The word “faith” today is used quite loosely. We hear expressions like, “I am a person of faith.” Or another, “My faith is what gets me through.” We also hear the word faith used in conjunction with family values.
A person can have faith in many things. When one boards an airplane, he is placing faith in the people who built the plane, as well as those who maintain and fly it. When we sit in a chair, we have faith in that chair. If you turn the chair over, you may look for a tag to determine where it was made. By the way, have you ever wondered why these tags say, “Do not remove under penalty of law”? I suspect that you don’t know anyone in the city where that chair was made, much less the ones who actually built it. But for some strange reason, we place our faith in that chair as we sit in it.
We put faith in our local grocery store where we buy food from thousands of vendors. And then there is the food you eat in a restaurant. Do you know where the food came from or the people who prepared it? But we have faith when we eat the delicious food.
Closely related to the word faith is believe. Sometimes we hear people say, “I believe.” Believe in what? When someone says that, I think of the scene from “Miracle on 34th Street” where Susie keeps repeating over and over, “I believe, I believe.” Of course she is referring to Santa Claus.
So are these the things that a person is referring to when he says that he has faith or belief? I suspect not. Usually the word faith has a religious connotation. Do the pagans that pray to idols of wood or stone have faith? Of course they have faith in those idols. Those in Old Testament days had faith in Baal or other false gods. So is this type of religious faith what people are referring to when they say they have faith?
Faith is not what matters, but the object of one’s faith is what matters. Faith saves no one. Faith gets no one into heaven. It is the object of his faith.
Some may argue that they are sincere in their faith. I have no doubt that they are sincere. But again it’s the object of one’s faith, not the level of sincerity that matters.
In the movie “The Apostle Paul,” there is a gripping scene in which a couple’s daughter is dying. They are fervently praying and pleading before an idol of their religion to heal their daughter. Did they have faith in this idol? No doubt. Were their prayers fervent and sincere? Absolutely. Could this idol heal their daughter? Of course not. Their faith was strong but the object of their faith was unworthy of faith. Later, Paul came and prayed to the only true God, who chose to heal the girl.
Again I say, faith in and of itself is of little benefit. I suppose most everyone has faith in something or someone. In what or whom are you placing your faith for salvation and securing your place in Heaven for eternity? When it comes to this faith, it better be right.
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:22