What Is Faith?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of March, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Last week, we looked at what the Apostle Paul wrote regarding love.  Today we’ll see what he has to tell us about faith.

I mentioned before that Paul wrote to the church in Rome as a way to introduce himself before visiting there.  The main thrust of the letter, though, was our justification by God’s grace through the selfless act of Jesus who washed us clean of our sin.  Along with the unearned and undeserved gift of God’s grace is His gift of a measure of faith, so that we might recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for us and accept Him as our Lord.  As we heard in our invocation, Paul reminds us that “God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in Him.”  (Romans 3:26 (ERV))  Through our faith and belief in Jesus, we receive God’s wonderful grace and are justified in His eyes by the blood sacrifice of Jesus.

So let’s hear just a little of Paul’s message on faith.  Please listen and follow along as I step back just a little in Paul’s letter to the Romans from last week’s passage, to chapter 4 and verses 1 through 5 and 13 through 22 and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 So what can we say about Abraham, the father of our people? What did he learn about faith? 2 If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to boast about himself. But God knew different. 3 That’s why the Scriptures say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this he was accepted as one who is right with God.”

4 When people work, their pay is not given to them as a gift. They earn the pay they get. 5 But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in Him. Then He accepts their faith, and that makes them right with Him. He is the one who makes even evil people right.

13 Abraham and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. But Abraham did not receive that promise because he followed the law. He received that promise because he was right with God through his faith. 14 If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, 15 because the law can only bring God’s anger on those who disobey it. But if there is no law, then there is nothing to disobey.

16 So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham’s people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all. 17 As the Scriptures say, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is true before God, the one Abraham believed — the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real.

18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.” 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. 20 He never doubted that God would do what He promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. 21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what He promised. 22 So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”

--Romans 4:1-5, 13-22 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You have given us two wonderful gifts in Your grace and our faith.  Thank You for giving Your Son so that we can be forgiven of our sin through our faith in Him.  Father, we admit that we don’t always put our faith into action in service of You and Jesus.  Too often we hesitate to witness for Jesus when we get the opportunity.  Sometimes we let the fires of our faith grow dim and weak from not being exercised.  Please forgive us, those times, Father.  Please help us be more righteous in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges writes:  "Faith and holiness are inextricably linked.  Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God."

That's a pretty obvious yet profound statement.  God promises both rewards and punishment for how we live.  If we didn't believe in His promises, why would we obey His commands?  The gift of faith would be wasted on us.

One of those promised rewards is salvation through our faith in Jesus.  And the worst punishment is eternal damnation for disbelief in Jesus as Lord.  Let’s keep believing and obeying God’s commands, keeping our faith strong.

To add just a little extra clarity to our passage this morning, in verse 14 Paul writes, "If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless".  We can replace the word "worthless" with "pointless".  If we could receive God’s grace by following His law, then faith would be pointless.  It would have no meaning, no benefit, no purpose.  And there would have been no reason for Jesus to come and give of Himself for our sake.

Abraham and Sarah were in their 90’s and childless when God promised to make Abraham the father of a nation, with more descendants than the grains of sand upon the shore.  Though both he and his wife were well beyond child-bearing age, they accepted God at His word, believing in His promise, even if it sounded impossible.

So, what is faith?  This, Family… this is faith: believing, trusting that God can do the humanly impossible.  And God can make the humanly impossible possible for a human to do.

In verse 17 of our scripture passage Paul writes, "This is true before God, the one Abraham believed — the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real."  God gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don't yet exist as if they are real.  God of the impossible made possible.

We know that the Apostle James, half-brother of Jesus, also writes about faith in his letter to the early church.  He says we show our faith in how we act, in what we do, in putting our faith to work.  Some folks mistakenly believe that when James says faith alone is not enough, that he contradicts Paul when he says that we are saved by faith.  What James is actually saying is that unused faith is worthless, or pointless.  It’s a faith that has become dried up and fallow.

Maybe this passage will add a little insight.  Please listen as I read verses 14 through 18 from the 2nd chapter of James’ letter to the far-flung church…

14 My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. 15 Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. 16 And you say to them, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. 17 It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more — if it doesn’t do anything — it is dead.

18 But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do.

--James 2:14-18 (ERV)

Faith that does nothing is worth nothing.  James goes on to repeat that phrase in verse 20, "Faith that does nothing is worth nothing."  (James 2:20b)  And we know that when something is repeated, it’s important for us to understand and remember.

We are commanded to witness to Jesus, to go out and tell others all about Him, to share the Gospel and make more disciples.  The easiest way we can do this is to put our faith to work, to show our faith, to let others see our faith in action.  And the easiest way to show our faith might simply be to put all our troubles in God’s hands.

With all the madness going on in the world right now, many people are terribly worried about what might happen.  How can I stay safe?  Are my loved ones OK?  What’s going to happen next?  We show our faith by not being one of those worriers.  We put all our trust in God, in Him who can do the impossible.  We don’t worry about tomorrow – we trust fully in God.  This is faith.

Of course, there are many other ways to exercise and display our faith, and this church family is very good at those.  We just finished one fundraiser and are getting started on the next one, partly or fully benefitting the community around us.  But even if we can no longer physically serve, we can still show our faith by believing in the redemption of sin through Jesus and putting all our trust in God.

Let others see Jesus in us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave His all for us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son to save us from ourselves when we were lost in sin.  Thank You for justifying us by Your grace.  And thank You for giving us the wonderful gift of faith to believe in Jesus and be redeemed.  We believers exercise that faith to acknowledge that Jesus is Your Son, and to accept Him as our Lord.  But Father, we know that too often we fail to put our faith to work.  Maybe we just get too comfortable in Your promise.  Maybe we hesitate to put our faith to work out of fear of what others might say or how they might react.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we hesitate to try and make more disciples for Your Son.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth and share Your love with the lost.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth at God’s will as the only way we could be redeemed of our sin.  And You died to this life that we might live forever.  Through Your sacrifice, we are justified by God’s glorious grace.  By the faith God gave us, we believe in You and accept You as our Master.  But Lord, we don’t always put our faith into action.  We struggle to do as You command, we hesitate to show our faith to others, especially strangers.  Please forgive us our weaknesses and failures, Lord Jesus.  Please strengthen us to be more open with our faith and trust.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.