Christians: Give up on 'Faith" ... and take up TRUST instead
Did you know that according to the King James version of the Bible the word "faith" is only used two times in the Old Testament?
The NIV uses it more often and in the first several times it is in the negative sense of "break faith". (where KJV uses "dealt decietfully" or "trespassed against")
My proposal here, in urging believers to give up on "faith", is in light of modern usage of the term and with the intent that we will come ourselves to understand what the real need is, and also to clarify in the minds of others what faith is NOT.
I have come to hate the term "blind faith" especially when Christians use it to justify their beliefs, and found today that I was in fact agreeing with the agnostic T.H. Huxley. He said [for the improver of natural knowledge]... skepticism is the highest of duties, blind faith the one unpardonable sin." (I don't agree that that is the Biblical explanation of what the unpardonable sin is, but I agree that blind faith should not be embraced by any believer. If it is "blind" it is not "faith".
The other thing that faith is NOT, is "believing what you know isn't true.".
And it is not some kind of pumped up positive thinking that amounts to "faith in your faith" and what you can talk yourself into.
And to make a Biblical connection I will lift two well known phrases out of context, (perhaps) to underscore what I believe we must see "faith" to be, or why I think we should "give up on faith" and find a substitute.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God". Hebrews 11:6
"For whatsoever is not of faith is sin" Rom. 14:23
The word used in Rom. 14:23 is the same word as used in Rom. 1:17 which is the quotation of the one passage (Habakuk 2:4) where the word "faith" is used in the OT. "The just shall live by faith."
For the sake of argument I am going to make a sweeping statement and challenge my readers to come up with a counter argument that would show me "wrong".
I propose that wherever we presently use the word, "faith" in our conversation, or belief, or believe, that we substitute the word "trust" instead. If we don't see faith in this context then we won't see why "the just shall live by trust" or "whatever is not of trust is sin". And trust has to mean, or in these cases relate to a relationship. And that kind of trust and relationship is in a person, and when it comes to the believer it is always in the relationship to God.
BUT, whether we are trusting in the construction of a chair to hold us up, or our God to even exist or act, it must always be based on evidence (and our interpretation of it), so there is never such a thing as "blind faith".
Having said this, I will go one step further and say that "trust" means, NOT doing something on our own, but always doing it "God's way". I will suggest that Eve sinned, not when she "picked the fruit or took the bite, BUT when she "broke faith" or "trespassed against God" by trusting the serpent, whom she didn't "know" and stopped trusting God, with whom she had been walking and experiencing all of his provisions up until this time. THAT was the sin, and the eating of the fruit was the consequences of the breaking of the trust.
But more of this later, when y0u have had a chance to meditate on this perpective.
Every time I do anything "on my own" or trusting in my judgement or independently of relying on my Father, I am sinning. If I am not trusting God, I am trusting some deceiver, and that is the sin. If I am not "trusting" I am not acting in "faith". If I am not trusting, I do not believe.
The consequences of the shift in understanding how simple faith really is when we see it as a personal interaction with one in whom we trust, will transform how we see trials and temptations.
Check out every useage of the word "trust" in the OT. Check out the usage of the word "faith" or the faith, or believe in the NT. The book of Hebrews, chapter 11 (Faith chapter) is simply the cataloguing of how each of these heroes "trusted" God. Trust or Absolute trust results in absolute confidence which leads to absolute obedience. Lack of trust leads to disobedience, which is sin.
The NIV uses it more often and in the first several times it is in the negative sense of "break faith". (where KJV uses "dealt decietfully" or "trespassed against")
My proposal here, in urging believers to give up on "faith", is in light of modern usage of the term and with the intent that we will come ourselves to understand what the real need is, and also to clarify in the minds of others what faith is NOT.
I have come to hate the term "blind faith" especially when Christians use it to justify their beliefs, and found today that I was in fact agreeing with the agnostic T.H. Huxley. He said [for the improver of natural knowledge]... skepticism is the highest of duties, blind faith the one unpardonable sin." (I don't agree that that is the Biblical explanation of what the unpardonable sin is, but I agree that blind faith should not be embraced by any believer. If it is "blind" it is not "faith".
The other thing that faith is NOT, is "believing what you know isn't true.".
And it is not some kind of pumped up positive thinking that amounts to "faith in your faith" and what you can talk yourself into.
And to make a Biblical connection I will lift two well known phrases out of context, (perhaps) to underscore what I believe we must see "faith" to be, or why I think we should "give up on faith" and find a substitute.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God". Hebrews 11:6
"For whatsoever is not of faith is sin" Rom. 14:23
The word used in Rom. 14:23 is the same word as used in Rom. 1:17 which is the quotation of the one passage (Habakuk 2:4) where the word "faith" is used in the OT. "The just shall live by faith."
For the sake of argument I am going to make a sweeping statement and challenge my readers to come up with a counter argument that would show me "wrong".
I propose that wherever we presently use the word, "faith" in our conversation, or belief, or believe, that we substitute the word "trust" instead. If we don't see faith in this context then we won't see why "the just shall live by trust" or "whatever is not of trust is sin". And trust has to mean, or in these cases relate to a relationship. And that kind of trust and relationship is in a person, and when it comes to the believer it is always in the relationship to God.
BUT, whether we are trusting in the construction of a chair to hold us up, or our God to even exist or act, it must always be based on evidence (and our interpretation of it), so there is never such a thing as "blind faith".
Having said this, I will go one step further and say that "trust" means, NOT doing something on our own, but always doing it "God's way". I will suggest that Eve sinned, not when she "picked the fruit or took the bite, BUT when she "broke faith" or "trespassed against God" by trusting the serpent, whom she didn't "know" and stopped trusting God, with whom she had been walking and experiencing all of his provisions up until this time. THAT was the sin, and the eating of the fruit was the consequences of the breaking of the trust.
But more of this later, when y0u have had a chance to meditate on this perpective.
Every time I do anything "on my own" or trusting in my judgement or independently of relying on my Father, I am sinning. If I am not trusting God, I am trusting some deceiver, and that is the sin. If I am not "trusting" I am not acting in "faith". If I am not trusting, I do not believe.
The consequences of the shift in understanding how simple faith really is when we see it as a personal interaction with one in whom we trust, will transform how we see trials and temptations.
Check out every useage of the word "trust" in the OT. Check out the usage of the word "faith" or the faith, or believe in the NT. The book of Hebrews, chapter 11 (Faith chapter) is simply the cataloguing of how each of these heroes "trusted" God. Trust or Absolute trust results in absolute confidence which leads to absolute obedience. Lack of trust leads to disobedience, which is sin.
posted by Mister A Muses | 1:49 PM
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