Do we really believe in Jesus Christ? Is He just a person who lived about 2000 years ago? Is He really God? Did He really die on the cross for our sins? Our faith in Christ determines our ability to ask Him for forgiveness of sins. If we are lacking in our faith in Him, then seeking forgiveness for our sins and establishing or re-establishing our relationship with Him is fruitless. John Moment claims, “From the beginning ye must be made over, reconstruct the very presuppositions of your thinking and turn your moralities inside out.”[1] The real genesis of our faith, however, begins with God[2] – but we must also respond to Him. We now have a new way of thinking. Our ethical and moral thoughts and behaviors are changed. We react to God’s Word in absolute submission. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be “born again” (Matthew 3:21). When we initially come to Christ for forgiveness of our sins and are truly sorry, we are not just saying “please forget about this sin,” but we are really saying, “I am a sinner, and I not only ask for your forgiveness, but a new way of life in Jesus Christ.” It is a total submission of ourselves to God. In order for us to operate with a divine God, we must abdicate our human selves so that we can receive His forgiveness and His blessings. That is what true faith really is. Albert Belden summed it up this way:
If I trust in the chair I put my weight upon it; if I believe in Christ I put my weight upon Him. I take Him in earnest as the Guide and Leader of all my activities of thought and life, accepting the consequences. It is that practical surrender to Christ as the last word about life which is ‘saving faith,’ the irreducible minimum of Christian belief.[3]
Will there be times when we question our faith? Certainly! After all, we are only human. We should not be ashamed if we analyze our situation to determine if we have enough faith. God fully understands our situation, since He created us and sees everything that is going on. After analyzing our faith, we should come to the conclusion that we are relying on God Himself and not ourselves for our faith. Sarah Wilson asked, “How do we know if we have enough faith?” Her position is that if we are looking to ourselves, then we are certainly lost. Hope (faith) is only possible in God Himself.[4] God has our backs. If we truly understand who we have faith in, then we know that we will not be left stranded emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
[1] John J. Moment, Faith in Christ (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1917), 107.
[2] God is the orchestrator of our faith. The apostle Paul claimed that, “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
[3] Albert D. Belden, “The One Indispensable Belief,” Review & Expositor 28, no. 1 (Jan 1931), 28.
[4] Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, “What’s His is Ours: Christ’s Righteousness Belongs to Those Who Receive by Faith God’s Promise of Forgiveness,” Christianity Today 56, no. 8 (September 2012) 35.