What is Faith?

Faith is not a vague sincerity, a “proper spirit,” or a good attitude divorced from truth, but the means by which God applies to us the saving work of Jesus Christ; faith in itself has no value unless it rests on true knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself, just as confidence in nonexistent money cannot make a check good. Scripture teaches that faith presupposes knowledge, is “the substance of things hoped for,” and is not something we do but something we receive: the gift of God whereby we apprehend Christ Himself. To have faith in Christ is to have Christ not in His fullness, but truly and really so that the realities we hope for in eternity begin to shape our lives now. Thus faith does not save us because it is strong or sincere, but because it is the God-given instrument by which we receive and rest upon Christ and His righteousness alone for salvation.