Biblically, what does it mean to live by faith in God? (Part Three)

From the heart of Dr. Robert L. Taylor, Th.D., Bible Teacher & Expositor. Scripture teaches that biblical faith is object-centered! For the Christian, this is an aspect of faith that must be understood and embraced. Faith is dependent on its object. That’s because faith in and of itself, has no power to accomplish God’s work. The power in faith comes from its object and that object is ALWAYS God and His Word. Paul reminds us, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). To say that you should live by faith begs the question, “Faith in what?” You cannot have faith in faith. Jesus is the only legitimate object of our faith, for two reasons. First, we can trust in Jesus because of the witness of those who have chosen to believe in Him. The writer of Hebrews says, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). He doesn’t say we should imitate what they do or say. If their lives demonstrate what they believe, then we should imitate what they believe, because what we do or say is just a product of what we have chosen to believe. People don’t always live according to what they profess, but they always live according to what they believe. The second and primary reason Jesus is the ultimate object of our faith is that He never changes. The writer of Hebrews continues, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We learn to trust people who are true to their word and trust in things that have proven to be consistent. It takes time to establish trust in something or someone, because the process of building faith requires consistent and continuous behavior demonstrated over time. That is why human relationships are so easily broken or damaged. It may take months or years to establish a great degree of trust in another person, but one act of unfaithfulness can destroy it. If God were to change or if His Word proved to be false, He would no longer be a legitimate object of our faith. But He is the same yesterday and today and forever!! God, the object of our faith, remains the same. Everything about biblical faith stresses that it’s not something in us that makes it work, but rather the character of God that makes it work! This prevents faith from becoming a human work and gives all the glory to God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Be encouraged!