What Is Faith?

Faith is a word people use alot without really understanding what it means. Ask someone what faith means and you might get an answer like, "It means you believe something." For example, when I go in my garage and look at the mechanical device sitting there with a frame, two wheels, pedals, handlebars and a seat, I might say, "I believe this is a bike." Does that mean I have faith in my bike. Not necessarily. How could you know I have faith in my bike? When you see me get on and ride it, then you know I have faith in my bike.

Faith is all about trust. It's knowing something and accepting it to be true, but it's also trusting what you know enough to act on it. Take the example of Abraham. Paul said, "What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'" (Romans 4:3) When you look back to Genesis 15:6 where those words came from, God has just led Abraham out of his tent and told him to look up at the sky and count the stars, if he could. Then God said, "So shall your offspring be." That's when we're told Abraham believed God. But what did that mean?

Paul explains: "Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:19-21) Abraham's faith was very real. He trusted God's promise that he would have a son of his own to be his heir, and that from his son would come more descendants than he could possibly count.

Abraham's faith caused him to act. Remember, he's almost a hundred years old and there's no such thing as Viagra. Sarah's only a few years behind him, and menopause is a fleeting memory. But Abraham "gave glory to God." How? By making love to his wife, thus demonstrating that he trusted God's promise.

And that's not all. A dozen years later God tested Abraham's faith again. He told him: "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:2) Imagine, the young man Abraham has loved and cared for as his only begotten son, the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, is now to become a sacrifice to God. Yet Abraham doesn't flinch. He acts. Why? Because he trusted God. "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." (Hebrews 11:17) Talk about faith!

Note that Abraham's faith involved knowledge of God and his almighty power. It involved believing what he knew to be true. But above all, it meant trusting God enough to act, even when that was hard to do.

God clearly rewarded Abraham's faith. Isaac was born to that aged couple. A ram caught in a thicket became the substitute for Isaac and a type of Christ. And you and I are numbered among the descendants of Abraham too numerous to count. So what is your faith going to do today?