “of course this is true!” However the reality of our postmodern world is that the object of faith can be so many different things such as love, hope, fate, the unknown, self, someone else, or God.
If we do not have a “clear and understood” object of faith, our life is filled with an empty vacuum. Recently I read the following statement, “It is important to make a leap of faith now and then because everyone needs something to believe in.” There is a rock song called “Faith”, which sounds like a great song on the surface. However, it is not about faith in Christ, but about dumping your partner and ending a relationship in order to “wait for something more.”
In a seeming contradiction; the more secular society becomes, the more spirituality is sought and practiced. However, spirituality and Christianity are not always one and the same. A postmodern world creates a spirituality that will meet their needs and satisfy their ideals according to their personal interest, feelings, and individual convictions. In many ways, our culture is “very religious”, but it must be remembered very few religious people will be open to a change in the object of their faith when their belief system is under attack by the Christian world. Instead they become defensive and resistant.
The key is to point them to the object of faith which is Jesus Christ. This is not accomplished through what we say, but how we live out our faith. We are so well trained in the Christian vocabulary that we know how to say all of the right things. However, an authentic expression of what it means to have “Christ as the object of our faith” is manifested only through the actual practice of the words we speak in our everyday lives.
The postmodern world is not concerned with “what we believe”, but rather with the question, “how will what you believe make a difference in my life?” In order to answer their question, we must first manifest the fact that “what we believe has made a difference in our lives.” Has it?
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