Good News for All

What is faith and how can I get it ?

Faith is not hard to understand: it is expressed in simple trust. However, since most religions and their followers want to overcomplicate it, we'll try to give you a more comprehensive definition and explanation with examples and evidence.

Let's begin by making it absolutely clear that faith is not about "beliefs", professions of certain ideas or doctrines, creeds, or confessions of religious dogma or scriptures. A creed may say, "I believe ..." but it is expressing positions of world view, which bear no relationship to the faith that can save you or set you free.

When you want to understand something it is often helpful to go back to origins and first instances to see how it began. Another useful approach to understanding is to look at something's opposite ‐ what it is not ‐ to get a better appreciation of what it is. This is like using a photographic negative to "develop" the positive of the image. In pursuit of a better understanding of faith, we will do both of these things.

Origins

The opening chapters of Genesis were not written so we could argue about how old the earth is, where dinosaur fossils came from, or whether the solar system is heliocentric. A close examination shows the purpose is to present a broadly credible monotheistic explanation of origins (as opposed to the pagan polytheistic ones current in Egypt), to account for our broken human condition riddled with lust, greed, sin and death, and to lay the foundation for God's plan for repair and improvement. We find out about this in Genesis chapter 3 (the "Garden of Eden" story):

• Everything begins in a well ordered state created by God (chapter 1)
• Mankind is placed in charge under ideal conditions with simple instructions (chapter 2)
• An enemy is introduced who cast's doubt on God's reputation and intentions (Genesis 3:1-6)
• The slanders lead to questioning, doubt, disobedience, fear and judgement, with long term consequences for us all (the rest of Genesis 3)
• A veiled prediction is made hinting at a satisfactory outcome (verse 15)

This chapter deals extensively with the issue of "good and evil". A simple reading and popular understanding would have us view this a reference to moral good and evil. However, it is important to appreciate the meaning of "good and evil" in the Hebrew language of the time in which it was written. The expression for "good" is tov, which refers to something that is pleasing or beneficial. In prior chapters God reviewed his work of creation and at each stage considered it tov, or "good". This was a judgement of quality, not morality. When the other word, ra' or evil, appears in the older books of the Bible it invariably refers to things that are harmful or adverse, without any necessarily moral connotations. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not destined to confer moral awareness upon the innocent. It was intended to impart the ability to make optimal independent decisions ‐ to discern and choose what would be beneficial over what would be harmful.

Our problem with sin began with Eve imagining that perhaps God's instructions did not have her wellbeing at heart, but rather were intended to serve his own interests instead of hers. She was deceived into thinking that following God's advice would ultimately hold her back, and only by eating the forbidden fruit could she properly realise her full potential. Until then, Adam and Eve had daily conferred with God in carrying out their responsibilities as governing representatives over his creation. This made sense since God, by virtue of onmiscience, was clearly the best source of advice and policy. Eve was tempted to seize the ability to do this herself and act independently of God. This was the core of why Satan was God's adversary (Satan is a Hebrew word meaning enemy or adversary) ‐ he had rebelled, asserting that God's rule over creation was unnecessary: that we should all be equal and independent, deciding our own way for ourselves.

Sin began when Eve lost trust in God, no longer believing that he loved her. She chose to take responsibility for making decisions about what was beneficial and harmful for herself, independently of God. The root of sin is therefore not disobedience, but loss of trust in God. The fruit shows up as choices and decisions made without considering or consulting God. No amount of obedience is capable of fixing this, since it merely addresses the fruit not the root. Any decision to be obedient is necessarily tainted by the independent nature of the decision process at the core of the origin of sin.

Our moral problem can only be fixed by a restoration of trust. Trust in God can only begin to be restored when we honestly perceive that he truly does love us. Jesus demonstrated that God does indeed care about our wellbeing. He held nothing back and was willing to make any sacrifice necessary to show this, even giving up his own life in a most horrific death. Though Satan was able through the agency of evil men to take Jesus to the cross, in the resurrection that followed Jesus crushed death as predicted in verse 15. Jesus believed in doing his Father's will even if it led to the grave. He calls us to trust and follow him in believing that there is nothing we can surrender in obedience to God that will not result in an outcome far better than anything we could have planned for ourselves, or even imagined.

Faith is not about reciting words, creeds or dogma. Faith is just deciding to trust God because we know he loves us, with Jesus as our proof and example.

Opposites

The textbook example of the opposite of faith is found in Hebrews chapter 4. We read there, and in Numbers 13 and 14, about the experience of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land. On the verge of receiving all that God had promised, it was unbelief ‐ the very opposite of faith ‐ that saw them banished to die in the wilderness and lose everything they had hoped for.

When the spies returned to report on the land, the people were dismayed to hear of the problems they faced. Though encouraged by Caleb and Joshua to trust God's promise and ability to help them to victory, they succumbed to fear. They decided to choose a leader other than Moses and return to slavery in Egypt as preferable to the death they imagined to be inevitable. This was the first exmple of unbelief.

They heard from Moses that as a consequence of their unbelief they would now face 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until they were all dead and gone. Their children would then be given an opportunity to redo this decision. On hearing the bad news they changed their minds and resolved to make the attempt to invade and conquer. Clearly they repented, confessed their sin, and decided to obey. That would seem to be a good plan, and surely if repentance, confession and obedience were enough it ought to work. God thought otherwise, condemning this second decision as well (Numbers 14:40-44). Hebrews 4:6 classes both together as "unbelief".

Something about the initial refusal and subsequent repentance characterised both choices as manifestations of unbelief. If it was the initial disobedience, then the subsequent attempt to obey ought to have fixed it, but that did not work out. Fear provoked them to turn back, but the desperate courage to press on did not fix it. They admitted their sin and repented, but even that change of heart was not enough. There is one thing that both the decision to turn back and the decision to go on had in common.

• They refused to go on because they were convinced that they had to win out of their own resources. They did not believe that God would help them and make victory possible regardless of the odds. They made their decision independently of any thought about God or his promise, and assumed it was all on them.
• They repented, which was a great start. But when they decided to go on they made that decision independently of God. They thought that doing what God had asked should fix everything. They were desperate to avoid the consequences of their bad choice and pressed ahead. They did so independently of God, despite being warned, perhaps in hope of forcing his hand to avoid failure.

The common factor is choosing to act independently of God. This is what Adam and Eve did to start off the whole mess. The obvious opposite of this is humbly consulting God, and submitting to his advice and guidance in every situation. That is exactly what made David unique as a leader. Over and over, in every situation (except Bathsheba) he consulted God for help. Even when situations appeared the same and the way ahead looked obvious, he still asked. As a result he was described as "a man after God's own heart". Jesus was able to say that he always did what his Father showed him, and spoke the things he was given to say, and that all of his words and deeds came from his Father. He is presented as an example for us to follow.

In summary,

• Unbelief is rooted in doubt that God loves or cares for us. It is independent in thought and action because it assumes we are on our own to decide and act for ourselves. Unbelief selfishly seeks to avoid trouble and get the best outcome for ourselves, according to our own awareness, knowledge and abilities.
• Faith knows that God has our best interests at heart. Faith always asks for counsel, and is not afraid to follow through in obedience, even if the way looks bleak or dangerous. Faith knows that God loves and cares for us, and that any sacrifice or loss resulting from following him is only temporary and will produce a far greater reward.

Faith is trust in God, rooted in knowing his character, and in our relationship with him. Look through the Bible for mentions of faith, or its equivalent, or its opposite. In each case there will be some way to view or understand it that connects with the way we have defined and described faith and unbelief. Viewed in this way, faith will make increasing sense and open up new avenues of understanding scripture.

How can I have faith?

There is a well known Bible verse in Hebrews 11, "He who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him." Unfortunately it is also a very much misunderstood statement. Generally it is applied in the sense that you had best work very hard at believing in God's existence and his promises if you are to have any hope of experiencing miracles in you life. That perception inverts the meaning in pursuit of a rather egocentric cosmology.

A great deal of debate is put into the topic of whether or not there is a superior creator being referred to as God. It is a rather pointless debate. If there is such a being then unless he can be made to care about us his existence is meaningless to us. If he does care about us then he ought to be approachable and responsive in some way. What is actually being said in Hebrews is that any effort to know God implies at least a basic amount of faith. If you thought that God did not exist then you would not try to make contact. If you are spending time trying to connect with God then at some level you believe in his existence. It also means that you have some belief that he cares enough that a response is possible.

So, on the one hand we have people who think seeking God is a waste of time because he does not exist, quite possibly because they have tried but failed to make contact. On the other side are people who claim to have a connection with God based on their experience of his presence in their daily living. In the middle are those who hope to contact God, and express that hope through faith, by actively seeking to know him. If you are taking the trouble to read about how to have faith, that likely means you have an interest in knowing God, which means you already have faith.

As someone who wants to know God, the faith you have may not be a lot, but it is not zero. Jesus came to show us the way, and in fact declared himself to be the way. He showed us the way by demonstrating that God loves us. He did this through the life that he lived, the things that he taught, and the death that he died for those he loved, which includes not just his close and faithful disciples, but also any others who would believe in him. The proof of it all was the resurrection of Jesus ‐ supernatural evidence that the sacrifice of his life was accepted.

Jesus is the way in that he called all who would believe to follow him, specifically to lay down their lives and take up their cross. That does not mean you need to get crucified. It does mean that you need to repent, which means reversing the decision made by Adam and Eve. A genuine trust in God, inspired by the example of Jesus, will move you to renounce selfishness, give up your independence, choose God as your king, conscience and guide, and submit your interests to his authority. Making that decision opens the door to a relationship with God on a personal level.

This is essentially what Jesus did. He did not seek advancement, or power, or honour from men. He taught what he heard from God. His course of life and the the things he did were done as God directed him. When faced with the cross his prayer to his Father God was, "Not my will, but yours be done." That is the example of trust we are called upon to follow in order to know and experience God in our own lives. More will be explained about this in the section on righteousness, but if you have not yet come to know God in a personal way, the time has come to put into action the faith you have, the faith that has led you to seek that relationship, by repenting and believing this good news.