Now that we have provided a summary definition of faith, let’s examine the examples and teachings regarding faith in Scripture. We start with the faith of Abraham. In Genesis 15:1-6 we see Abram’s faith (he was not yet given the name Abraham) and God’s response to it. God promises him an heir by way of himself and his wife Sarai. He also promises him the land of the Canaanites and Perizzites. In verse 6 we read, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (CSB) Note that faith has at its core the sense of trusting in God to deliver on his promises. Most importantly, faith is what pleases God (Heb. 11:6) and therefore it is God who credits or counts it as righteousness for Abram. Righteousness is directly linked to and a result of faith in God. This is how a person becomes righteous – through faith. Granted, it is God who provides the grounds for one to be declared righteous (i.e., the future death and resurrection of Jesus), but it needs to be stated that being declared righteous comes to those who believe. Although I touched upon it above, I will give a full explanation later as to why faith cannot be considered a ‘work’ or ‘meritorious’ as Calvinist’s claim must be the case if one holds to a non-deterministic understanding of faith, but I simply want to emphasize here that righteousness comes through faith. Note also that it is Abram’s faith that God recognizes. The passage nowhere indicates that God is the cause of Abram’s faith or that his faith is somehow predetermined by God and Abram must inevitably believe. This is confirmed in the subsequent account of the testing of Abraham’s faith by the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. The clear implication there is that the faith being tested is Abraham’s faith. A test of Abraham’s faith would make no sense if God predetermined and therefore caused Abraham to believe. There are many other theological truths in the Gen. 22 passage, but we must note that as Abraham obeyed God as an indication of his faith, it was God who provided the necessary sacrifice. Verse 14 reads, “So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”” (CSB) “The Lord will provide” (Yahweh-yireh) is one of God’s many names.
The Old Testament is filled with the actions of many who had faith in God. Hebrews 11 summarizes many of them. It says in verse 2 about their faith that, “For by this our ancestors were approved.” And again, in verse 39, “All these were approved through their faith…” I recommend this “Hall of Faith” chapter to your reading and study.
Also, in Romans chapter 4 Paul uses Abraham as the example to explain why justification and righteousness depend on faith and not “the law” and “circumcision.” Paul explains the nature of faith in action in Romans 4:13-25. I believe the summary statement is in verse 21 where Paul writes that Abraham “was fully convinced that what God promised, he was able to do.” In verse 22 this conviction and trust in God is described as “not wavering in unbelief” and the result being that Abraham was “strengthened in his faith” and that his unwavering faith “gave glory to God.” The passage reads as follows,
“For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (CSB)
For our purposes, note that it was Abraham who did the believing. It was Abraham’s faith. Also note that this righteousness by faith is an abiding principle. In the New Testament, those who believed were also credited righteousness. And it is the same for us today.
Let’s now move on to the work, words, and teachings of Jesus on faith.
The Truth of the Gospel 