I know that I have spent a lot of time on infant baptism in my recent posts, but I thought that maybe I should spend some time away from it for a while. This will give me a rest and let the arguments on both sides settle for a while. (I need a break, folks!)
I often find myself wondering if Christians really have an accurate grasp on what true faith is. Oftentimes, the word “faith” is just thrown around as another word for “wishing.” That is, we tend to use it to mean, “to hope really, really hard.” Yet, is this the biblical definition of faith?
One Christian thinker (I’m refering to Greg Koukl) says that we should do away with the word ”faith.” Why? Because, he says, it has been polluted. Koukl claims that we should use the word “trust” instead.
Why am I making such a big deal about this? Well, it seems as though some Christians have gone off the ”deep end,” if you will. What I mean is that Christians seems to think that if they just “have faith” (i.e., “wish for something really hard”), then they will receive what they want. “Just believe that you will receive a hundred-fold return on your tithes, and you will get it!” they say. They justify this system of belief because, after all, Jesus wants us to have faith.
I maintain, however, that true, biblical faith is not merely ”wishing” for something. Having faith is not to be confused with some magic spell that we can cast when things get rough. On the contrary, faith–true faith– is a complete trust, and confidence in, an object.
See, faith is only as good as the object it trusts in. For instance, if I believe in Allah to save my soul from hell, well no mattter how good that faith is, it won’t do me any good. Why? Because, as we Christians know, Allah has no power to save! Even if my faith in Allah was unwavering, he still could not save. Now, if I had faith in Jesus Christ alone to save me from hell, then the result would be the salvation of my soul. Why? Because Jesus (the object) is able to save. So we see the real “power” does not lie in my mere wishing, but rather in the object.
Faith, by definition, is a complete trust in something outside of ourselves. It is a trust in an objective thing or person. It is not, contrary to the Word-Faith crowd, faith in faith. It is faith in an object.
Faith is merely a tool to receive something, not create something. Faith has no power whatsoever to create something from non-existence. Faith, by its very definition, is humble. It displays an emptiness, a dependancy on Christ. So why should Christians claim they have the “power” to create “success” out of nothing? Why do the Word-Faith people claim they can create something from nothing all by their faith? Is this true, biblical faith? I’m afraid not.
As I said before, faith has no power outside of its object (Christ). If this wasn’t true, then we would have some reason to boast. That is, we would be able to claim some sort of glory in that we could do “cool stuff” by merely wishing. But we know that Christ is the only one who has the authority to receive glory and honor. So why do the Word-Faith people always (I’m sure, unbeknownst to them) usurp Christ’s glory, trying to receive glory, too?
As Christians, we are responsible to sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. We should not sit by and let our Christian brothers and sisters be deceived by such a dreadful theology, namely, the Word-Faith movement. That is why I do what I do.
soli Deo Gloria, everyone!
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