Faith: Fruit of the Spirit Part 8
“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
Faith is another word with a broad definition. It could mean saving faith, or faithfulness to God, or to Christianity as system of beliefs.
The Greek word itself, pistis, means persuasion or moral conviction, often used specifically in regard to our reliance upon God for salvation. This is a case where the Greek word itself does not shed much light on the definition of what faith actually is, but thankfully, God has given us His own definition of faith:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 12:1)
We often don’t see God working in difficult situations, but faith chooses to cling to the truths of Scripture and resist Satan’s attempts to get us to rely on what we see.
For the Christian, the visible realities of life are just the surface: the invisible things, the Holy Spirit’s unseen working in hearts, spiritual warfare, God’s often miraculous intervention in our lives, the certainty of Christ’s return and our eternal home in heaven, these are the true reality.
2 Corinthians illustrates this:
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (4:17-18)
As children of the Eternal God, we live our lives with our gaze fixed steadily on the things that are eternal. We cannot completely ignore temporal things (we need to eat, work, and perform all the mundane necessities of life) but they are not our focus. Our eyes are on the eternal.
Faith and Salvation
Of course, we know that faith is the starting point for a relationship with God. Lost in our sins, separated from God, headed for an eternity in hell, we could not even begin to pay the penalty for our own sins.
That is why Jesus, God Himself, came and died on the cross, rising again the third day in victory over death and hell. But unless we turn to God in repentance and faith, nothing changes.
Romans 3:23-26 tells us,
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God”
Christ was the propitiation, or sacrifice in our place, that purchased our salvation. But that salvation requires “faith in His blood.”
Saving faith is the belief that Jesus paid the full penalty for your sins through His death and resurrection.
Faith and Sanctification
Colossians 1:21-23 says,
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister”
The goal of salvation is not just to save us from the eternal penalty of sin, but also to enable us to become more and more like Christ as we live our temporal lives here on earth. Faith looks forward to the day when we shall stand before the Lord clothed in the righteousness of Christ, then seeks to live each day until then in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Galatians 5:5 puts it this way:
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”
Faith gives us hope when it seems like our sin nature is just too strong for us. We can look to Christ and remember that He has already won our victory. It is simply a matter of yielding to Him and choosing to obey. As we do, God does His sanctifying work in our hearts, transforming us from the inside out.
This matter of sanctification begins with faith. The first chapter of 2 Peter reminds us that God has given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”(v.3)
There is so much more to these first four verses than can be easily summarized, but notice what comes after this assurance that God has given us all we need for life and godliness:
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” (vv.5-7)
The act of placing our faith in Christ for salvation was never meant to be the end of our journey: it is instead the beginning. It is the foundation upon which the Holy Spirit works to build us up in the righteousness of God.
Strengthening our Faith
Godly character is built upon the foundation of faith, but we often feel like Jesus’ words to the disciples in Mark 4:40 could just as easily apply to us:
“Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”
Our salvation is not based upon the strength of our faith, but upon the sacrifice of the Savior on our behalf. Yet the Bible does say that our faitcan (and should) be strengthened. This is often done through trials. While the first chapter of 2 Peter tells us about faith being the foundation of growth in godliness, the first chapter of 1 Peter tells us about the trying, or testing, of our faith:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” (vv.3-9)
This is a long passage, and if you’re like me, you probably skimmed past it without really thinking about what you were reading. If you need to, read through it again.
See how the passage begins and ends with the foundation of salvation by faith? This emphasizes the fact that salvation is the foundation, just as 2 Peter 1:5 shows us. Salvation here is described as having been accomplished by God through faith. Then the subject of trials is addressed. There are several crucial truths about trials in these verses:
Trials don’t have to kill our joy
According to this passage of Scripture, we can rejoice in our future eternity with Christ in heaven even though we are “in heaviness” due to trials. As we have seen in our study of the previous characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, the joy of the Holy Spirit is not dependent upon our circumstances. Christians in the worst circumstances often have the greatest sense of joy and peace.
Trials are necessary
We don’t like trials. In fact, we would probably go to great lengths to avoid any sort of trial or testing in our lives if we could, but that isn’t how the Christian life works. God is constantly working to grow our faith, to strengthen and establish us through trials.
Instead of being discouraged when trials come, we can be encouraged by the fact that God will be with us in our trials, working all together for our good. The book of James also teaches this when it says,
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work; that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (1:2-4)
Not only are trials valuable to our growth in Christlikeness, they are also valuable to our relationship with God. The suffering God allows is intended to draw us close to Him in a way we never would have done otherwise.
All this is comforting, but it doesn’t erase the pain or sorrow that come with trials. When we are in the emotional, physical, or spiritual heaviness of trials, we can cry out in faith to God as the Psalmist did in the following verse:
“I know, O Lord, that Thy judgements are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.” (Psalm 119:71)
It is the faithfulness of God that allows trials in our lives for the purpose of strengthening our faith and knitting our hearts to His own. Trials are precious opportunities to draw near to God and delight in His faithfulness, however bleak our present circumstances may seem.
Trials are an opportunity to glorify God
Trials are allowed by God in order that our faith would “be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” When we are going through trials, our first instinct is to think about ourselves, but while the strengthening of our faith is for our good, it is ultimately for the purpose of bringing glory, praise, and honor to God.
After all, Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith: the saving and sanctifying work is all God’s, so should the glory be! (Hebrews 12:2)
Faith and the Fruit of the Spirit
By this point in our study of the characteristics that make up the fruit of the Spirit, you may have noticed that none stand alone, and faith is no exception. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 tells us,
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”
Faith without charity is just as impossible as charity without faith. Later on in the description of what Charity looks like in action, we are told that charity “believeth all things”(v.7) The two are intertwined, as are all the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.
As we obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit more and more, we will find ourselves exhibiting more and more of all of these characteristics in our lives. It’s not just a matter of picking one to work on, for they all are all part of each other, and all come from the same source: the Holy Spirit.
A Final Thought
There is so much more that could be said about faith, so many examples in Scripture of people highlighted by God for their faith, and of God Himself exhibiting His perfect faithfulness again and again, but I think a fitting conclusion for this summary study is a reminder from Hebrews 11:
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (v.6)
If you are struggling to believe God in a particular area, remember that we cannot please God without faith. When we wrestle with the truth that God is good in sending us trials, or when we doubt whether any good thing can come from our present circumstances, we can look to God in faith and choose to believe even if we don’t feel like it.
Belief, just like the rest of the fruit of the Spirit requires an act of the will. We cannot have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, or temperance if we are not willing to obey God.
We must choose to believe, and as we act upon that choice, refusing to let ourselves think as if God’s Word were not true, God Himself will give us the power to believe fully, with heart, soul, and mind. Whatever our emotions might argue, the choice to believe is ours, and the rest is up to God.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)