Our Faithful God

  

1 John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

In this short study, we have been considering the biblical principle that we are justified – declared righteous by God – based only on the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, which is received through faith alone (sola fide). Now the study points out that faith plays a role not only in our justification, but also in the entire Christian life. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “faith” as: the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ. The assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God's testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. Faith is a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God, in all the declarations of His holy Word; or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which God has declared, and because He has declared them.

 

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

 

Regrettably, misunderstandings about “faith” abound in our culture. For many people, faith is merely a vague belief that everything is going to be OK. It lacks an object and is often reduced to a slogan that commands us to “have faith”. That is the secular understanding of faith. But, too many professing Believers think that faith is opposed to reason, that it is fundamentally irrational, that it is not based on any real evidence. Yet, the Lord never places faith and reason in opposition. God does not call us to a blind trust or leap into utter darkness. There is a content (notitia) we must know to have biblical faith, and there are evidences to which we can point that make faith in our Creator substantiated by facts.

 

Romans 3:3-4a “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not!”

 

We place our faith in God because He is trustworthy and has proven Himself. Blind faith is superstition, it is trust in something when there is no substantial reason to believe that something is trustworthy. But the God revealed in Holy Scripture gives us reasons to believe He can be trusted both in nature and in the course of the history of redemption. 1 John 3:4-5 tells us: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that He (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.” Almighty God must be true to His promises, and the only rational response to that truth is to believe Him.

 

Blessed in Christ.