There is
natural faith, which every human being has by reason of natural experience. For
instance, when someone sits on a chair with confidence, he is exercising
natural faith. He doesn’t fear he might fall. He just sits confidently by
reason of natural experience of sitting all his life…
Then on the supernatural side, mankind all over the world, for ages has
believed in different things and entities till date.
But in this article, we want to specifically consider the Christian Faith with the scriptures as a guide. So we can get an in-depth understanding of what the Christian Faith is all about. And with that, we’ll ultimately know how to grow in our faith towards God.
Definition of Christian Faith
The best and the most accurate definition of Faith, is the one given in the popular book of the Bible—Hebrews11:1. And it says:
“Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. In the above definition of the Christian Faith, the first part says ‘Faith is the substance’—a substantiation—of what we hope for. Then the second part says, ‘Faith is the evidence’—a token or credential—of things not seen; in other words, things not yet physically seen or realistic.
From the above biblical definition of Faith, we can authoritatively define the Christian Faith to simply mean, assurance or confidence in God for what we expect of him. Now let’s take a scenario to properly expound the meaning of Christian Faith. If I come to you and promise to give you a thousand dollars tomorrow, I would succeed in giving you hope of having a thousand dollars the next day. And with that, you will have an expectation or hope for a thousand dollars.
But if I go
an extra mile in my promise by parking my car in your compound and hand over my
car key to you as a guarantee that I’ll give you the thousand dollars the next
day, your hope will be transformed to assurance…
And this assurance by reason of a token,
is what is called faith. The Christian Faith is an assurance in the heart given
by the Holy Ghost concerning what we expect to receive from God. It is a
spiritual guarantee in the heart of a Christian of things expected from God
that may not yet be a physical reality.
Biblical Facts About Faith
Below are the biblical facts about Faith that many a believer are ignorant of or deluded about:
- All True Christians Already Have Faith: “For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”—Romans 12:3
the above scripture is very clear on this number one fact about the Christian faith. It says God has dealt to every man—not some men, but every man—the measure of Faith. So every believer in Christ Jesus already has faith. It is not the exclusive gift of some Ministers or believers.
- All Christians Have the Same Proportion or Measure of Faith: From the scripture we read in fact number one above (Romans12:3), the word of God says God has dealt to every man “the measure of faith”. This is to say every believer in Christ Jesus has the same proportion or size of faith.
No one has more measure of faith than the other. So I don’t have more measure of faith than you, neither do you have more measure than me as believers. We all as believers have the same, equal measure of faith.
- Faith Can Grow—Increase or Decrease in Manifestation: “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you all toward each other aboundeth”—2 Thessalonians 1:3
According to scriptures, the measure of faith given to a believer can grow. But growth in this context does not mean increase in size as it is defined in the secular context. Growth here, talks of increase or decrease in manifestation. Faith can increase or decrease in its magnitude of manifestation in the lives of believers for some reasons.
- The Christian Faith is a Free Gift of Grace by God: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”—Ephesians 2:8-9 the above scripture talks about our salvation being a work of God’s grace through faith. And of course, the faith for the salvation is a gift of God’s grace. God gives us faith in him by his Holy Spirit by grace not by any of our works.
But however, we must work to grow and perfect our faith. We’ll discuss this further in a sequel article by God’s grace.
- The Christian Faith is a Spiritual Force: “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore speak;” (2Corinthians 4:13) The above scripture says we all have the same ‘spirit of faith’. So it is clear that the Christian faith is a spiritual force not a natural force. It is not something we can naturally make up or initiate. Faith is a spiritual force in the heart of a believer, built or fired by the Holy Ghost in him.
- A Christian Faith Can Fail or Cease Temporarily or Permanently From Manifestation “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”—Luke 22:31-32
From our Lord’s statement in the scripture above, it is a clear fact that a Christian’s faith can fail or cease. It can cease for some reasons, especially fear. This faith failure can be temporal or permanent. For instance, the apostates of the Christian faith, has permanent faith failure, when they lose their faith in God and become renegades.
Kinds of Faith
Scripturally, there are majorly two kinds of faith, these are:
- The Saving or Living Faith and
- The dead faith
I had already written a complete article on these two kinds of faith in my article titled: The saving faith—you can click on this link to read it up.
Conclusion: From our study, it is very clear that the Christian faith means assurance and confidence in God for what we expect from him. And that every believer in Christ Jesus has the same measure of faith. Then we have also seen the biblical facts about the Christian faith. If you want to start walking in faith towards God, it begins with receiving Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Personal Saviour. If you’ve not yet received Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour, Click Here to do so Now!
Remain Blessed!
Emeke Odili
