Simple Faith

Why do we complicate the idea of faith? What is faith? How do we define it?

Scripture says in Hebrews 11:1-3-

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.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

A Google search said-

Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Confidence and assurance. We understand that the universe was formed at God’s command. We don’t understand how, but we have confidence and assurance it was. We don’t need to know the details of how to have faith. Knowing how is knowledge not faith.

A normal conversation describing faith usually brings up things like believing in gravity or believing a chair will hold you when you sit down. We all have faith in things like that. There are other situations where our actions show we have faith, like believing the other drivers on the road will follow the rules of the road and not run into us.

The more I study the Bible, the Sovereignty of God is clearer to me. He created His creation for His enjoyment. He has had a plan from before time began and will see it completed at the second coming of Christ our Lord to rule over His creation. That is faith that God is in control and will complete His plan.

So, what is faith. Faith is believing without any doubt. Faith is complete trust and confidence. Here are a few questions to ask ourselves and test our faith.

Do you believe God created everything?

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

Do you believe Jesus is God and He is the Creator?

John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light.

⁹ The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. ¹¹ He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Do you “believe in His name” and have the faith to believe that God the Father sent Jesus to make it possible for us to live eternally with Him?

What does it mean to believe in His name? A few of His names in Scripture are Lord, Master, Savior and many more. Is He all these things to you?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Do you believe you must be born again, “Spirit gives birth to spirit”?

John 3:1-7 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with Him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 

If you believe those things, deeply believe them, that is what I call simple faith. When Jesus ascended to His Father He sent a Guide for us, the Holy Spirit. He is with every follower of Jesus. All we are asked to do is listen to the Spirit’s guidance and follow Jesus, believing He will accomplish His will through our lives. Faith is that simple.

I have shared this thought before. It has been a game changer for me. Paul described our bodies as a tent that houses the spiritual you.  When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He becomes a roommate in our tent. Do we make Him part of our every decision or just occasionally ask for guidance or totally ignore Him?

To me it is this simple. It is His creation, His plan for the universe, His plan where I fit into it, and His plan for the outcome. Another word picture I have heard that I like is that God is weaving a beautiful tapestry for Himself from the beginning of time to the end of time. He places each thread, each one of His people, in the exact place and sequence in time that He needs them to be to complete His Masterpiece. Our problem is all we can see is the underside of the tapestry with all its loose ends and frayed threads. In fact, we can only see the threads that are being woven in our lifetime with an occasional glimpse of threads in history. We won’t see the entire tapestry from beginning to end until we are with Him in His Kingdom. Then we will be able to see the tapestry from above and recognize the amazing works of our Lord.