The Illusive Gift of Faith

By Bruce cooper

Romans 10:17 NASB
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

One of the definitions for the word “faith” is possessing a complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

The Bible is packed full of the accounts of ordinary people having faith in God. Read Hebrews 11 for a quick summary. I particularly like Hebrews 11:1 which reads as follows: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“

I can remember, when I was in my early twenties and first exposed to Christianity, via a Christian Young Adults Group that I was invited to attend, that I thought to myself that even if Christianity wasn’t true, it still would not be a bad way to live. Of course, Christianity isn’t just about modifying your outward behaviour. It’s much more than that and the reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God is real and that He actually sent us His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to do for us, what we in ourselves could never do. Namely, to restore us back in communion with God, our heavenly Father, via His own death on the cross for our sins. And then Jesus gave us the hope, that as He was resurrected to life again, so also would we be (John 14:19).

That’s pretty heavy when you really stop to think about it. And of course, there are many arguments that can and are made to why this is not true or why it is true.

But arguments can only take you so far.

I remember that I was still in the questioning mode when I attended a Christian Young Adult Retreat and the speakers at the retreat were a young man and his wife who were missionaries. They had actually been placed in front of a firing squad in an African country and at the last minute their lives had been spared. I came away from that retreat with the firm realization that I myself was still questioning as to whether God existed, but I knew beyond all doubt that this young missionary and his wife had no doubt whatsoever in their minds that God was real. They had gone through the door that I was still standing outside of.

I used the word “elusive” in the title to this post for a reason. And the elusiveness connotation isn’t actually God withholding Himself from us, but rather the indecisiveness, of us, withholding ourselves from God.

Nothing can ever really happen in our quest for truth, until one entertains the idea that God can and does actually exist. It’s a yes or no reality, there is no real gray area. Either the door is opened and you walk through it or it remains closed. And God’s word in the Bible actually confirms this.  Hebrews 6:11 reads as follows: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Jesus told us that with God all things are possible but here in Hebrews we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. Exact opposites. God will only intervene and reveal Himself in your life when you acknowledge or believe that He is. That’s the door that we willingly have to open and then go through. I use the analogy of learning to swim in a swimming pool. You can analyze the water and the pool from every perspective you want but sooner or later, if you want to learn to swim, you do have to jump into the water, because if you don’t, you’ll never learn or experience what it is like to swim.

And of course, opening that door to the possibility of God existing is just that, the door is opened but you do have to go through it. A couple of years ago I had a conversation with a co-worker who said that he had no problem believing in God. He just didn’t want to know anything about God because if he did, it might place demands upon him that he did not want to entertain. I thanked him for being honest.

There are many rational and valid reasons to believe in God. It’s not that there is a shortage of evidence or reasons to believe in God. I strongly suspect that the real reason most people do not want to entertain looking into the existence of God and in particular, Christianity, is that they do not want to have to be put in the position of having to make a decision on what is revealed to them. They see their life being “restricted”, whereas Jesus said He had come to give us life, life in all its fullness (John 10:10). Jesus actually spoke about this further when He said the following as recorded in John 3:16-21 NASB:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” Emphasis is mine.

The supreme proof of the reality of who Jesus was and is, is His resurrection from the dead. Take a good hard look at what transpired and then ask yourself why these followers of Jesus, after seeing Him multiple times over a period of 40 days, after He rose from the dead on the third day, dedicated the rest of their lives to proclaiming that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, had died on the cross for our sins and now lives. The long and the short of it is either Jesus rose from the dead or He didn’t. The Apostles, including Paul knew exactly what this meant. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about this very reality in 1 Corinthians 15:3-19 NASB:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” Again, emphasis is mine.

No one can say that the Apostle Paul did not fully comprehend or appreciate the reality and significance of Jesus rising from the dead. And Paul plus 11 of the other Apostles (the Apostle John died a natural death) all were put to death because of their faith and trust in Christ.

Then take a good hard look at what Jesus actually said and did. That’s called going through the door and seriously taking what Jesus says to heart. No, lip service doesn’t cut it with God, I tried it, it doesn’t work.

Faith in God is elusive not because God withholds the reality of Himself from us, but rather because we withhold ourselves from Him.

And that, my friend, is the truth!

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!

Bruce Cooper became a Christian in his twenties and remembers as a new Christian he had a thousand and one questions. One of the objectives for his blog is to provide answers to many of the questions that he originally had. You’ll note that he has a “Christian Resources” page, and a “Defending Your Faith 101” page. These pages, plus others, are made available to provide the many facets of Christian Apologetics. Bruce, by definition, is just an ordinary Christian layperson and his blog is the result of his conviction, that Christians should know why they believe and what they believe. Studying the many facets of Christian Apologetics helps him build on that conviction.

Bruce served 35 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. Upon retirement from CAF he worked another 18 years in private industry as an Information Technology (IT) Network Administrator, and a Certified Google Apps Deployment Specialist. He retired at the age of 70 and now works part time with the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires.

Bruce, A.K.A. Papa, and his wife Peggy live in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Their five children are grown and have gifted them with 7 wonderful grandchildren.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!

Feature Image by Bruce Cooper Website