The Big Questions About Salvation and FaithPrimjer

What is Faith?

The way non-Christians and Christians use the word “faith” is different. Non-Christians use “faith” to describe believing something with no evidence. That is confusing because Christians mean something entirely different when talking about faith. It’s more about trust within a relationship. Here’s a simple example of how it works.

When our daughter Rebecca was little, I’d stand her up on our kitchen table, and then I would take a few steps back, and I’d say, “Jump!” She never hesitated. She would launch herself off the table with a squeal of delight, fly through the air, right into my arms!

Did she have scientific evidence that I’d catch her? Did she calculate the parabolic trajectory of her body and the force with which it would land to see if I was strong enough to catch her? No. Because we’re talking about faith.

Scientific evidence is not the basis of faith. Relational evidence is the basis of faith. Relational evidence is not worse than scientific evidence. It’s just different. My daughter knew I would catch her: all the evidence she needed was that I loved her.

Christians believe the physical world around us is not all there is. We believe there’s a spiritual world, and because it isn’t material, we cannot measure it through scientific means. We believe it’s there, and we trust in God’s activity on our behalf.

In a way, faith has two parts to it. The first is believing something is true, and the second part is acting on that belief by trusting it. Martin Luther King Jr. explained it this way: “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

Christian faith is even more than simply trusting; it is trusting a person – Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus into the world so our faith need never be blind. He came as a real human being and lived among us. The historical facts are all there for his life, death, and resurrection. So, I reckon I’ve got a solid base of evidence for my faith.

We all believe in something, whether we admit it or not. The question is, where will your belief lead you?

– Eliezer Gonzalez