Saturday 18 December 2010

Faith - strong but wrong, or slight but right?

I used to work with a lady who told me about how strong her faith was, and so it was!  I could never manage to believe what she believed!  Hers was the faith that is justly condemned by atheists (and by the Bible) - faith without evidence (a faith that atheists exercise often!)

What my former colleague and many other people need to realise is that the strength of your faith is not what matters.  What matters is the strength of the one you put your faith in.

You could have all the faith in the world that I could perform life-saving surgery on you, but the strength, sincerity or size of your faith won't make me any more able to do the job - your faith would be misplaced.  And conversely, you could have a little faith and a lot of doubts that the surgeon who is going to perform the operation will be successful, but your lack of faith doesn't make him any less able to do the job. The level of your faith doesn't make any difference to him, all that counts is that you are prepared to entrust your case to him.

There is a soul-saving operation that we desperately need done.  We need our souls cleansed from the defilement sin has left upon us.  The question is, who or what are you putting your faith in to do that?  There's only one person who is able to do the job.  The Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ that He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7 v 25). 

No matter how much faith you have in anyone or anything else it won't make that person or thing able to save you.  But it may be that you see that only the Gospel offers what you need - a Saviour, a Substitute, a present and full forgiveness, and an immediate and permanent right standing before God, and, while you may have many questions and major doubts, if you are prepared to come to Christ in recognition of your guilt and helplessness, and trust Him to save and change you, your doubts won't hinder His soul-saving, life-changing power.

You could have faith that is strong but wrong, or you could have faith that is slight but right.  What matters is the object of your faith.  The Gospel presents the Son of God to you - the one who died for sinners and rose again.  He is dependable, depend on Him; He is trustworthy, trust Him; He is reliable, rely on Him; He is faithful, put your faith in Him.  He's your only hope.