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faith is understood to come by
hearing the Word of God, which
summons forth faith in a person’s
heart, just as God’s first words in
the Bible, “Let there be light,”
summoned light into existence
at the beginning of creation.
Understanding God as the
creator of faith in human beings
means that there is not an
insurmountable barrier to the
production of faith in flawed people.
Indeed, some of the least likelypeople in the Bible became some of
its most powerful examples of faith—
for example, in the Old Testament
story of Ruth, who demonstrates
faithfulness to both God and
Naomi; or in the conversion of Paul,
a Pharisee who had previously and
zealously persecuted Christians,
in the New Testament.Characteristics of faith
Hebrews 11 defines faith as
“confidence in what we hope for
and assurance about what we do
not see”; this definition summarizes
the cumulative examples of faith
in the Old Testament. However,
faith is more complicated than this.
According to the Bible, faith has
many characteristics.
One of the most obvious is that
it gives assent to the truth of a
statement. The New Testament
speaks of having “faith that ...”
and exhorts people to “believe that
...” more than 20 times, with most
examples relating to statements
about Jesus. Yet the Bibledescribes faith as being more
than merely an affirmation that
something is true. Faith is also
about entrusting oneself to God
or Jesus. Here there is a personal
aspect to faith: one has “faith in”
or “believes in” Jesus.
Trust or entrusting one’s self to
God is perhaps the most essential
characteristic of faith in the Bible.
One acknowledges the truth of
what God has said because
one trusts the God who said it.
The biblical words for faith, such
as aman (Hebrew for “believe, trust,
be faithful”), emunah (Hebrew for
“certainty, faithfulness, trust”), and
pistis (Greek for “believe, trust, be
faithful”), also convey the idea of
fidelity, which points to persistent
adherence to God or God’s will over
time. Christians, therefore, must
not only trust in God, but continue
to trust in Him even when their
faith is tested. The wavering of a
person or people’s faith in God can
have dire consequences, as theFra Angelico’s Entombment
(c.1438–1443) shows Nicodemus (behind),
the Virgin Mary, and John attending the
dead Christ. Belief in His death and
resurrection are cornerstones of faith.THE NATURE OF FAITH
Never be afraid to trust
an unknown future
to a known God.
Corrie ten Boom
Holocaust rescuer (1892–1993)I believe in Christianity
as I believe that the
sun has risen: not only
because I see it, but
because by it I see
everything else.
C. S. Lewis
Author, Oxford professor (1898–1963)US_236-241_The_nature_of_faith.indd 240 25/09/17 11:20 am
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Israelites find in the example given
by Jesus: God sends snakes into
the camp of the Israelites because
they do not have faith that God and
Moses are guiding them on the
best path through the desert.Active faith
The Bible therefore stresses the
importance of an enduring and
obedient faith. Having faith that
God knows best—because He is
all-knowing and all-loving—is key
to ensuring obedience to His laws,
and throughout the Bible a lack of
adherence to God’s will usually
correlates with a loss of faith.
While assenting to true
statements, and even trusting in
God are salient features of faith
in the Bible, the active nature of
faith (faithfulness) is significant.
The epistle of James, in particular,
deals with the question of whether
or not the faith in God that saves
is mere assent or is naturally active,
producing good works. James
writes “Show me your faith without
deeds, and I will show you my faithby my deeds. You believe that
there is one God ... Even the
demons believe that—and shudder”
(James 2:18–19). James writes that
it is not enough for Christians to
believe in God, but they should
also show this belief through
their actions—just as, in the Old
Testament, Abraham showed his
faith through his willingness to
sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Paul takes the idea of active
faith even further in his letter to
the Romans, when he tells them
that “whoever has doubts is
condemned if they eat, because
their eating is not from faith; and
everything that does not come
from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
While reason and experience
can challenge a Christian’s faith,
they can also vindicate it. Faith
produces the good, loving deeds
that comprise a life lived in Christ,
standing with hope and charity
as one of the three theological
virtues identified by Paul in his
letter to the Thessalonians
(1 Thessalonians 1:3). ■THE GOSPELS
Darkness and light
In John 3, Nicodemus comes
to Jesus in the night. This
otherwise minor detail is part
of a larger theme in John’s
Gospel and one that originates
at the very start of the Bible:
“Let there be light” (Genesis
1:3). John describes Jesus as
the Light, and those who do
not believe in Him as being
in darkness. Although the
light of faith was available
to all who encountered Jesus
or His teaching, people still
rejected the light. They loved
the darkness that hid and
enabled their wicked deeds,
while hating the light that
exposed them.
Jesus identified Himself
as the “light of the world”
and commanded His followers
not to walk in darkness. The
imagery of light and dark is
also present in the miracle
of healing the man who had
been blind from birth, and
the betrayal, arrest, and
crucifixion of Jesus, when
foreboding shadow prevails.
Yet the triumph of the light
was also evident on the
morning of the resurrection,
and in each person who came
to have faith in Jesus.Facets of faith
Protestants
identify eight
characteristics of
faith that come up
again and again in
the Old and New
Testaments, from
the stories of the
patriarchs to
the teachings
Facets of the Apostles.
of faithAssenting
(Matt 9:29)
Penitent(Acts
17:30, 34)Enduring(1 Pet 1:6-7)Obeying(Rom 1:5)Loving(Gal 5:6)Given by God(Phil 1:29)(Gen 15:6)Trusting(Jas 2:26)WorkingUS_236-241_The_nature_of_faith.indd 241 12/10/2017 15:02