What is Faith?

I recently had a conversation with someone who is not a believer in Christ but desperately wants to have the faith to believe in Him. I was challenged. Where do you start to tell someone who has no faith to begin believing. I offered to her the first thing that came to mind which was Mark 9:22-24, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Faith begins with a willingness to say that you do not understand everything and that maybe there is a solution beyond your understanding therefore you are going to trust that there is a bigger plan beyond your finite perspective.

Over the next few weeks as I lead Chapel here at Stoneybrook I would like to begin a series on faith. To discuss the obstacles that shake our faith and the blessings of remaining faithful. Today I would like to discuss what the Bible says about faith, and then do a summary of obstacles that prevent us from coming to faith and the blessings we receive when we remain steadfast in God’s faithfulness to us.

WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM?

Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” How does hearing lead us to faith? I though of my son. The way I know, can trust and have faith that my son is listening to me is when I see him do that which I asked him to do. If I ask my son to empty the dishwasher and I come home from work, and he is playing video games, and the dishwasher is not unloaded I do not conclude that my son listened to me. This is what James writes about in Chapter 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” If our words do not reflect our actions, then we are lying to ourselves. When the apostle Paul wrote these words to the Romans, he is encouraging them to find out for themselves if God’s word holds up to the scrutiny of its own claims. Is there evidence that what God’s word is objectively true and has answers that we cannot find anywhere else in the world. The answer to this is yes. God has revealed Himself in His Word, the Bible. As we seek answers to life’s most difficult questions, we must ask ourselves is this true. If the evidence points to truth, we either accept it as truth, receive what His word says and do what is says or we reject it and go a different way, our own way. Martin Luther summed it up well, “If I seek forgiveness of sins I do not run to the cross for I will not find it there nor will I cling to the suffering of Christ nor will I find it there...But I will find it in the Word and in the sacraments. The Word and the sacraments give the hope of salvation and assurance of salvation. If you have a bad conscience of your sins you should go to the sacraments and obtain comfort, not because of the bread and wine and it is not because of the body and blood of Christ, but because of the Word that gives the body and blood of Christ. The key thing to all of this is the Word of God.” The truth is that we can have faith in God’s word because it is objectively true. This is why we preach the Gospel because it is for all people. What words for me works for everyone else. It is about trusting in the faithfulness of God. It is proven through trail and tribulation. It is during these times that Our faith can be shaken. So, what are the obstacles?

OBSTACLES TO FAITH

There are four main obstacles to faith; Fear, Discouragement, Worry, and Doubt. All these obstacles are based in our sin nature. These do not come from God, they come from the enemy. The enemy wants nothing more than to take your focus from the truth of God’s word and its hope. The book of Deuteronomy begins with an encouragement not to be like the previous generation who was governed by fear. God told them to have faith and take the land, but they refused because of fear and God waited for another generation to have the faith to trust in His provision and His blessing. The second obstacle is discouragement. In the book of Nehemiah, we can see that often in times of discouragement we can easily give up. The task become too hard and is no longer worth the struggle. Discouragement causes us to focus on all the bad things in our life and dwell on them. Worry is the third obstacle to faith. When we worry, we are declaring to God that we do not trust that he cares for us, loves us, will provide for us and protect us. We think that the only way we can solve a problem is by figuring it out for ourselves. The final obstacle to faith is doubt. We can see that through the skepticism of Thomas, AKA “Doubting Thomas”. Thomas declared that he was not going to take anyone at their word and would only believe if he saw the resurrected Christ for himself. The problem with doubt is that we will not always have conclusive evidence that can alleviate our doubts. God declares in Deut. 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” The truth is that there is no where you can go in this world, no religion, philosophy or thought that will be able to answer all questions to life and existence without leaving you with doubts. Everything is life is left up to belief in something, even if your belief is in nothing. The truth is that when can overcome these obstacles to faith with the help of Christ we find tremendous blessings.

BLESSINGS OF FAITH

The first blessing that we receive in faith is the depth of God’s grace upon us. The most hopeful words can be found in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ‘Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’” In our inability we see God’s ability. The second blessing is faith leads to perseverance. In the book of Hebrews we can see the result of remaining steadfast and faithful through perseverance. Hebrews 12:1-3,”Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” The third blessing that we receive is that we can admit when we are wrong, we can fail and learn when we take responsibility. When we admit our wrong, we are forgiven by God. Taking responsibility causes us to repent and repentance leads us to living a different way than we did before. When we admit our sin, receive forgiveness our faith is strengthened. The final blessing from faith is fortitude. We become stronger as we endure trial in this life. When we are fortified we are more useful to the building of God’s kingdom on earth. Through as we remain in Christ there is nothing that we can not accomplish. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

CONCLUSION

I want to encourage you today that if you are struggling to find the faith to keep going it is most likely because you are struggling with one of the obstacles or all the obstacles, fear, discouragement, worry and doubt. If this is you today, I want you to know that there is hope. Be willing to let God give you the faith to believe. When you do this you will receive blessing beyond anything that you have ever received.