We will start with the dictionary (Merriam-Webster)

Definition of faith

a :allegiance to duty or a person
b (1) :fidelity to one’s promises (2) :sincerity of intentions acted in good faith :belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) :belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion :something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially :a system of religious beliefs the Protestant faith

What is this “faith” we as Christians speak of so often? Does the traditional definition apply here? Would it be fair to say it is a blind faith, needing no justification? I don’t think so. I think blind faith resides only in politics and sports. My contention is Christian faith is provable in God’s word, through the scriptures.

Hebrews 11
1  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

We have a list of people who relied on their faith in God and were blessed for it.

John 20: 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I do believe that the bible is the inspired word of God. I also believe that it is a record of God’s people as they lived their lives and sought to serve their God. Faith is an important component of Christian life. There is no better way to understand Christian faith than as written in Hebrews Chapter 11. There is evidence that because of their faith Israel’s elders were blessed by God for their faithfulness. We have in a sense a catalogue of faith expressed in these Patriarchs and written about in Hebrews Chapter 11. We know because God created all from nothing he can do whatever he chose to do. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah shows us that God’s blessings comes to those whose faith is strong, even if they are weak. Theirs was a simple faith that embraced a lifestyle that affirmed their faith through Holy living, trusting God to do what he said he would. It does not stop here, we can add to that catalogue the names of the Patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then of course there was Moses, because of the uncompromising choices he made, which had a great effect on the children of Israel, he was able to lead them out of Egypt, even in the face of great obstacles. There were many others whose unflinching commitment made a difference and this is a good place to point out the difference between faith and Christian Faith. The Christian Faith is an unflinching commitment to the faith, the ability to stay faithful in the face of the cruelest opposition and persecution. Their faith was unbeatable! They did not have the gospel promise that we have today. We have received something better……a clear promise through the gospel of Jesus Christ, strengthen by the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives.

Where is our “blind Spot”? What part of our faith commitment do we not see. Sometime the stress of every day life requires us to make a choice. Will we be unflinching as the patriarchs of so long ago, or will we allow the pressures of this world today to compromise our faith?

God Bless, Life is Good

Jk