NavNight Talk--[22.3.2011]

Title: The Nature of True Biblical Faith

All faith respecteth a testimony.
--John Owen

There are two ways that faith may fail us.

1. It may fail (that is, it may never have been true). This is daily evidenced to us by apostasy of false Christians, but is noticed most particularly in cases where faith tested by trial or persecution fails.

2. Faith may be misplaced. This faith often has a false strength, because the devil often declines to assault it. All false religion in the world is a misplaced faith. An example of this is the multitude of Byzantine Christians who died to defend iconography. Brave in the face of suffering, but for a cause that God actively opposes.

How can we ensure that our faith is neither failing nor misplaced? What even is faith?

(Side tangent--I am sick of people speaking vaguely for effect, or describing their Christian life in terms that they cannot define. If I ask someone to live by faith, I want them to know clearly what that means. This is real communication. [Side side-tangent--why does everyone think Rob Bell is such a good communicator if he does not do this? He is a communication inhibitor! He discourages real communication])

Part I--The nature of faith in general

Faith has three parts

1. A testimony about the future
2. A person(s) giving this testimony
3. An implicitly or explicitly requested response

What does this look like in action? Here is an example.

When you board an airplane, you have no guarantee that the plane will get you safely to your destination.

1. However, the testimony given is that the plane will take you safely to your destination.
2. This testimony is given by a wide variety of sources: the airline's reputation, the reputation of American airline travel, the safety record, your past experience, the experience of others, perhaps the principles of aerodynamics themselves.
3. Your response (if you find these testimonies convincing) is to board the plane and venture upon the testimony.

From this, we can establish a simple and practical definition of faith.

Faith is the faculty of our soul that connects the truth of a testimony to our will.

Perhaps you don't think that is so simple. Here is another.

Faith is our "sense of truth" (think, sense of smell or sense of hearing) that enables us to act in response to a testimony or promise.

Several important observations from this:

1. Faith always has to do with something that is not seen. Faith looks to the future, or present the future to the mind. Thus, faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." The KJV here presents an interesting alternate translation: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith brings the future outcome and presents it to our minds in the present.

2. Faith is weak or strong based on our perception of the trustworthiness of the person giving the testimony. Thus if the plane we are thinking of boarding is old and rickety, and this same airline has recently had a string of fatal crashes, our faith will be weaker, and may entirely fail.

Part 2--Types of Faith

1. Natural or scientific faith

A) The testimony here is given by the laws of the natural world. These are orderly and can be trusted to give accurate testimonies about the future.

B) This type of faith is very strong in the modern world.

C) The limitations of this type of faith:

--Though the laws themselves are orderly, our understanding of them is imperfect.
--They are confined in the subject of their testimonies. They can speak about only created things. They can tell us nothing of anything above themselves.

2. Human/Institutional faith

A) The testimony here is given by a human or group of humans. If the origin of the testimony is not known, it is called tradition.

B) The strength of this faith depends on our perception of the speaker. In general, institutional faith is quite weak in the modern world. We are more willing to trust the personal experience of those we know deeply. It should be noted that this was not always the case, and that in the past institutions have commanded a lot of faith.

C) The limitations of this type of faith:

--The self-interest of men, who rarely tell the whole truth
--The fallibility of men, even when motives are pure

Human faith is often strong when it is traditional, or when the speaker of the testimony is not known and thus it is easy to imagine pure motives.

Note: The faith you have in your own conceptions is human, and thus limited by your fallibility and self-interest. There are few men in this world that have the humility to distrust their own foolish conceptions.

3. Biblical faith, or divine faith

In almost every instance, when the Bible talks about faith and belief, this is the type of faith it is indicating. Important passages to study for understanding these things are II Corinthians 3 and John 5.

A) The testimony here is the voice of God himself, spoken in two ways.

Hebrews 1:1-2

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

OT through the prophets, at various times. Then a final and complete testimony delivered all at once (and recorded by those he taught himself, the apostles). This is the NT.

B) The testimony is received strongly or weakly according to the perception of the voice itself.

Here is important point, because it is only the Holy Spirit speaking through the Word itself that enables the fallen understanding of man to perceive the voice of God. Thus Paul's prayer that God would give the Ephesians "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding," and that God would "open the eyes of their heart so that they may see the hope to which he has called them." Christ himself instructs us, "he who has ears let him hear."

For this reason, divine faith is said to be a gift of God, for it requires a work of God. We are not saved by our faith, but rather through our faith (instrumentally).

C) This faith has no limitations. The God who speaks it is both omnipotent and omniscient. His knowledge is not limited, and so what he speaks about can be trusted as fully true. His power is not limited, and so what he says will come to pass he is able to perform.

Part III--Signs of weak faith

1. Disobedience to God

2. Contrary obedience to human authority

Part IV--How to strengthen faith

1. Pray: Open my ears to your voice as I read the Scriptures.

2. Labor to know God deeper, especially to know his power, love, and wisdom.

3. We must know also the testimony itself, it must be written on our hearts so that the Holy Spirit may continually speak through it. (In other words, read the Bible more and memorize it)

4. Labor to know God's Word as a guide for all your actions, as the control for all your thoughts about God, and as a channel for your emotional experience of God.