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Announcer (00:00:01): It is time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. After this episode, go to ChristianQuestions.com to check out other episodes, Bible study resources, videos, download the CQ app and more. Today's topic is, "What Does It Feel Like to Have Real Faith?" Coming up in this episode, Christians talk about having faith. We're encouraged to have faith in every aspect of our lives and that faith can change everything. The problem is we don't really know how to develop this kind of life-altering faith. Then what are we supposed to do? Here's Rick and Jonathan.

Rick (00:00:39): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 20 years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:48): James 1:2-3: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

Rick (00:00:59): Christian faith is a big deal. The Bible tells us that faith is a gift from God. It tells us that the just live by faith. It tells us that faith without works is dead and that without faith it's impossible to please God. It tells us that we can be of little faith, needing more; and then it tells us that if we have faith like the grain of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. So with all of these varied and important applications of faith, it's surprising that defining faith and how it really works can be difficult tasks. Faith is far too often described as a feeling or a pathway to believing in something that has no substance. When it comes to biblically-defined faith, nothing could be further from the truth.

Jonathan (00:01:50): Let us first figure out what faith is and what it is not. The book of James gives a very brief greeting and then immediately dives into matters of faith. James 1:2-8, starting with 2-4: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Rick (00:02:20): James is telling us very plainly. Now he gets started, Hello brother, and how are you? Then he just dives right in. Consider it a joy when you encounter various trials, the testing of your faith produces endurance. So he tells us immediately, faith can and should be tested. Let's go to verse 5:

Jonathan (00:02:40): "But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Rick (00:02:49): So built upon this testing of our faith which produces endurance, he says you need to be wise. You need to ask for wisdom. You need to go to God because it's important. He tells us that wisdom is another deeply important Christian quality that should be sincerely sought from God. How do you do that? Well, he answers that in verses 6-8:

Jonathan (00:03:12): "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Rick (00:03:29): So ask for wisdom. How do you do that? You ask in faith. So we need to understand that faith is, and this is like a "duh" moment, but faith is central to a Christian life. But what does that really mean? Wisdom, we can't find wisdom. We can't get God's wisdom without requesting it with this faith. So right now we have just a couple of faith observations to begin building upon. Jonathan, let's go to the first one.

Jonathan (00:04:01): Faith can and will be tested and such tests produce endurance.

Rick (00:04:07): If you have faith, what this is saying is it will be put to the test. So don't think that because you have faith, everything's cool, everything's going to be great. No, that's not what James is telling us. He's telling us exactly the opposite. What's the next observation?

Jonathan (00:04:22): Faith is to be used when we sincerely ask for God's wisdom.

Rick (00:04:27): And I say sincerely ask. God's wisdom is not easy to attain. You don't just ask and it just comes to you, special delivery UPS. It just doesn't happen that way. It is a developmental process and faith needs to be clearly understood. So let's figure out exactly what faith is. Let's look at the biblical definition of faith.

Jonathan (00:04:51): We're going to look at this verse from two different translations. Hebrews 11:1 from the New International Version: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." And from Hebrews 11:1 from the Rotherham Translation, it says: "But faith is of things hoped for, a confidence of facts, a conviction. when they are not seen."

Rick (00:05:16): You have the Rotherham Translation that kind of stretches out the defining of it, of things hoped for, a confidence of facts, a conviction when they're not seen. So it breaks things up into two very specific kinds of categories and we're going to get into that in just a moment. So Jonathan, what's the actual definition of the word for faith?

Jonathan (00:05:38): Well, it means "persuasion, credence, conviction, reliance, constancy in such profession." So what this means is that when we profess our faith, we're immovable.

Rick (00:05:52): And that's really the point. This faith is this persuasion and this conviction, and it's a reliance upon something solid. Faith is always from the same Greek word in the entire New Testament. So whenever you see the word faith, it always comes from this exact same word. That makes it a little bit simpler. In every conversation that we've ever had regarding faith, Jonathan, every single time we always bring up what we call pseudo-faith, or fake faith, because many critics of Christian faith use this other word to define our faith and it just simply doesn't fit. The word is credulity. What does credulity mean?

Jonathan (00:06:38): "A readiness or willingness to believe, especially on slight or uncertain evidence." Really it's gullibility. So faith and gullibility are entirely different.

Rick (00:06:51): This is such an important point. We're talking about Christian faith and the real baseline understanding is, we're not talking about believing in some fantasy or some wish. Gullibility believes in fantasies and wishes and the kind of hopes that have no substance. The kind of faith we're talking about is much bigger and much deeper. And we're going to go into that Hebrews 11:1 using the Rotherham Translation to help us figure all of that out. So faith is shown here to fuel our standing in the present as well as our anticipation of the future. It's showing us two things. It's showing us how we stand here and now and it shows us what we look forward to. And that's how the apostle breaks it out in Hebrews 11:1. In the Rotherham translation it says, "But faith is of things hoped for, a confidence." So things hoped for; faith is being persuaded of the credence of the clarity of God's future plans. It's looking at God's future plans and saying yes, amen. That's what's going to happen. Good example of that is Isaiah 55:10-11:

Jonathan (00:08:04): "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be, which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." You know, we as Christians ought to read God's future plans as fact, not fiction.

Rick (00:08:35): Yeah, <laugh> that's a big statement. We ought to read God's future plans as fact not fiction. Christian faith stands on this conviction that the words of God will in due time become a present fact. In due time.

Jonathan (00:08:54): We do this by looking into the past. We see this in the restoring of Israel found in Ezekiel 38. It was just a prophecy. But now we look at those words and they are a fact. God does what He says He'll do.

Rick (00:09:10): And that's a thrilling prophecy. You look at that and you also realize that that prophecy is a prophecy about the Valley of Dry Bones. So we also know that it's not a prophecy that's literally talking about bones and muscles miraculously appearing on the bones, but it's talking about the regathering and restoration of the nation of Israel. And that's what the prophecy tells us. So it's in a picture language, we need to understand that. But the beauty is, you're right Jonathan, it was just a prophecy. And now we can look and say, wait a minute, that's a fact. And that's what faith does with the future. It looks at the future according to God's word and says, it's a fact, it will happen, because God said so. So we've got that conviction toward the future. Well the apostle continues and he says, let's not stop there. Faith also is a conviction of things that are not seen. That's what the Rotherham Translation said. Faith is a conviction of that which is here now, but not seen or understood by the average person. 2 Corinthians 4:18 is a good example:

Jonathan (00:10:12): "...while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Faith changes the way we see the world.

Rick (00:10:27): It changes the things that we focus on. And what this scripture is saying is, we're not looking at the things that are around us. We're looking at what God is doing with the things that are around us. It's a big difference. So faith changes the way you act in the present because you see it from a godly perspective. And faith changes what you see in the future because you know the facts before they make themselves plain, because God told us. It's thrilling to think of it this way. Christian faith stands on a conviction that God's will and plan up to now are beyond our sight, but are as real as the tangible things in our lives. Jonathan, what am I holding in my hand?

Jonathan (00:11:11): A red pen.

Rick (00:11:12): Our faith in God is as tangible as this red pen that you just described I'm holding in my hand. It's important for us to get that that's what faith does. It makes what we "believe in" very real. And you don't believe in something that has no substance. That's not at all what Christian faith is about. So this is a deep, deep thought process for us to get a hold of. So Jonathan, we have three faith observations so far:

Jonathan (00:11:43): Faith is conviction and constancy that is based upon sound reality.

Rick (00:11:50): Conviction and constancy based on something sound, something real. When we look at DNA, and you look at the complexity of DNA, for people to say, well that just happened all by itself by accident is a ridiculous statement. You're not even looking at it from a mathematical perspective. You look at that and say, this shows intelligence, supreme intelligence. That's constancy, that's reality. What's the next observation?

Jonathan (00:12:21): Faith's strength helps us comprehend what is yet to come based on what is already known.

Rick (00:12:26): And like you mentioned that prophecy about in Ezekiel about the regathering of Israel, if that prophecy came true and we know other prophecies came true, we can say, okay, we know this, therefore we can know that. What's the next observation?

Jonathan (00:12:41): Faith in no way resembles wishes or imagined fantasy that we sometimes seek comfort in.

Rick (00:12:50): We are not a people, as true Christians, we are not a people that take comfort in, oh, I just wish it could be this way. If only. That is not Christian faith. That is not at all Christian faith.

Jonathan (00:13:06): So wait a minute Rick, based on what we've learned so far, are we saying faith is not an emotion?

Rick (00:13:13): That's exactly what we're saying. And that's not the last time we're going to say it because it gets confused, Jonathan. It always gets confused with the feeling. Faith is not a feeling. It's far bigger, it's far stronger than that. Now going back to Hebrews 11, before the apostle goes into the amazing accounts of faith in Hebrews 11, he does two more things. First he shows us the power of faith. That's in Hebrews 11:2.

Jonathan (00:13:41): Here's another verse we're going to look at with two different translations. Again, Hebrews 11:2 from the New American Standard Bible: "For by it the men of old gained approval." And now here's Hebrews 11:2 from the Barclay: "It is because of this faith that the heroes of the past receive the approval of God."

Rick (00:14:04): So faith brings God's approval. So it's not some little emotion, it is a way of life.

Jonathan (00:14:11): And here's the power of faith. It brings approval of God. Sign me up! <Laugh> Who doesn't want God's approval?

Rick (00:14:17): Well, and that's the point. That's the point. So the first thing is the power of faith. It brings God's approval. The second thing the apostle talks about is, he gives us a basis for faith. In Hebrews 11:3:

Jonathan (00:14:29): "By faith we understand that the worlds (meaning ages) were prepared by the word (which means command) of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible."

Rick (00:14:41): When you think about this, what this verse is telling us is that all that we know of the Earth's development and humanity's history was all put in place by the will of God. The worlds, the ages, the periods of time that have changed over history were prepared by the command of God. He had it all in His mind and He had it all in hand. That gives us a basis for having faith, because we can trace that through scripture. It's a thrilling thing to think about. Let's go back to Genesis 1:1-3 as an example of this command of God.

Jonathan (00:15:18): "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, Let there be light. And there was light."

Rick (00:15:35): God said. You have the commands of God that show and reveal the works of God. Our faith is therefore founded upon the mightiest moving force that all of creation has ever experienced. That's not some little wish. That is the biggest power that anyone can imagine. And then you multiply it about a million times. So Jonathan, one more faith observation here:

Jonathan (00:16:02): The true faith of scripture is entirely focused on the past, present, and future power of God.

Rick (00:16:10): All Christian faith is based on the past, present and future power of God. Don't forget that. That's the foundation, that's the basis. Everything else grows out of that. So now as we look at this and we try and find faith's true identity, what do we have so far?

Jonathan (00:16:27): Biblical faith is a serious character trait that has little or nothing to do with how one feels. It is a state of mind that stands firmly in its convictions no matter what the outward circumstances of life may bring.

Rick (00:16:41): You said it before. We need to stand immovable because what we believe in is immovable, because of its strength, its power, its history, and all of the things that go along with it. So with just a definition in hand, faith is already looking like a far deeper life-changer than many give it credit for.

Jonathan (00:17:05): Christian faith is fundamentally based upon the reality of God. How is it that such a profound faith comes to us?

Rick (00:17:13): The Bible teaches us that our Christian faith is multi-layered. While its main focus is a thorough embracing of the reality of God and His plans, it comes to us by way of the manifold grace of God. This is its true beginning, and it's important to remember that it's only faith's beginning. God has so arranged our faith that we receive it so we can make it grow.

Jonathan (00:17:43): Let's look at the gift of faith. Faith is a gift based upon the rich mercy of God.

Rick (00:17:51): Notice how grace; in the next scripture we're going to read from Ephesians 2, and as we read this, notice how grace and love take our present condition and elevate those things. Remember, faith is the evidence of things unseen. Elevate our condition so we can be part of a glorious future. Remember how faith was defined in Hebrews 11:1 as a conviction of things hoped for? So what we're going to see in Ephesians 2, and we're going to start with verses 4-7, is this elevation, the evidence of things unseen, and this looking toward the future. So Jonathan, Ephesians 2:4-7 to start:

Jonathan (00:18:29): "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

Rick (00:18:55): So in verse 6, it says He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places with Christ. That's now. So that verse 7, in the futu,re we can be there. So faith has both aspects. This grace is applied in both places. Faith comes to us not because we're so smart. It comes by grace, and not as a result of any works of our own. And we know that because, well that's what verses 8-9 are just about to tell us:

Jonathan (00:19:21): "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship." So Rick, we receive faith as a gift, not by our works.

Rick (00:19:39): That's important. Faith doesn't come because I'm so smart. Faith doesn't come because I'm courageous. Faith doesn't--and incidentally, I'm neither of those things, okay? Faith doesn't come because I'm intelligent, okay? <Laugh> O for 3. Faith comes as a gift and that's an important thing. It comes by grace. Now how does it come to us? It doesn't, again, magically get delivered. We receive faith by hearing; by hearing the word of God. The gospel is a free gift to any and all who would accept it. This free gift is freely offered and faith is a major, major part of this gift. We're going to go to Romans 10. We're going to read verses 12 and 14 to start. Then we're going to read verses 15 and 17:

Jonathan (00:20:28): "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on him. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" Some Christians get hung up on these Roman scriptures. The question is, are we stuck on who the message comes from or the message itself? The truth of God comes only through His word. If the message is not good news for all (Luke 2:10-11), it's not the original gospel.

Rick (00:21:04): That's such an important aspect of this because we're talking about Christian faith, and what is Christian faith built on? It's built on the power of God. How do we understand the power of God? Through the word of God. That's all we have. We've got nature that we can see, that helps us to see the power of God. But then we've got the word of God that explains it all. And if we're not adhering to God's word, we're not adhering to Christian faith. We might have a denominational thought or a traditional thought, but that may not be real Christian faith. Let's be clear. It's got to be based on the word of God. Faith comes by hearing. True faith needs to be planted in one's own heart and mind. It's not natural. It doesn't naturally just take hold of us. It needs to be planted and then it needs to be cultivated. Romans 10:15, 17:

Jonathan (00:21:57): "How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of great things! So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

Rick (00:22:11): We learn faith because we hear the gospel and we say, that's an amazing thing. I need to know more. And that's the process. Grace plants faith, it's a gift. And then we've got to do something with that. So with all of that as a basis, let's now look at some examples of lives of faith in Hebrews 11. Now there's lots of them. We're only going to go through a few. In the examples that we're going to focus on, we want to look at the way these individuals lived; their lives of faith, not their doing of this or that as an expression of faith, but their lives of faith. Because faith changes the way you live. And these are great, great examples of that. Our first example is the first one the apostle Paul gives and it's Abel. Remember Cain and Abel? It's Abel. Hebrews 11:4:

Jonathan (00:23:04): "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks."

Rick (00:23:19): Able loved God and lived in righteousness. This was shown by God's own testimony and Abel's appropriate sacrifice, which was modeled after God's sacrifice to clothe his parents after their sin. Now, we're going to go into Genesis 3:20-21 in just a second. I just want to go back to one phrase that you read, Jonathan, that just jumps out. It says, God testifying about his gifts. Let's just think about that for a minute. God testifying about the gifts that Abel gave to Him. That's pretty impressive. So hang on to that thought. He offered these gifts. Now how did he know what to offer? He offered appropriate sacrifices. Remember, we know that Cain did not, and we'll read a little bit about that in a moment, but where did Abel get the concept for appropriate sacrifice? Obviously it came from his parents. How did they know? Let's look at Genesis 3:20-21:

Jonathan (00:24:18): "Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

Rick (00:24:28): That sounds like a pretty simple scripture. And you say, okay, so what's the big profound thing in that? The fact is that God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, which means that there was an animal that was sacrificed to cover them. Blood was shed to cover Adam and Eve because of their sin. Doesn't that just mysteriously sound like the covering that Jesus gives us with the robe of Christ's righteousness? He covers our sin.

Jonathan (00:24:56): Absolutely. It sure does.

Rick (00:24:57): It's a beautiful picture. And I think, I really believe that they understood that blood sacrifice was important to God because of sin.

Jonathan (00:25:07): It costs something, doesn't it?

Rick (00:25:09): It does, it does. And from the very beginning, God made that plain. The interesting thing is it says God testified about his gifts. We know very, very little about Abel. Matter of fact, let's read pretty much all we know in the next scripture. Genesis 4:1-4:

Jonathan (00:25:26): "Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord. Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering." Well, Rick, how many times do we have God testifying about someone's faithfulness? You know, not many.

Rick (00:26:06): No. And that's why you know so little about Abel. But the thing that you know is God testified about his gifts, and that's enough. He lived a life of faith. Both Genesis and Hebrews point to Abel's life of faith. That was the result of his righteous dedication to God. No big drama, just doing what was important because he wanted to do it. This is why God testified about his gifts. Jonathan, I never realized how little we know and how honored Abel is. It really is amazing. And he's an example of a life of faith.

Jonathan (00:26:46): He is. And I can imagine that heart sincerity that the Lord was so pleased to receive this offering.

Rick (00:26:52): Absolutely, absolutely. Let's go to another example. The next example the apostle Paul gives in chapter 11 of Hebrews is Enoch. So let's look at Hebrews 11:5:

Jonathan (00:27:03): "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God."

Rick (00:27:15): Again, he was pleasing to God. You have this statement that his life of faith made him pleasing to God. This is what faith is. This is what faith does. Now it's interesting, it says he did not see death. Not seeing death could mean that he either never saw anyone die or that he, in his young age, and I say young age with a little bit of sarcasm because he was 365 years old when he died.

Jonathan (00:27:46): Young?

Rick (00:27:46): <Laugh> Well for us, yes. But then they lived to 6, 7, 8, 900 years, okay? So that in his young age, maybe he didn't see any signs of death coming to him. Either way, whatever it is, we see God's grace in his life. And the plain fact, the plain fact that he was pleasing to God.

Jonathan (00:28:07): Rick, I like that. He was in the prime of his life, really, at that age, at that time. I really like that explanation because that was always confusing to me. Thank you.

Rick (00:28:16): It is a confusing statement. And obviously he wasn't taken up to heaven because no man has ascended unto heaven, so we understand that. He was taken up out of life. He died. God took him, he'll be raised. And he'll be raised as one who was already pleasing to God because he lived his life in great faith. It was a transformational way to live. And he was an example that needed to be talked about in this 11th chapter of Hebrews. So Jonathan, another faith observation. What do we have?

Jonathan (00:28:50): Lives of faith are clearly recognized by God Himself.

Rick (00:28:54): Let's not forget that. You don't have to try to impress your friends and neighbors with acts of faith. If you live a life of faith, you know who notices?

Jonathan (00:29:05): God.

Rick (00:29:05): God Himself. And I don't know about you, but that's all we need. That's all we need.

Jonathan (00:29:10): Amen.

Rick (00:29:11): That's where our faith needs to go. Let's look now. Now the apostle uses these two examples of Abel and Enoch. Then he goes to Hebrews 11:6. Listen to this:

Jonathan (00:29:22): "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

Rick (00:29:31): Again, we see the need to believe in God here and now. It's impossible to please Him because you must believe that He is, here and now. And that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and also One who will act in the future. So the apostle says, faith has to do with the here and now and the future. Both are just as important as the other. Don't forget what faith is. It transforms you now and keeps transforming you as God's plan unfolds. Finding faith's true identity; where are we?

Jonathan (00:30:04): Biblical faith is solemnly based upon a firm belief in God as the God who is ultimately over all ages, past, present, and future. Such a belief will provoke one's life toward godly righteousness, not merely the doing of godly acts. So we're not talking about acting, just going through the motions, are we, Rick?

Rick (00:30:27): We're talking about being. We're talking about a life that's different, naturally different because faith has now been planted in that life. It is fundamentally different. No, it's not about filling in the blanks or checking off the boxes. Faith then is an all-the-time thing that doesn't fluctuate with mood or environment. It's the result of a steady loyalty to God.

Jonathan (00:30:56): So a life of faith is a life that is driven by godly righteousness. Where do works of faith come into play?

Rick (00:31:04): We've laid out a groundwork that shows us how deep faith is a transforming influence in our lives. Once we begin this transformation, we'll be more and more in line with doing the work that a life of faith requires. In other words, God gives us a basis of faith as a gift. We in turn need to take that gift, develop it, and essentially give our faith back to God. Give that gift back to God as an offering to Him. So it's not enough to have been given faith by grace. We have to develop it and give back to God our lives of faith.

Jonathan (00:31:47): Now let's look at the work of faith. This work can only truly begin once faith has begun directing our everyday life. James 2:18-20: "But someone may well say, You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?" Does James contradict the Apostle Paul?

Rick (00:32:25): No. And there are many critics that say that James and Paul were on separate ends of the issue and nothing could be further from the truth. What James is saying is a life of faith provokes you to action. It makes you act. And if you are not acting, you can say all you want, but that's not a vital faith. Look at the Apostle Paul. He lived this. Maybe he didn't say it, but this is how, exactly how he lived. He was out in front with the works of faith. Now, works of faith can take on many forms. You've got the kinds of actions of the Apostle Paul, but it can also be simple things like prayer, like individual witnessing to the gospel, like encouraging one another, like studying. Those can be some of the works of faith that come out of a life that is driven by faith. So let's look at some examples of lives of faith that showed us how to do the works of faith. Again, we're going to stay with Hebrews 11. We're going to go to two more examples. And these are pretty good guys, Jonathan, these are Noah and Abraham. They're pretty good when it comes to faith. It sounds like they know what they're doing. Okay, so we'll start with Noah. Hebrews 11:7:

Jonathan (00:33:43): "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Well, in Genesis 6:8 it says: "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." So he was already living faithfully. Can you imagine the ridicule Noah went through and how unreasonable it looked to others? What a huge task he faced.

Rick (00:34:16): It was. It's hard for us to imagine it because this was an impossibility in those times. And yet he went and he accomplished this task. And you're right, he was already faithful. God never chose someone to do a massive work without them being established in a life of faith first. That's what you have here. And Noah was a prime example. He was already faithful. And I love the way the New American Standard Bible describes this, what you read, being warned by God about the things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark. So it was the reverence of Noah's conviction that God was guiding him, that gave him the strength and the focus to build that ark over all of those decades and all of that time and effort and ridicule and incredibly hard work and planning and all of those things. His faith was vital. It drove him every day and it was a life of faith. That's how you look at Noah, that he lived his faith. Quick faith observation here based on Noah:

Jonathan (00:35:21): Faith is not a feeling. It is a drive that promotes action.

Rick (00:35:26): And if you want to see somebody who was promoted to action, just look up Noah in Genesis 6. It is a dramatic, dramatic event that helps us understand; faith provokes action. That brings us to Abraham. Now we're going to start by looking at the life of faith that Abraham lived. And then we're going to look at the works of faith. First, the life of faith. Hebrews 11:8-10:

Jonathan (00:35:53): "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow-heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Rick (00:36:23): We have to pause and consider and appreciate Abraham at this stage of his life. Abraham's life of faith was exemplified by his willingness to leave his father's house. Now his father was heathen. He left his father's heathen household. And what did he do? He followed an unseen God to an unseen location. He didn't know where he was going. I will bring you to a place that I will show you. Okay. And he went, so I don't know what it was in Abraham, but he had this great sense of loyalty to this unseen God.

Jonathan (00:37:01): And there was no house or mansion. He lived in a tent. A tent.

Rick (00:37:05): <Laugh> So his life of faith, again, there's no drama here. There's that simple, we had comfort and we walked away from that comfort to go to an unknown location from an unseen God. That's a life of faith. There's no big drama. It's just simply following. And he learned to follow and follow and follow and follow. That was the story of Abraham. And then you get to him much older. And then the whole thing with Isaac comes into play. And that's a big, big, big thing. He has this promised child. And of course we're not getting into all the details, but we're going to touch on James 2:21-24, because now this starts to look at the works of faith.

Jonathan (00:37:52): "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the scripture was fulfilled saying, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone." Well, Abraham stepped out of his comfort zone.

Rick (00:38:24): He stepped way out of his comfort zone. Now he was already living out of a comfort zone. And his, it's interesting, his new comfort zone was being uncomfortable in following after God. It was being physically uncomfortable, but knowing he's following this unseen God. And then you have the sacrificing of Isaac, the promised seed that he waited all those years for. And you see that the the works of faith grew out of that continuous following that lifestyle of faith. It's a very, very powerful thing.

Jonathan (00:38:59): To teach your kids more about Abraham's faith, see our CQ Kids video, "Why Did God Tell Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac?"

Rick (00:39:08): So when we look at this whole thing, let's pause here now that we've got Abraham and Noah on the table in terms of their lives of faith and their works of faith. And one more faith observation here:

Jonathan (00:39:22): Faith is much more than an expression of a mere heart reliance or a feeling of assurance. It is the action of getting one's hands dirty for the sake of whatever the cause is that God has provoked you to act upon.

Rick (00:39:38): Faith makes us do different things than we would have done otherwise. And again, this is faith that's based on the faith in the Almighty God, the Creator of all things. This is faith that's based on not something flippant, not something wishful, not something fanciful, or something imagined. It is based on the power of God. And folks, look, just look around the world that we live in and look at the ecosystem that actually works all by itself without us. That is not established by chance. Again, you look at things like DNA, you look at things like the balance of nature. You look at all of this and you say, wait, this is an incredibly well-designed machine. That's what we have faith in. And God has given us His word to show us that faith can actually grow into something even bigger because His plans are laid out for us and we can look at them, see them and understand them.

Jonathan (00:40:45): We've talked about the gift of faith and the work of faith. Now let's talk about faith in action.

Rick (00:40:53): Faith in action. Because our faith has become the basis for our way of life, or should be anyway, there is no question as to our standing. Let's look at Romans 8. And these are wonderful verses. Verses 33-39, we're going to start with 33-35:

Jonathan (00:41:09): "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" God is the one who justifies because of our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. He has given us the standing before Him. With that standing, He gives us His holy spirit to rise above these fleshly trials. But I'm not saying these trials aren't hard.

Rick (00:41:53): They are hard. And that goes right back to the very beginning of this podcast when we talked about, your faith produces, the trying of your faith produces perseverance. And the beauty of these verses is that the apostle lists out things that are dramatic, and he says all of these things may come your way. And you know, all of those things came his way. And he's using his personal experience to say, we stand in God through Christ. Christ is the one who died, yea and was raised up again. He is what we base our faith upon. He is the tangible evidence of Almighty God. It's God's son became a man here on earth and did what he did. So this sets our basis for Christian faith because our faith has become the basis for our way of life. And that faith is in Jesus and God through Jesus. We are learning to be inherently willing to be living sacrifices because that's what Jesus did. As we walk in Jesus' footsteps, let's look at Romans 8:36-37:

Jonathan (00:43:01): "Just as it is written, For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us."

Rick (00:43:14): Doesn't say you just make it, Jonathan. It says you overwhelmingly conquer. You know, earlier you said the words that really, really encapsulate this whole discussion. You said, living by faith means you're immovable. That's what this overwhelmingly conquering through him is. It's not because you're so strong, it's through he being strong in you. Because our faith has become our basis for our way of life. We are certain of our relationship with God through Christ. We have a certainty about it. And that's what the apostle says in Romans 8. Now verses 38-39:

Jonathan (00:43:52): "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Rick (00:44:12): I'm convinced that none of these things can touch us. Satan can't touch us. Angels and principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, any can't touch us. Why? Because we have the power of Christ covering us. It's not because we're so strong, it's because Christ is so strong in us. That's where we become untouchable. Not because of me, it's because of him entirely. I just have to let him overwhelm my life in that way. Finding faith's true identity, Jonathan, what do we have?

Jonathan (00:44:52): Biblical faith is a deep and driving force that molds our way of life and provokes us to works of faith that would be pleasing to God. These works are not to be confused with mere works of moral goodness or works of righteous compliance. Works of faith are works of deep dedication, works of stretching ourselves in the service of God through Christ.

Rick (00:45:17): We cannot confuse doing something nice as a work of faith. It is not. It is the stretching of yourself because the faith of your life provokes you to that type of stretching. It's a deep and profound life-changing experience. From what we've seen so far, true Christian faith is not just a commonplace thing. It is a transformed life in action.

Jonathan (00:45:42): With all that we have learned about the life-changing effects of true faith, what else can be added?

Rick (00:45:50): The study of faith seems like it is a never-ending journey of discovery. And I'll tell you that's the way it is for me. We think we understand it and then we realize that there are depths yet to be discovered. In this case today we want to look at one more level of faith. And that is trust. Mature Christian faith breeds unrelenting trust in God's will and in the advocacy of Jesus when we struggle. I want to say that again. Mature Christian faith breeds unrelenting trust in God's will and in the advocacy of Jesus when we struggle,

Jonathan (00:46:30): The depth of faith is often revealed in trust. Biblical trust carries different shades of meaning. An example is found in Psalm 118, which has two different words for trust. The first definition for trust means "to hide for refuge, but not so precipitately." The other word for trust means "to flee for protection; figuratively to confide in." One word is "yeah, I trust" and the other is "I really trust."

Rick (00:47:02): Yeah. So these two Old Testament words for trust used together are going to show us the differences between the two. So we're going to read from Psalm 118, and as we do, we want to notice how the deeper level of trust is in God and the more superficial level of trust is in our fellow man. So we're looking at Psalm 118:5-9, and it uses both of these words:

Jonathan (00:47:27): "From my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge (that's the deep trust) in the Lord than to trust in man (and that's the more shallow trust). It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes."

Rick (00:47:58): So you see that both sides have trust, but it's better to absolutely commit yourself to the Lord God and His plans. Why? Because He's the greatest source of power that has ever and will ever exist. And He's written His plan out for us in His word. Old Testament trust is going to someone or somewhere with full confidence of protection, care and comfort. This full confidence is not possible unless a transforming faith is present. And Jonathan, just a brief personal experience in regarding trust. You know, I've been married to Trish for, we're going on 42 years now, 43 years this year, okay? For a very long time. And you learn to truly, deeply, profoundly trust somebody over time. And I know that when there's a discrepancy in how we see something, especially when I get myself in over my head, I don't want to go too much into that,<laugh> but her concern, I always have to pay absolute attention to, because I trust her. I trust her implicitly. She wouldn't say anything to me, she wouldn't do anything that would be against my best interests. And so that trust makes it so much easier to live. And when you have that kind of trust, boy there's a power in that connectivity. We want to have that kind of trust. We want to trust our heavenly Father in that way. So let's take a look at New Testament trust, Jonathan. Let's look at a couple of words.

Jonathan (00:49:39): Well, the first word means "to expect or confide." And the second word for trust means "to convince or to rely."

Rick (00:49:46): Simple, simple words that give us a sense of trust in the New Testament. Faith is like a muscle that needs exercise. We accept faith into our lives by exercising it, okay? It's great to have the gift, but unless you exercise it, it's not going to do anything for you. Exercising it is what brings trust.

Jonathan (00:50:05): Living a life of faith means I live according to that which is not seen. Matthew 6:33: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you."

Rick (00:50:20): You don't necessarily see that kingdom, but you live according to it because that's where your life is driven towards. And it's such a powerful thing to say, I can live that way. And it's sensible for me to live that way because I have been given the grace of understanding the power of God through Christ Jesus and the word of God. Jesus taught us how to rest in the tumult of life. He taught us how to trust. We're going to look at an experience in Mark 4:36-41. And this is an experience that we've talked about many times. You all know this particular account, but it's very dramatic and it helps us understand true and deep faith.

Jonathan (00:51:03): Matthew 4:36-41: "And leaving the crowd, they took him along with them in the boat just as he was; and the other boats were with him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus himself was in the stern asleep on a cushion."

Rick (00:51:23): So in these verses in Mark, you see that Jesus, first of all, you see that there's other boats. Okay? That's a detail in Mark that you just don't get anywhere else.

Jonathan (00:51:31): You're right. I never saw that in those other books.

Rick (00:51:35): So you see that, and you've got this tremendous storm at sea and Jesus is asleep. He's sleeping in the stern of the ship. He's on a cushion and he's out. He's just, you know the term sleeping like a baby. He is just comfortable in all of this. So he must have felt the movement of the boat and it probably literally may have rocked him to sleep, who knows? But he was not fazed by the movement of the boat. However, everybody else was in sheer panic.

Jonathan (00:52:07): Well why could Jesus sleep so soundly? Because he had such a trust in his Father's providence. Continuing in Mark: "And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And in Matthew it adds, in Matthew 8:26, "He said to them, Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?"

Rick (00:52:29): So they wake him up and they say, we're drowning here. Boat's filling with water, don't you care? And his reaction is not, wow, this is pretty serious. Or, why don't we start bailing? His reaction is, why are you afraid, you men of little faith? I mean, what a strange reaction to have at this moment of sheer panic. Logically you're right to be panicked. Here's the thing, he was about to teach them a dramatic lesson of faith. Their faith was a faith that was immature. They didn't know yet. And it was okay. They needed to learn and they needed to see the power that Jesus would wield, the power of God's spirit in him. Jesus would show them why their faith needed to grow. He would show them why to trust in his next actions. Let's continue with verses 39-41 of Mark 4:

Jonathan (00:53:25): "And he got up, and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush, be still. And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And he said to them, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? They became very much afraid and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" Well this lesson wasn't just about faith. They had a little faith, but they had to grow to the point of trust.

Rick (00:53:57): And the whole point that Jesus was giving them was, essentially, I'm in the boat. There is nothing to fear because our Father, my Father is protecting me for the work that He has given me to do. I have no doubt in any experience that comes my way. No doubt. That's where he was saying, you are of little faith now; you need to become of much bigger faith. Let me show you how. Let me show you the power of God so you can witness it before your very eyes. So the developing of faith is working at proving its basis. Its basis is a transformed life. Its basis is believing in God through Jesus and God's word, and saying, my life ,therefore, is different. Developing faith is the proving of that basis. And this gives us even deeper faith foundations. The Bible teaches us to prove our faith. It doesn't teach us to be credulous, to have credulity. Remember gullibility? But it teaches us to prove our faith. One scripture, there's loads of scriptures, we're just going to deal with one today. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22:

Jonathan (00:55:13): "Do not quench the spirit; do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good; abstain from every form of evil."

Rick (00:55:23): We want to really focus on, "test all things; hold fast what is good." That's a requirement for Christians. How do you do that? We have to learn what the word of God says. And look, it's nice to learn by listening to others. But it's better to learn by listening to others, by fellowshipping, and by studying ourselves, by delving into the word of God ourselves. And when we do, we need to understand the importance of the context of what we're reading. The Bible needs to be understood and not just read. There's lots of pieces to understanding the scriptures. The Bible, if you haven't noticed, is a really big book. It covers thousands of years of history. It's got prophecy, it's got parables, it's got all kinds of accounts, it's got miracles, it's got sayings, and it needs to be put in context. So Jonathan, four quick points on the importance of understanding the word of God:

Jonathan (00:56:18): When and to whom are the words spoken or written?

Rick (00:56:22): Right. Who's being spoken to, those words, the particular words you're reading right now? The next point, what are the circumstances of the words that were needing to be spoken or written? What was happening that those words were written? That's important to know so we can understand the meaning.

Jonathan (00:56:38): The next point, why and when, In what age are the words spoken or written? And when do they apply?

Rick (00:56:46): So everything doesn't apply all the time. We need to know how to figure that out by learning the context of scripture. And finally, the last point; are the words symbolic? Are the words we're reading literal or are they prophetic? Are they admonitions or are they parables? Or are they a record of events? What are they so we can put them in their right order? This is a big job, but this is part of having our faith grow.

Jonathan (00:57:13): Let's read Romans 8:22-25: "For we know that the whole world groans and suffers in pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope (meaning expectation of) for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it."

Rick (00:57:53): So now, these verses in Romans 8:22-25 are an explanation of mature Christian faith breeding this unrelenting trust. The word for hope that's mainly used in this verse is an extension of one of those words for trust. And like you said in verse 25, if we hope, that is one of the words for trust that you defined earlier. What it tells us in verse 25, if we hope for what we do not see, that's in the present; with perseverance we eagerly wait for it; that's in the future. Faith always has to do with the present and the future. And this first starts off by saying, we know that the whole creation is suffering. This is what we know. Now that's easy, Jonathan, because you can look around and you can observe that. Doesn't take a lot of faith to observe that. But it also, what takes faith is what it says in verse 23; that their waiting is eagerly waiting for the adoption of us as sons of God. And that the hope that we have will become the hope that they have. So they're groaning and travailing in this pain and they're waiting for us to be faithful. That's what it's saying. That's what a life of faith looks at and says, okay, I know my job. It's within the will of God, so that I can do the work of God, so that the world can be blessed. That's what Christian faith should be bringing us. Let's go back to our theme scripture one more time. James chapter 1:2-4:

Jonathan (00:59:27): "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So in conclusion, faith is not a feeling. It's an expression of who we are.

Rick (00:59:47): It is. And if we are not looking at our faith that way, we need to reevaluate what our faith is based on. And too often we're going to find our faith is based on what we think, what we feel, rather than the power of God as expressed through the word of God and the history that God has given us, and the prophecies that have come true and that will come true. We need to put it all together. One last time, finding faith's true identity:

Jonathan (01:00:16): Biblical faith is not only deep and transforming, it also permeates throughout our entire life experience. When we truly learn to trust in our faith, in our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus, each and every part of our lives can be lifted higher. Let us accept this gift of faith, work at its development, and allow its influence to bring us to action for, and praise of, God and our Lord Jesus.

Rick (01:00:45): Faith lifts you higher. Have you been lifted higher? If you haven't been lifted higher, start to question, okay, what is my faith really based on, and what should I be doing to increase that faith? Make sure, Jonathan, as you said earlier, our faith is based on the word of God, not the traditions of men. We need to understand Jesus died as a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. If that's not the gospel that you're hearing and following, then that's not the gospel of God. Think again, make your faith work based on godly principles. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions in this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode "How Do We Positively Provoke Others Without Offending Them?" That's a big question and we'll talk to you about that next week.

Final Notes (01:01:44): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.