What is faith? Is it blind?

Sometimes people talk of blind faith. But is this right? Scripture says that the just shall live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), but living 'not by sight' does not automatically mean living blindly.

When we examine scriptural teaching on faith we learn that it is nothing to do with living blindly or irrationally. Faith is not guessing God's will, faith is not just believing for stuff enough and hoping to get it (only if you have enough faith). So what is faith?

Faith is a relational response to God's word

This means faith is not one sided, faith is a response to God. It also means that the 'word' comes first, then faith. Unless God has told you something it is not faith to do it, but perhaps guess work. This can lead to false and sometimes dangerous assumptions about faith. These include what you 'believe' God is going to do in someone's life, and that you are going to believe it by faith. However:

Unless God has spoken, then it is not faith but wishful thinking.

Peter stepped out of the boat by faith? Yes, but what happened first-Jesus called him to come. Romans 10:17 indicates this by explaining that faith comes from hearing the message. This is then followed by the reality that the message itself comes through or from the word of Christ. Notice the order: word-message-faith. Not the other way round.

Sometimes people talk as if faith comes first, like it is a magic formula to make something become a reality. However, our example in Christ shows that when Jesus spoke about what he did, he spoke about doing what he sees his Father doing, saying what his Father is saying (John 14). His life was a perfect life of faith. He spent his whole time responding to his Father in 100% faith.

Hebrews 11 verse 1 talks of faith being something that is sure and certain, but what of? Unseen things, hoped for things but that does not mean unheardof things. What we have assurance in, are certain of, or have the substance of (depending on translation) is God's word.

Faith is a response to God's word, not an assumption of what you want God's word to be.

Is this Biblical? Well, in addition to the verses already mentioned Jesus commonly refers to people's healing in terms of having faith and even great faith. They are not blind but believe in Jesus who is described as-God's word (see John 1). They also believe that if he says something, then it is true. There were people healed who Jesus did not even come into contact with such as the centurions servant (Matthew 8:5-10. Because of his word, they believed and in the case of centurion, he had great faith because he did not even need Jesus to go with him (even though Jesus offered) but the centurion took Jesus at his word. This is what faith is.

James 2:20-23 highlights this theme where faith is regarding responding to God's word. James describes Abraham's response to God in terms of faith, because Abraham believed God. Therefore there is no such thing as blind faith. Faith, in fact has nothing to do with sight, but has everything to do with believing in God's word.

This logically follows the next argument, which James 2 emphasises, that if you believe you respond. It is a fact of life. If I said to you 'click on this link and receive 100 pounds/dollars' and you actually believed that what I said would actually happen, you would click the link. How do we know Abraham actually believed God? Easy, he did what he said. He showed that his faith was real, by responding to God's word, as did the centurion, as did Peter when he stepped out of the boat.

To finish off, in one of Jesus' parables, the house built on rock, what is Jesus' point? If you follow Jesus' teaching, you are building your life on rock. This implies, that you have to believe who Jesus is, that his words are true, and that you (albeit imperfectly) follow them. This is faith.

We are most empowered as Christians when we listen to and respond to God's word. Faith is a relational response to God, not blind, imagined or wishful thinking (let's not make that mistake). If God says 'come out on the water' then step out of the boat, but if God says, 'stay in the boat', then stay in the boat. Jumping into the water when God has told you to stay in the boat, is not faith but actually sin. Jumping out of the boat when God hasn't said anything, is presumption. Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 14:23 offer a clear warning and encouragement in regards to this.

The warning lies in thinking that we can miss out on God and actually be sinning even when we do good things, 'Christian' things. Doing the things, without responding in faith does not please God. It is doing them outside of relationship. And yet, knowing this removes the pressure to have to perform for people, pretending faith where there is non through doing lots of Christian things of behaving in a Christian way.

This leads the way to true empowerment. We can live honestly as we are and grow in God through faith by pursuing him and his word and responding to that above everything else. It makes things simpler: listen, believe, respond. It also means the excuses need to go, they don't please God even if they please people. We can let go of performance Christianity and take of hold a deeper, truer and more meaningful relationship with our Father in heaven, who loves us so much.