Moment in the Word

Romans 4:3 - "What does Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'"

But how do we know that Abraham believed God, and what exactly is faith?

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, OBEYED AND WENT, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).

Faith is not some enigmatic ethereal ectoplasm that oozes from the pores of hyper-religious mystics, but simply the act of obeying God when we do not understand.

When faced with a crisis in my youth, I once went around proclaiming, "I believe, I believe, I believe," as if I were trying to "pump up" faith like priming an old well. But my behavior was simply vain self-assurance, not faith! In my ignorance, I was only trying to convince myself that I had faith without abandoning my comfort zone to follow Christ on life's stormy sea. (Matthew 14:28-29).

We cannot create or build faith by ourselves since the Scripture says, "...God hath given to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12:3) Consequently, faith comes directly from God and is merely activated by our obedience to Him.

This is why James said, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead." (James 2:26) 

Besides ripping seven books out of the Old Testament, Luther also wanted to remove James from the New Testament because of the reference to WORK instead of FAITH ALONE (Sola Fide). However, faith can never exist alone. Faith is nothing more than obediently following God in our actions (WORKS) without knowing the reason why. One is inseparably bound to the other! One is the other!

Reexamining Abraham, we see that he ignored the uncertainty of his lack of understanding to obey God regardless. Thus, faith is simply obedient action.

Likewise, all the great champions of faith - Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob,  Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, etc., were DOERS rather than just believers (Hebrews 11). They did not wrestle with faith based on a preconceived notion of the outcome. Instead, they quickly obeyed God without depending on human understanding, "Be DOERS OF THE WORD, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22)

Here is the trap for faithless individuals! Before they agree to obey God, they first place demands on Him, "The Jews asked for miracles, and the Greeks wanted something that sounded wise." (1 Corinthians 1:22)

But it is ridiculous to demand an explanation, based on carnal insight, before we exercise our faith when TAKING ACTION TO OBEY GOD. According to St. Paul, "Faith that is seen is not faith at all. Who believes for what they already have (or have already seen)?" (Romans 8:24)

By refusing to obey God's Word until He first provides an elaborate justification or explanation, spiritual rebels destroy faith's influence and power, leaving nothing in their wake but chronic unanswered questions due to obstinate disobedience. The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all their ways (James 1:6-8).

In conclusion, faith is merely obedient action based on God's Word that transcends human understanding.