“And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take hear, son; your sins are forgiven'” (Matthew 9:2).

“Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well” (Matthew 9:22).

“The he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you'” (Matthew 9:29).

The first reading is about the four un-named friends who bring a man paralysed to be healed by Jesus. The second reading is about a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhaging for twelve years. The final reading is about two blind men who pleaded with Jesus to heal them. In each of the readings it seems as if the faith of the people involved leads to healing.

One of the confusing things about these passages is that the way we use the word “faith” is quite different than the way the New Testament writers meant by “faith.”

In modern day usage faith has to more to do with our belief and our faith. Faith is something we do.

The New Testament usage is quite different. The Greek word for faith, pistis, has to do with God and what God does. Faith is always from God, and never something that we produce. If faith comes from or is birthed from us, it is not biblical faith. Faith is always God’s work not our’s. Faith is always God’s work because God’s is not only the giver of faith but the guarantor of faith.

If the miracles of Jesus depended on how much faith we have, and if we just have enough faith it must always lead to healing. But that’s not how healing works because that’s not how God works.

There are certainly times when prayers for healing have led to healing. But it doesn’t always work that way. If that were the case very few Christians would ever die of disease or illness, or worse yet, Christian who die of illness are people who just didn’t have enough faith! That’s just bad theology.

Faith is God’s gift. Faith is God’s work. This is good news because in healing and in death, God is still good and God is still sovereign. God is still good and God is still sovereign in both when God heals and even in death because this is not our home, this is not our destiny. We were created for eternity and because faith gives us access to eternal life with Christ death and illness can’t ever take that away from us.

God is the giver and the guarantor of faith because faith is God’s work and God’s gift.

That’s our confidence. That’s our hope. Nothing in the created universe can separate us from the love of God.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Without faith it is impossible to please God…

In order to have faith, there must always be an object of faith. To have faith means to trust and to have confidence in whatever we have faith in.

When we cross a bridge, we have faith, trust, and confidence that the bridge has the capacity to bear our weight and safely get across the chasm.

Faith isn’t just believing in faith. Faith is to have trust, confidence in God. It is God we have faith in. To have faith in God means that we trust and have confidence that God will do what God promises. So the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” 

We are going through a difficult time in history. But you are not alone. God is still faithful. God is still trustworthy. We can have confidence that God is still at work in you and me and in our world to bring about his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

More than ever, Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, lean hard on the promises of God. God is not done with our world. The world needs God more now than ever before. Show the world what people who have faith that God is at work looks like. As we say often at the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, the best is yet to come. Our best days don’t lie behind us. Our best days are yet to be experienced!

Live as though we are people of faith in a great and awesome God! Be encouraged. Strengthen yourself with this truth.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)

This week we will be looking at the seventh characteristic mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 – faithfulness.

The Greek word for faithfulness is pistis. The word means faith rather than faithfulness in almost all the times it appears in the New Testament. I understand why the translators went with faithfulness in Galatians. They are trying to show that these are characteristics that we are supposed to live out.

The Greek word pistis means faith, belief, trust, confidence, faithfulness. Faith is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by human beings.

John Calvin, the father of the Presbyterian Church and one of the fathers of the Reformed Tradition writes: “Faith is a persuasion from God that we receive as he grants. Faith is always the work of God and involves hearing his voice – whereby the believer lays hold of his preferred will.”

pistis in ancient Greek referred to a guarantee or warrantee. Faith is God’s guaranteen and warrantee certifying that what he promised will come to pass.

The characteristic that pistis refers to is God’s faith, God’s faithfulness. When we have faith, it is only because God grants such faith and its revelation to us, and because God is worthy of our trust and faith.

So when Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift from God, not as a result of works, so that no one should boast,” we can’t even take the credit for having faith in God, because even faith is given to us as a gift from God.

That’s exactly what Paul means in Ephesians 2:8-9. It’s all God. It’s all grace. It’s all God’s faithfulness. We have faith because God grants faith to us and because God is faithful.

We are to live a life that demonstrates our faith, trust, and confidence in God, and when we live that life, we are being faithful. Even when God’s ways and God’s truth doesn’t make sense to us, even when it goes against the world’s way, we remain faithful because God is faithful.

Looking forward to spending the rest of the week with you as we explore together the meaning of this rich word “faith”.