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FAITH. It can be a rather hazy, nebulous topic. One reason is that "faith" is intangible. Another reason is that people have "faith" in all sorts of things. For example, some actually believe the Cleveland Browns will win the Super Bowl next year. (I can jest because I grew up in Ohio.) For Bible-believing Christians, faith takes on far more consequential importance. Yes, many people have "vain faith" in Jesus Christ (e.g. Judas). However, for those of us with bona fide, Biblical, saving faith, our faith finds its foundation, not on spurious speculation, but on the bedrock reality that the Bible is true. God tells us through Paul, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, we're told, "Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.'" (Matt. 4:3). How did Jesus respond? He answered, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"(Matt. 4:4). In both of these passages, the Greek word for "word" means "that which is spoken, a declaration, a promise." Biblical, saving faith is founded upon declarations from God's mouth. Jesus also said that God's Word is "truth" (John 17:17). God tells us in the book of Hebrews that "it is impossible for God to lie" (6:18). That's why we can rightly refer to "FAITH" by the mnemonic, "Forsaking All I Trust Him." God is absolutely trustworthy and His Word is absolute truth. That's why the apostles, being filled by Holy Spirit, could "speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). And when Sarah, being about 90 years old, was told by God that she would have a son (Isaac), even though she was far past the age of childbearing, she believed God because "she considered him faithful who had promised" (Heb. 11:11). God said it. She believed it. And Isaac was born. That's faith!
