Definition of Faith
QUESTION: What is the definition of faith?ANSWER:The dictionary definition of faith is, “the theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.” For a Christian, this definition is not just words on a page it is a way of life. Faith is acceptance of what we cannot see but feel deep within our hearts. Faith is a belief that one-day we will stand before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Theological Virtue For Christians, believing is not seeing. Our life is built on the knowledge that God came to earth, died on a cross, rose again on the third day, and then ascended back into heaven. Why do we believe, because the Bible tells us so. We were not there when Jesus was crucified, yet we believe. We were not there when Jesus rose again, yet we believe.
Too many people want physical proof. Even Thomas, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, said he would not believe unless he saw Jesus. What was Jesus’ answer to him when he saw Jesus? “Because you have seen me you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). This is the theological virtue known as faith, believing what we did not see because we know it in our hearts to be true.
Secure Belief in God As Christians, we are secure in the knowledge that there is a God and that He rewards those that diligently seek Him. Faith for a Christian is much more than just a belief; it is security. Christians are secure in the knowledge that when all things come to pass they will see their Savior Jesus Christ.
Faith is a belief that what is said in the Bible is true based on the eyewitness accounts and the peace that comes when we turn our lives over to God. Faith is also the security of knowing that we are firmly in God’s hands and no matter what happens nothing will shake us from them. Faith is our secure belief in God and our secure belief of God and our secure belief that all things happen through God.
Trusting Acceptance of God’s Will As Christians, we do not only have a secure belief in God, we also have an acceptance that what God tells us to do is for our benefit. A part of the definition of faith is accepting God’s will over our own will. This means that we understand that what God is asking us to do will always work out for the good of those who love and listen to Him.
Jesus said to us to have faith like a little child. A child will accept what is asked of them and then go and do it. As Christians we do not question what God wants us to do. We just go ahead and do it because we have faith that what we are being asked to do will help further the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Faith Is A Verb In a way, faith is a verb because it means we must act on what we believe. Faith, as we have seen, is the theological virtue of being secure in our belief that God is real and that His Son died on the cross for our sins. It is taking that in a trusting acceptance of what God wants us to do and then going out and doing what we are told.
Some time ago someone likened faith to the wind: we cannot see the wind, we cannot hear the wind unless it blows against something, we can only feel the wind when it touches our skin or rustles our hair. Faith is like that wind. We cannot see what we believe in, we cannot hear what we believe in unless we open our eyes to the truth, but we can sure feel that our faith is justified by the joy we feel in our hearts. Remember, in the end, we all put our faith in something, so let it be the truth.
