New Morning Mercies #279

Faith in God is more than believing the right things. It’s living the right way because you believe the right things.

Hebrews 11:1–7 is a say-it-all description of what faith is and what faith does:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

The belief of the heart and mind is an essential ingredient of faith, but it does not summarize all that faith is. True biblical faith is always something that you live. If your faith does not reshape your life, it is not true faith. Faith is not just intellectual assent to a body of truth. I’m afraid that’s what faith looks like in evangelical academic circles. But real faith radically rearranges your life. This is why Hebrews 11 focuses more on what people did with their lives than it does on the details of their theology. Faith is deeply theological, but it is much, much more than that.

As the writer of Hebrews defines faith, he immediately gives three examples of how real faith in God transforms the way that you live. First, faith redirects and recaptures the worship of your heart (Abel). Second, it produces in you a heart of obedience (Enoch). Third, faith causes you to submit to the calling of God (Noah). Now think about it: everyone’s life is shaped by what he worships, by the rules that she obeys, and by the life calling that he gives himself to. True, living, biblical faith causes you to submit all three of these shaping influences to God. He becomes the object of the worship of your heart. His rules define the moral boundaries of your life. And his kingdom work becomes your joyful calling. It’s radical to believe that God really does exist and rewards those who seek him, and that radical belief does radical things to your living. Remember, you can’t conjure up this life-shaping faith. No, it is a gift of his grace.

For further study and encouragement: Genesis 6–9