Faith

Big Idea

Tension: Why should we cultivate faith?

Resolution: Because it is the only way to receive and rest in Christ.

Theological Idea: We should cultivate faith because it is the only way to receive and rest in Christ.

Homiletical Idea: I should cultivate faith because it is the only way to receive and rest in Christ.

Outline

Introduction: I love the Christmas season, because it is always a time when I find my faith being rekindled. Most years, starting in December, I start reading through one of the four gospels, and the songs that we sing, and the whole season just makes me merry and makes my heart grow three times its size, and I do feel a renewed sense of intimacy with Christ and wonder at teh gospel, and faith in the Lord.

But of course, perhaps you’re here, and you’re waondering, who really needs faith? Maybe you’re wondering why can’t I just talk about love, after all, all your eally need is love, right? One humanist says this:

“It is, of course, taboo to criticize a person’s religious beliefs. The problem, however, is that much of what people believe in the name of religion is intrinsically divisive, unreasonable and incompatible with genuine morality. One of the worst things about religion is that it tends to separate questions of right and wrong from the living reality of human and animal suffering. Consequently, religious people will devote immense energy to so-called moral problems—such as gay marriage—where no real suffering is at issue, and they will happily contribute to the surplus of human misery if it serves their religious beliefs.” - Sam Harris

So if faith can cause so many problems, why do we need it? Why is it important? Well, to see that, we should probably talk about what faith is, and what it does.

What faith is:

Faith in general - We might say that faith is what we assume to be true so that we can trust in something. So faith is what is given, or what we assume, or what we just take to be true before we trust in something.

So for example, if I’m going to sit down in this chair, I’m going to assume that it can hold up my weight.

Faith in this sense is important, because you do not have enough time in your life to think through and reason your way through life. Life is too complex, there are too many choices, too many things to do to be able to think through every decision. So case in point, I wrote my sermon mostly on my computer. Now, I can tell you why I turned on my comptuer - to write the sermon. But if you asked me, well how does that wrok, I would just shrug and say, “I think it has something to dow ith smart people.” I don’t know why a computer works the way it does, but I assume it does work every time I turn it on. And maybe you would say, “See you’re irrational! You don’t think through everything! Look at you, you silly simpleton! How come you can’t just apply your reason to figure all that stuff out?” To which I would respond, “It’s not because I’m irrational, it’s because I’m not insane. Life is too long, too complex, too multifaceted to perfectly understand everything. There are certain things I just have to assume to be true. I don’t know why a car works, I just know I put a piece of plastic in a nother piece of plastic, and I, apparently am giving up some of my money, which I never really had in my hands anyways, and I put that in teh car and it goes vroom. I can’t tell you much more than that.

There was a great philosopher of science in the last century named MIchael POlanyi who said any kind of knowledge at all has to start from a place of faith. And he would say the scientific method, any kind of scientific knowledge starts from a place of faith.

Why can’t I just have faith in myself?

You see, contrary to Sam Harris’s assertions, all people have faith. The question is not if you have faith, but who will you put your faith in. For some of you, the question is why shouldn’t you jsut trust in yourself to make your own way in the world?

And there’s something about that that is appealing, right? Nobody that i have to have faith in, nobody else that I have to trust. And maybe you’ve been hurt, or you’ve put your trust in someone and they’ve let you down profoundly. So yoiu’ve just told yoruself you’re not going to trust in anyone else, you’re jsut going to make your way through life alone, adn that way that can never happen to you again.

And I understand why that might sound appealing, especially if you feel like you’ve been hurt in the past. But I am not quite sure how you don’t end up an anxious, lonely, stressed out wreck if the only person you ever trust is yourself.

After all, and I think I said this last week, if the only person you trust is yourself, I think you’re assuming that you will never let yourself down. But you and I know instantly that’s a terrible thing to assume. Because if the only person we ever trust is ourself, and we think we’ll never let ourselves down, then the only thing we can accept from ourselves is perfection. And listen, you’re not perfect.

Maybe some of you ahve read that massive book, Atlas Shrugged by the philosopher Ayn Rand. It is about a mysterious figure named John Galt, who is supposed to be the ideal man and is tortured for having the nerve to be better than anyone. And Rand’s basic philosophy in the book was that if everyone was just perfect and expected perfection of themselves and everyone around them, then life would make a lot more sense. That we should each be like John Galt.

The problem was, Ayn Rand herself couldn’t be perfect. Anbd after publishing the novel, she fell into a deep depression and the only thing she could think of it is, “John Galt wouldn’t feel this way.” <https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/60120/> In the final analysis, there is nothing more cruel to do to yourself than to tell yourself that you’re the only person you can trust. There has to be someone else. And the Bible would tell you, your faith ought to be centered on someone for sure, but that person is someone outside of you, and he’s great.

Faith in Christ -

So when it comes to Christianity, what does it mean that faith is essentially what we assume to be true so that we can trust in someone?

Biblically the model for faith is Abraham.

Abraham was offered the covenant in Genesis 12, and he proved immediately to break it.

By the time we get to Genesis 15, Abraham has been dealing with the consequences of his sin for three chapters, and we’re wondering, how could God possibly still love him.

So what we see here is that Abraham assumes a few things to be true about God. First, he assumes that God is going to keep his promises. Second, he assumes that God is going to make a way. He assumes that God is going to provide a way for the curse of the covenant to be dealt with so God can give the promises.

Genesis 15:1–6 ESV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

This is exactly what we see in Gal 3:13-14

Galatians 3:13–14 ESV

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

When we put our faith in Christ, we are assuming that God will be “for us” and not against us, that he has made a way for us through Christ.

So when it comes to Christianity, here’s what that means. To have faith in Christ means that I have to assume he is who he says he is so I can trust in him.

Saving faith is a wholehearted trust in Christ, it’s a putting all my chips in on him, it’s a “Okay, I’m going to grab hold of him.” That he really is “the way, the truth, and the life.”

In the Bible, faith is often opposed to works. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 says... And the reason for that is, sometimes we read teh Bible thinking that our works are often going to be enough to save us. But the Bible teaches that none of us are good enough to keep covenant, that all of us are like Abraham and immediately after getting God’s promises and covenant we break it.

The best definition for this comes from the WSC: What is Faith? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.

Rest - Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Receive - John 1:12-13

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

What does faith require?

What’s the fine print?

I don’t think you can have Christ as savior, and not as Lord. Faith is not fire-insurance. It’s not a get out of jail free card. This is why Jesus says in Matt 16:24-28…

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If you want Christ, it means you have to put in all your chips. If you want to have faith in Christ, it will require a whole-hearted trust. If you have faith, it means you get all of Christ, but it also means he gets all of you.

What faith gives us?

Faith gives us the righteousness of Christ (Rom 3:23-)

Faith gives us redemption (Rom 3:23-25)

Faith gives us peace with God. (Rom 5:1)

Faith gives us eternal life (John 3:16)

Faith in Christ gives us fellowship with Christians (Eph 4:4-5)

Faith gives us assurance and confidence in our hope (Hebrews 11:1-2)

Faith in Christ gets the right to be called children of God. (John 1:12-13)

Faith gives us the ability to love (Gal 5:5-6)

Faith gives us the pleasure of God (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith gives us Christ himself. (Gal 2:20; Matthew 11:28; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:8-9; Romans 8:31-39)

Here’s what I love about this definition from WCF, it is that we receive Christ, as the gospel gives him to us. You don’t get your own personal Jesus. You get the person of Jesus. You get the Son of God, you get the Son of Man. You get Jesus tender, meek and mild. You also get Jesus who turns over tables in the temple. You get the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. You get the lion of the tribe of Judah. You get the lamb standing as though he had been slain. You get the one who said, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” and “You get the Jesus who says, “It is finished.” You get the Jesus who says, “Let the first person without sin throw the first stone.” and you get the Jesus who says, in the next breath, “Go and sin no more.” You get the Jesus who says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden,” and you get the Jesus who says, “Repent before I take away your lampstand.” True faith gets the whole Jesus. And we will spend all eternity reveling in and relishing the Christ of the cross, the Son of the Father, the God of the gospel.

If you want to get the other benefits of the gospel - righteousness, resurrection, fellowship with other Christians, holiness, confidence, assurance, even the right to be called a child of God - but you don’t want Christ himself, then you don’t yet understand faith.

The greatest gift God gives to faith is himself.

Application

Aren’t you tired of letting yourself down? Find rest in him.

Faith gets all of Jesus.

Faith gives all for Jesus.

What is important is not the expression of our faith, but the object of it.

Faith knows he is worth it.