“Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see.” The Christian life is guided by spiritual rather than physical sight. Paul writes, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith is elsewhere described in Scripture as “the assurance of things hoped for [and] the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Indeed, the Christian life is a walk of faith.
Inspiring examples of faith abound, encouraging us to trust in God even when human wisdom would have it otherwise. Human wisdom will not lead us beyond the present world. Jeremiah reminds us that it is “not in a man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jer. 10:23). Does that mean we should stop making decisions altogether? Of course not. What it means is that God must be the guiding force in our decisions. We must not turn a deaf ear to God’s word in preference to listening to the advice of the world (cf. Prov. 14:12).
Faith in God is measured more by what we do than by what we say. It is never enough merely to profess our faith – we must live our faith. Faith is acting on God’s instructions. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rm. 10:17). If we really want to grow in faith, we must begin with the word of God.
Once we have heard the word of God, we must act upon it. Faith is not alive until is springs into action. In his lengthy discussion about genuine faith, James says, “faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:26). We need a living faith, the kind of faith that expresses itself in heartfelt obedience to the will of the Lord. Paul expresses the importance of an obedient faith saying, “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, that no one should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). We are saved by the grace of God. But, His grace is conditional. It must be accepted by faith – a faith that expresses itself in obedience to the word of God.
— Glen Elliott —