Faith

          This post moves to dissect the nature and complexities of faith, or more exactly, faith in God, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit.  Faith can be had in all sorts of other, worldly things that time and again prove themselves unworthy of that precious Gift that you can bestow on merely one thing.  Is it not logical to place one's faith in God?  After all, he is perfect; it is literally impossible for him to fail you and dishonor your faith in him.  
          I think it only appropriate to start this post off with a definition of faith.  The word "faith" appears a mere eight times in the Old Testament, according to my research on e-Sword (a fantastic tool for studying the Bible, if I do say so myself!), each having a slightly different definition from the next.  However, Matthew, Mark, and Luke say it 28 times!  The gospel of John never says "faith", but it does say "believe", which translates to the Hebrew word pisteuo, simply meaning "to have faith".  This word appears in John 50 times!  
          What's entirely fascinating is that the meaning of the word "faith" changes when we cross over from the Old Testament to the New Testament.  With the exception of Jesus talking about a "lack of faith", each word "faith" as it is used to refer to an abundance thereof has precisely the same definition throughout the Gospels (I haven't bothered to cross reference "faith" each and every time appears in the remaining books in the New Testament, as it appears countless times).  Faith is derived from the Hebrew word pistis.  Note that the definition of "believe" as it appears in John is derived form this word, whose definition is as follows:

1. persuasion, that is, credence
2. moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation
3. abstractly, constancy in such profession
4. by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself
- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity

          Faith is "persuasion", which means "to persuade", whose first definition means "to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging".  Faith is also credence, which first and foremost means "belief as to the truth of something".  As the Bible defines it, faith involves both belief and deed.  We can assume that "persuasion" as it relates to faith in Christ implies the Holy Spirit prevailing on you to do something, and the "truth", referenced by the word "credence", in which one believes is quite certainly the teachings of Christ.  One might even say that the thing the Holy Spirit convinces you to do is to believe in the truth of Christ's words.
          Faith is moral conviction of religious truth, the truthfulness of God, or the truthfulness of a religious teacher (such as Jesus?).  Conviction's first definition is simple, "A fixed or firm belief".  It also says "moral conviction", that is, the conviction is moral.  This definition makes a bold statement; belief in religious truth is not merely a religious issue, it is a moral issue, an issue of right and wrong.  Everyone is bound to the standards of right and wrong, that is, no one can escape their need to have this moral conviction; it is not merely intended for those of a particular religion.  The definition goes on with a sentence supplementing what was just said about moral conviction, "Especially reliance upon Christ for salvation".  So faith is moral belief in religious truth, especially when such belief involves reliance on Christ for salvation.  Given this, we can easily rewrite the parenthetical annex to moral conviction as follows, "Of Christian truth, or the truthfulness of God or Jesus' teachings".
          Faith, in an abstract sense, is constancy in such profession; "such profession" referring to the definition above.  Therefore, in an abstract sense, faith is constancy in your moral convictions and reliance on Jesus Christ.  Basically, faith is "following through", as believing without acting on those beliefs would be inconsistent, the opposite of consistent, which is synonymous to constancy.  "Abstractly" is very likely added to take the stress off of deeds and their importance in relation to faith (though I do not think the importance is defaulted entirely; I'll explain later, of course).  After all, one does not have to be perfect to have faith in Christ; you would have to be perfect to be considered "constant" in that profession.
          Faith is, by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself.  This confused me, at first, then I realized that the definition was much more simple than it sounded.  This sense of the word "faith" merely refers to faith when used to refer to a religion itself.  For example, the "Christian faith" is the system of Christian truth, the "Muslim faith" is the system of Muslim truth, etc.  This particular word, though, is referring only to the truth of the Gospel, that is, the Bible, God's Word. 
          Now, we  simply must address the incredibly divisive issue involving faith and its relationship to deeds.  Some are tempted to say that there is no correlation whatsoever.  As it is written, "For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, nor rulers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor anything in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ."  Tying faith down to deeds threatens that sense of connection, since it is through faith that we are connected to Christ and without it that we are disconnected.  If something we do or do not do can default our faith, then is there truly nothing between us and God's love?  So we should be careful not to over-idealize the power of our own efforts, since such implies that by them we can separate or connect ourselves to God.  But it is not through ourselves but through Christ that we are redeemed to God. 
          Still, we cannot simply default deeds and their relationship to faith.  The second half of James 2 harshly criticizes those who fail to prove their faith with deeds.  As he writes, "You believe there is one God.  That's fine!  Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear."  Would you consider the demons to have faith in God?  Certainly not; not in the sense defined above.  Paul also writes to the Romans, "If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Notice that you cannot simply believe in your heart, you must also "declare with your mouth", an act which I consider literal or figurative.  In other words, you must act on the belief in your heart.
          "You believe Jesus is the Son of God, gents; your eternal soul is saved!  By all means, go out, get drunk, have sex, do whatever you please because Jesus has you covered!"  I hardly consider this faith, and nor does the Bible.  On the flip side of things, "Do more, slaves!  Give more money, be nicer people; do everything in your power because when you die, you better not have fallen short of your quota!"  This is hardly faith either; the Bible is very clear.  
          This is what I believe, and I believe that what I believe is in agreement with the sound Doctrine that is God's Word.  Faith is a marriage between creed and deed; that is, between believing and doing.  Suppose you believe that an action is good without doing the action?  That's hardly faith.  Suppose you did something that was good by coincidence and not because you believed it was good?  That's not faith either.  What's interesting to observe is this: if you do not act on your belief, is your belief even that strong?  And if you do good coincidentally or mechanically, I doubt your good deeds will number very high.  Faith is a marriage between these; they compliment each other, carrying each others' slack and keeping each other accountable.
          Now, this is not to say that faith is created by a good creed and good deeds.  On the contrary, faith creates firm beliefs and drivenness.  It is not so coincidental that Jesus compared faith to a seed, since that is how I can best explain it.  Faith is not a mixing pot, into which one must throw a few cups of conviction and ambition to create faith.  Rather, it is a seed that is planted and catered to from which springs the branches of conviction and ambition.  Creed and deed is the fruit of faith.
          I say this for very good reasons.  The depth and firmness of belief depends on the power of the believer.  The goodness and number of good deeds depends on the power of the doer.  With both, the strength lies with the person believing and doing.  But our strength is in Christ, is it not?  And he calls us to do things that the power of the flesh cannot do alone, does he not?  
          That is why we have faith.  Faith does not draw strength from the faithful, rather, it sustains the faithful according to the subject of that faith.  Consider this example: a soldier is wounded, behind cover, slowly being surrounded.  There is another healthy soldier nearby, doing his best to help.  The wounded soldier is very likely to place his faith in that healthy soldier.  When he does as much, his friend's success becomes his, and his friend's failure also becomes his.  The wounded soldier is sustained according his friend's ability to sustain him.
          Now, suppose he had more of a choice.  Suppose there are three soldiers close enough for him to drag himself near them and into their protection.  If he knows which one is the most skilled in combat, which should he go to for protection?  Obviously the most skilled.  Why?  Because that soldier's power will be the wounded soldier's power.  He ought to choose the one with the most power.  
          We do not place our faith in cockroaches.  Why?  Because whatever the cockroach can do, we can do better.  If a thief breaks into our house, we ought not trust the cockroach over ourselves to defend us from the thief.  So you see?  Faith not only has the power to add to our energy, it can also subtract from it.  It is highly unwise and illogical to place faith in something weaker than us, since we can always simply have faith in ourselves when all else fails.      
          At the same time, it is also highly unwise and illogical to place faith in ourselves when we are weak.  For example, suppose that the wounded soldier decided, "I can trust none of my men to protect me!"  What would he have to do then?  Well, he would have to have faith in himself and try to get himself to safety, an act that would almost certainly be futile.  His enemies are perfectly healthy and can all too easily catch him.  He's much better off having faith in a soldier on his team more powerful than he.
          I suppose the soldier could have faith in nothing, and instead sit there and accept death.  However, doing so would be a guaranteed death, while faith in himself at least gives him a chance.  So while you can withhold faith from everything, it is the equivalent of giving up.
          Anyway, my point is to point out faith's ability to empower or reduce you.  This also works with my arguments for why one ought to have faith in Christ.  Like I said before, He is perfect.  He is omnipotent.  Having faith in Him connects you to a limitless supply of sustenance and serious, raw power.  Why have faith in anyone or anything else?!
          If you find your belief being attacked by doubt, you shouldn't think, "I must strengthen my belief!"  Instead, pray, "Lord, increase my faith."  And if you find yourself doing evil at every turn, you shouldn't think, "I must do more good!"  Again, pray, "Lord, increase my faith."  God calls you to enormous heights not reachable through any means of your own.  You cannot hope to have the belief and do the good God calls you to do through your own power.  Remember, belief draws strength from the believer, and deeds draw strength from the doer.  But faith in God draws strength from God, only through it can you "believe" and "do" to the degree that He calls you.  Trying to "do" and "believe" is like trying to find fruit when you can just plant a tree.
          It is not surprising that some Christians over-idealize the power of mere belief, since belief is almost certain to come first chronologically; specifically belief that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  Jesus being the Son of God is the only reason that you can have faith in God.  Without Jesus, we are so separated from God that we cannot even have faith in Him; we could only believe what He said and act on His commands.  Paul writes, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."  It only makes sense that one must believe that Jesus is the Christ (at least on some level, regardless of how low) before putting their faith in him; otherwise, he would be putting his faith in "some mortal man".  
          In addition, belief in certain commands of Christ and different doctrines of the Bible also comes with faith.  There is more to "believing" in terms of Christianity than merely believing that Jesus is the Christ, though that belief is what comes first.  
          Belief is also first chronologically on a day-to-day basis.  It is nearly impossible to do a good deed without first believing that you ought to; and if you do it by coincidence, it cannot be credited to you as faith.  This is not to say that deeds are less important; they come second in terms of order, not importance.  Do the stones on top of the mountain think they are more important than the stones that form the base?  
          Remember that Paul also writes, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith?  Not at all!  Rather, we uphold the law."  I think it entirely possible to annex "by faith" to the end of that verse.  "Rather, we uphold the law by faith."  Jesus himself said, "Do not suppose that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets.  I did not come to abolish but to complete."  Just as through Jesus the Law and the Prophets are completed, so too through faith in Jesus can we uphold the decrees of the Law and the Prophets.
          Do not consider yourselves better than others if you are better at believing than another, or if you are better at doing than another.  I would not be surprised if some have more belief than deed, and others have more deed than belief.  But in the end, you cannot have absolutely no deed and all belief or vice-versa.  It's as simple as that.
          Do not be worried about how much good you do or how strong your belief is.  You are not saved from the world by such things.  Rather, you are saved by faith which merely proves itself by creed and deed.  Never jump over faith straight to belief or deed.  That's when we get over idealism of our own efforts, which cannot save us any more than a spider web can catch our fall.  But faith sustains us according to the subject of our faith, which ought to be Christ.  That way, it is through Christ alone that we are welcomed into heaven and absolutely zero effort of our own.
          Let's close with the most famous definition of faith as given by Paul, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."  What's entirely interesting is that this sureness and certainty is not even from ourselves.  We merely decide to start being sure and certain; God sustains that certainty as only He can.
          So to recap: faith is certainty of the truth of Jesus' teachings.  It is relying upon Him for your salvation.  It implies acting, so far as possible, as a Christian ought; that is, faithful service to Christ (note that faithfully serving Christ can only be done through faith in Christ).