Growing in Faith: Faith is the Beginning

Jeremy Northrop

      The writer of the book of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Thus, faith is appropriately defined as belief that is based on the evidence that exists. Various arguments have been made to show the evidences that God does exist. One of them is the ‘design demands a designer’ argument. We know that there is a God because of the design to the universe. It could not have just happened. The writer of Hebrews later went on to say, “But 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 diligently seek Him.” One reason (perhaps the main reason) people practice religion today is the hope of eternal life. Many people want to go to Heaven and therefore try to serve God to that end. They want salvation. Faith is, of course, the beginning of salvation for mankind. Before anyone can do any of the things God says to do, he or she must first believe that God is and that the things He has written in His word are true.

      When Paul was writing the book of Romans, among other things, he said, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). A person’s faith in God comes about or begins by hearing the evidence which shows there is a God. In fact, Paul went to great lengths in the book of Romans to present some of the evidence which proves God’s existence (Romans 1-2). Today, the evidence is still there and rings loud and clear the truth that God exists. Many people try to teach others that the world came into existence by some ‘theory’ such as evolution or some even try to say that God was not the Creator but somebody else was. Try as they may to show there is no God, it cannot be done. One day all will stand before His judgment seat and give an account of what they have done in this life (2Corinthians 5:10).

      Another passage worthy of consideration in the realm of faith is James 2:20. James says, “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” Later in the same chapter, James makes a good comparison to prove the point. He says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith is not simply believing that God is but living different because He is. There are too many people that will acknowledge the existence of God but then not allow that knowledge to make a difference in their lives. This attitude toward religion will not save anyone. Sadly, there are many people in the church who are good people. They come to church regularly. They listen intently to the lessons and involve themselves in worship. They have a real appearance of being faithful. However, they do not do much more than simply attend. This is a lack of faith. They have a certain measure of faith but faith must grow.

      This is the next point: biblical faith grows. The writer of Hebrews spoke of this in a negative way when he said, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:12-13). The main point was that they were not growing like they should. Too many people reach a certain level of faith and stop. This is not the way faith should be.

      Finally, Christians need to grow to a point where they can defend the faith they have. Paul said, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). Peter said, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1Peter 3:15). Christians need to be able to tell others why they believe what they believe. Faith is only the beginning of salvation but a Christian’s faith should be able to grow to a point where they can defend it.