True faith in God is vital to living the Christian life. Actually, faith in God is the essence of Christianity. No one can be saved without faith. Without faith, no one can please God. And no one can expect to receive from God if he lacks faith.
But almost everybody you talk to claims to have faith in God. My intent for writing this post is not to judge those claims, however ridiculous some of them are that I have heard. Rather, to address what genuine or true faith looks like in the eyes of Jesus. We can do that by looking at several encounters Jesus had with people who impressed Him by their faith. Consider the following events:
Faith in Action
Four men came to Jesus bearing a paralyzed man on a bed. But the room where Jesus was ministering was so crowded no room existed even to get in the doorway. These men would not be deterred. They climbed to the top of the house, removed the roof, and let the paralyzed man down to Jesus.
The Lord was not offended by the men’s radical act. He did not see them as being rude or destructive to the homeowner’s property. No; He saw what they did as an act of faith: ‘When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven”’ (Mark 2:5, NIV).
Persistence in Prayer
So, this Gentile woman came to Jesus because her daughter had been demon-possessed (Matthew 15:22). She asked Jesus to help her, but He told her no. He said He had only come for the lost sheep of Israel and not the Gentiles. But that did not turn her away. Instead, she began to worship the Lord (verse 25).
Jesus even told her it was not appropriate to give the children’s bread to the dogs. But she said I will take the crumbs. Her tenacity impressed Jesus. He referred to her persistence as faith: “Woman, you have great faith! your request is granted” (verse 28, NIV)!
Belief in Jesus’ Authority
A centurion came to Jesus because his servant was sick. Jesus was willing to go to his house and heal the man. But the centurion regarded himself unworthy of Jesus coming to his house. On the other hand, being a soldier, the centurion believed in the power of words spoken by one in authority. He requested that Jesus speak the word only and his servant would be healed. Jesus knew the man truly believed what he was saying. “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,” He said (Mathew 8:11).
In each instance above, Jesus saw the actions of those who came to Him as acts of genuine faith. We know that because He said so Himself. In his epistle, James writes about dead faith and biblical faith.
No matter how passionate we are about it, if our claim to have faith is not accompanied by works, it is dead faith. True faith, on the other hand, was demonstrated by the actions of those mentioned above in this post. Most importantly, the Lord only responds positively to true faith.
Copyright © 2023 by Frank King. All rights reserved.