The just shall live by faith is not a promise or an advice to Christians; it is a command, an instruction. Too many of us are either oblivious of what faith is; our lack of it or its importance to our very profession of being in Christ.
In about a dozen years in which I have been a Christian I have heard diverse explanations of what faith is from the pulpit and the laity alike. Some of these explanations are based on the scriptures while some others border on outright falsehood and I dare say the human penchant to manipulate situations for selfish gains.
In this discourse however, I do not intend to take on all of these myriads of faith fallacies but just one of it; and that is the idea that faith, in relation to our living in this three dimensional world, is like a blind man looking for a needle in a 50 hectare space of farmland. Someone once gave voice to this kind of understanding of faith by quipping quite enthusiastically that faith is a leap in the dark. If this were true, it implies therefore that a man living by faith is neither able to perceive nor understand the working mechanisms in his or her life nor is he/she able to utilize such knowledge for his/her benefit. That would be like trying to drive a car without having ever seen one before not to talk of knowing what it is used for! This why some people who are claiming to be walking by faith either come out as lazy, mediocre or just plain confused. The problem is not with the concept of faith but their understanding of it.
Before I go further let me explain what I mean by logic in this context. Logic can be understood as valid reasoning; that ability to verify facts and to investigate the principles governing correct or reliable inference. In simple terms, that which is logical to us is that which makes sense. So does this mean that faith makes sense? I would say yes. This leads us to the next question.
What is faith?
I will use the very same verse of scripture that has been used for decades to explain this.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1 KJV)
The scripture says that faith is the substance [a physical reality that can be touched or felt] of things hoped for, the evidence [something that gives a proof of the existence or truth of something; the substantiation of something] of things not seen. I am tempted to just assume at this juncture that this is clear enough but I know from interaction with fellow Christians that many people don’t just get the gist.
First, faith is not the things hoped for or not seen. It is not the house you want, that college admission or the healing in your body you been praying for. Rather faith is what shows us that you have access to and therefore can experience what you are hoping for. The valid point here is that evidence of a thing is only required if that thing cannot presently be verified or experienced at that point and therefore some other thing [evidence] is required to give proof to the existence of that which is being verified. This evidence gives us the assurance that that which we do not presently see we have access to and therefore can experience. I hope I have not lost you here! Please follow me closely at this point.
Now if what is being hoped for is not yet seen the evidence of its existence cannot at the same time be abstract; do you get the point? So if faith is that substance [or more accurately the substantiating] of what we hope for, it means that faith therefore can be touched, felt or seen. It means that faith is ALWAYS a physical reality; faith is the physical reality of that which we have not yet seen or experienced but which confirms that we have access to and therefore can take hold of it.
But how can we have access to what we don’t know that we have? Or put another way, how do we know that we have what we want? This is the first point where some Christians miss it. But the bible holds the answer. Check this out;
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom 10:17 KJV)
So this is how we know what we have access to; God tells us! The beautiful thing here is that the bible actually states that what God tells us is what gives us faith. Again let’s make sure we do not mix it up; faith is not what God tells us rather what God tells us is what brings faith to us. Let me explain this using this example: if you desire to have a land in Lagos, Nigeria and your father says he will give you one. You might think he is just joking until he sends the title deed to you. When you read the documents that states that the land has actually been legally transferred then you come to the awareness that you now have a land in Lagos. But you see, you will still not have physical access to the land if you don’t act based on the information you now have and physically possess the land. If you do not believe that your father has any land in Lagos nor the capacity to get one you might still not act on the title deed to possess the land! It is therefore your action based on the information you have that can be likened to faith not the title deed itself! This is why we are told that:
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (Jam 2:18 KJV)
That document in your hand contains information that says you own the land but you might not act on that information if you do not believe in the capacity of your father. Therefore, even though you have the title deed, you will still not get the benefit accruable from the land.
This is the point: Faith is the evidence and substantiating of what you desire but do not yet have and this faith is brought to you by the word of God so that you can act on the word to possess what it says you have. The specific word of God does not prove you have faith it only proves you can have what you want IF you will act on it! Do you get it now? Remember that faith is a physical reality so the word of God to you cannot be faith since we cannot see, feel or touch it but we can definitely see, feel or touch your actions based on that word.
Now back to the original intent of this discourse; the logic in faith. Actually, I have already made the first and the most cogent argument for the logicality of faith, that is, it is a physical tangible reality of our expectation. What you can see, feel or touch already has some sense of logicality to, at least as opposed to what you do not see!
To buttress this let’s take a look at one of the examples of faith in Hebrews 11.
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. (Heb 11:11-12 KJV)
As far as I am concerned, this is a classic scenario of our experiences. Abraham and Sarah were barren for a long time till Sarah was 90 years of age. She had not just reached menopause she was at ‘menostop’! Then God came around and gave Abraham his word, ‘I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him [Gen 18:10]’.
Remember faith comes by hearing God’s word, so faith came to Abraham and Sarah through God’s word to them. However, no matter how much faith Abraham claims to have if he did not have sex with Sarah based on his confidence in God and therefore his word, Sarah would still have remained barren! You see, the logic of faith here is that Abraham and Sarah still had to exercise their faith in concrete tangible terms by having sex if Isaac was ever going to be born.
In conclusion, living by faith involves getting God’s word but you still do not have faith if you have not acted on God’s word to you. So if God tells you he will bless you financially, the logic of faith states that he will do it through verifiable tangible means [He will bless a business you have, instruct you to start one, open your eyes to a profitable investment, etcetera]. Don’t think you can just be lazing around and God will make bags of dollars land at your doorstep!
Get this instruction from apostle James:
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (Jam 2:17-23 KJV)
