Scripture tells us “without faith it is impossible to please the Lord.” (a) [See endnotes for NASB Scriptures] Since we all want to be pleasing in the sight of the Eternal One, we must ask, what is faith? Is faith a religious belief system we adhere to; like Christianity, Judaism or Islam? Is faith a gift we receive from God and stir up to become active? Or, is faith a way of life that we follow and partake of?
According to Scripture, these questions identify aspects of faith while neither is complete in itself. Faith can be a mental response to a religious system and it can be received from God, which we can activate. Faith can also simply be a positive response to God’s guidance. So, what is the way of faith?
Faith = Assurance
We begin our search by recognizing these words of Scripture: “Faith comes from hearing…the word of Christ.” (b) The “word of Christ” refers to the insights we sense God is sharing and it can be an insightful thought from Scripture. Faith is activated when we agree with and respond to what we sense God is saying in these various moments. And, God is pleased when we respond to His guidance.
It may surprise you to hear that the word ‘faith’ does not appear in the KJV of the Old Testament. The word faith appears four times in the NASB and in each case it comes from Greek words that speak of firmness. Faith appears in the New Testament 240 times. It comes from the Greek word pistis, which means “steadfast, assurance.” So, in Scripture “faith” speaks of a “firm steadfast assurance.”
Faith is a firm conviction of realities that may not yet be visible. (c) We can believe in or for many things, but faith is based on what God ‘is’ saying, directing, and desiring to accomplish in our lives. Belief is not faith if God is not currently conveying it to you as a present truth for you to walk in. (d)
The first generation of Israelites delivered out of slavery failed to enter the full salvation God offered for one reason: “The word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” (e) As a people, they chose not to hear and be responsive to God’s Voice. (f) God’s spoken words were not allowed to take root in them and be activated as faith; it just became a Law to obey.
Faith is more than believing a Law or ascribing to a belief system: “For when the Gentiles (Greek goi – nations) who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law…they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” (g) “The Gentiles (nations) who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith.” (h)
This testifies that people and nations that had not heard about Jesus were actually living in the way of faith! They were responding to God’s presence among them and doing the good and right thing. (i)
Faith is a firm conviction of realities that may not yet be visible.
Faith through Generations
Every person has a deposit of God’s Spirit in them. It is called the spirit of life. As clearly explained in the book, Created To Relate, we all have five spiritual senses. We can ‘feel’ God’s anointing presence, ‘taste’ His presence as sweet honey, and even ‘smell’ the aroma of His presence. (j) Our inner self can sense what God is saying and desiring to accomplish in us, so we can walk in the way of faith. (k)
Abraham illustrated faith by hearing God 
speak and allowing it to be an inner steadfast assurance. The New Testament states: “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness…that he might be the father of all who believe…For the promise…was…through the righteousness of faith.” (l) As a representative father of faith, Abraham’s steadfast walk in the way of faith helped him through his difficult times.
When Abraham entered Canaan, God told him it would be 400 plus years before he would inherit the land. (m) When Abraham’s family of three generations (sons and grandsons) with their helpers moved into Egypt, there were 70 people. (n) The Exodus out of Egypt happened just three generations later. (o)
When the invitation came to live as free people in Canaan, a mixed multitude of servants responded. As they applied blood to their doorpost, they became part of the gathering people of faith. During the Exodus there were 600,000 men of war age. (p) If each man had a spouse and just two children, there were at least 2.5 million people responding to God’s call to live free and walk in the way of faith.
Several generations later, God renewed His call to faith as Jesus became the clarifying “author (leader) and perfecter (completer) of faith.” (q) Jesus illustrated how we are to respond to God’s guidance. (r) He heard what his Father desired to accomplish and walked in it. (s) As religious leaders rejected the words and example of Jesus, they were told their oversight of the way of faith was in its last days. (t)
Jesus illustrated how we are to respond to God’s guidance.
Walking By Faith
Following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the renewed call to faith in God’s guidance was illustrated by immersions in the presence of His Spirit. This was proclaimed by the Old and New Testaments as “upon all mankind.” (u) On that day in Jerusalem over 3000 people were immersed in The Spirit of God. (v) The way of faith became personal realizations to all who were open to receive.
During that first generation, responders were referred to as following “The Way.” (w) This was said to “upset the world” with a clearer perception of God and His way among us. (x) Nearly 300 years after the re-launch into faith, men began to codify beliefs into a system and declare it was the only way.
In the 1500’s, a Reformation began to restore the reality that salvation is a matter of living and walking by faith in God’s guidance. The newly invented printing press began to print Bibles in the language of the people. Response to God’s guidance was stirred and the singular system of faith began dismantling.
In the early 1700’s the Great Awakening Revivals revealed we can feel God’s forgiving presence and know He is with us. This fresh spiritual awakening became known as a “rebirth from above,” (y) and is now called the “born again” experience. Then in the 1900’s baptisms (immersions) in God’s Spirit amplified His desire for us to have an active fellowship with His abiding presence.
While faith involves believing, the way of faith is experienced as thoughts are quickened (come alive). As we walk in God’s ways, we become more stable and yet remain flexible enough to sense further guidance. Our walk in faith allows us to make better choices and do what is good, right, and righteous.
Ideally, we come to know God as more than our Lord, King, and Judge. We can know God as our loving Eternal Father, whose love for us is everlasting. God wants to share insights with us so He can “lead and guide” us through this trying life into more mature images and likenesses of His heart.
You can rest assured today that the way of faith is a day by day walk in fellowship with God as our loving Eternal Father. May you sense God today and become steadfast as you live in the way of faith!
Our walk in faith allows us to make better choices and do what is good, right, and righteous.
a) Hebrews 11:6; b) Romans 10:17; c) Hebrews 11:1; d) James 1:22-25; 4:3; e) Hebrews 4:1-3; f) Deuteronomy 5:24-25; g) Romans 2:14-15; h) Romans 9:30; i) Romans 7:12; 12:9; Philippians 12:8; j) Acts 2:43; Psalms 34:8; 119:103; 2 Corinthians 2:14; k) Deuteronomy 5:24; 2 Corinthians 3:18; l) Romans 4:9-13, 16; m) Exodus 6:14-20; n) Exodus 1:5: o) Genesis 15:13; Acts 7:6; p) Exodus 12:37-38; q) Hebrews 12:2; r) John 13:15; 16:23-27; s) John 5:19; 8:38; t) Matthew 21:43; Daniel 12:7-9; u) Acts 2:16-17; v) Acts 2:37- 41; w) Acts 9:2, 27; 16:17; 18:25-26; 19:23; 22:4; x) Acts 17:6; y) John 3:16
Keith Carroll, “The Relationship Guy”
Relational Gospel Founder
When We Arise And Shine author