Nathan E. Lewis

Faith is a well-used word in our culture and it has a range of meaning. In some contexts we closely connect it to the verb “to believe,” referring to firmly held convictions. Within this group of references we describe our spirituality, religion, morality and philosophy. But we also closely connect faith to a general positivism. We might use faith to describe our inner hope or emotion supporting a future reality desired by us. Most Christians go looking in the Bible for definitions of words like faith and such a search usually ends in a tangled confusion. Meaning in the Bible, like any literature, is determined by context and always presents a range of meaning.

The author of the Book of Hebrews writes in chapter 11: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” This might be the most general description of the word “faith” written in the Bible. In the first sentence we learn that faith in this context means something more than a wish, a “hope.” It is the “assurance,” that what we hope for will actually come to pass. The second clause adds to “assurance,” the term “conviction.” If we know and hold anything with certainty, then we would describe it as “faith,” in concert with this definition. Even the unseen can be known and held with conviction: that would be “Hebrews 11 faith.” The author supplies us with a perfect example of a conviction held that what we have not seen has actually occurred: God creating the universe by the power of his word. What makes this such a perfect example and at the same time difficult for some people to understand is the final clause which gives to us a beautiful twist on the “invisible/visible” grid. The definition of faith is born out in this example in the first clause of it: Even though we did not witness God creating the universe, we nonetheless hold to this belief with assurance and conviction and so we call it “faith.” To enrich the example, the author tells us that God made all things visible out of his word, which can be heard, but not seen. And so, even if I had been present somehow, to witness with my own eyes the creation of the universe, the very source of divine power latent in God’s words would not be seen by me. I would be able to see the results of things appearing out of thin air so to speak as God spoke!

Paul most often speaks of faith within the context of the redemptive work of Christ Jesus, as he writes to the Church at Ephesus, in chapter 2: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Similarly to our not being present at creation, Paul describes our being “dead” when God “made us alive together with Christ.” After describing the blessings of redemption provided to us solely by God in his kindness, Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Our “salvation” is completely a work of God freely given to us and the human instrument through which we discover these blessings is “faith.” (”through” is a solid indicator of “instrumentation.”) Paul is characteristically redundant by our literary standards and so he says it again (so that slow ones like me “get” it.) “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God….” But it is not as redundant as it first appears. Paul is not merely repeating that our redemption is a gift of God apart from our doing. But he is saying something more than this, namely, that the instrument of our “faith” is also “not our doing, but is a gift of God”! The “it” and “gift” refer to the preceding “faith.”
This faith is not the “result of works,” and this perfectly complements the teaching of James who says, “faith without works is dead.” For James and all of us, works follow faith, inseparably connected. When Paul says, “not a result of works,” he is saying that faith does not follow our works; it is not a product flowing from our works. God has created us with the purpose of our doing good works and these ordained good works of ours flow from our faith, a gift of God.

Miroslav Volf in his book, “Free of Charge,” gets it right. He writes on page 43: “Faith is not something we give to God. In that case, faith would be a work, and a silly kind of work because it would be work we do even though it doesn’t benefit anyone. But exactly the opposite is true. To have faith in God is to be ‘without works,’ before God (Romans 4:5). Faith is the way we as receivers relate appropriately to God as the giver. It is empty hands held open for God to fill. That’s why, as Luther put it, faith ‘honors God’; it tells the truth about God and our relation to the divine Giver and ascribes to God what is due…. Beggars hold their hands open in a posture of expectant receptivity. The last words that a tired, sick Luther wrote at the end of a very full and influential life were, “We are beggars - that is true.’”

I recommend the reading of Tom Wells’ “Faith: The Gift of God,” published by Banner of Truth Trust. On page 137, Wells writes: “What is it in God that prompted him to make faith a gift? I think I can see the answer in his word. It is his grace. God’s grace is his attitude of kindness towards unworthy creatures. And what better way to show the height and breadth and depth of his kindness than to show it to men who spurned him? So that is what God decided to do. And he has done it - lavishly!”

John Murray, perhaps supplies us in his book, “Redemption Accomplished and Applied,” the most balanced presentation of faith as the Bible presents it. He writes on page 110 and following: “Faith is knowledge, conviction, and trust….”