Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

There is perhaps no concept in Christianity more misunderstood than faith. For a long time I thought faith was my part of the bargain. God had His promises but I needed to exercise the faith to believe them. I mean, after all, we’ve got to do something, don’t we? Faith seemed to be a reasonable requirement. Until I started looking at Hebrews 11:1 more deeply where faith is “proof of things unseen.” Suddenly I realized that the faith I was thinking about wasn’t proof of anything other than my own efforts at having it. How can faith prove anything if it’s up to me all the time? When faith starts and ends with me, that’s as far as it goes.

What if faith is a gift of God like everything else that comes from Him? What if we come to Him weak, sinful and powerless to believe, and He not only forgives us, saves us, and empowers us through His Holy Spirit, He gives us the ability to believe it all. The faith to believe is part of the gift. That would then be “proof of things not seen,” because we know we have not talked ourselves into this. My ability to believe is proof of my faith. I didn’t create that; it was born in me by the Holy Spirit.

Faith is not just belief, but the ability to believe. Faith is not faith in something; it is the thing itself. It is weighty. It has substance. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Anyone who has been through one of Marti’s discipleship groups understands the meaning of the phrase that comes from the new covenant teaching in 2 Corinthians chapters 2-4, “Everything comes from God; nothing comes from us.” Marti spends a year chasing down the meaning of this truth and seeing it work in all of their everyday lives. The ability to believe in God comes from God.

The prophet Habakkuk said, “he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail.” Isn’t that you and me? Isn’t that everyone? Our souls aren’t upright; they lean to one side or the other. They even fall over. Thank God that the verse goes on to say that “the righteous shall live by [their] faith.” There is no other way.

What a surprise to find this verse about living by faith in the Old Testament that is steeped in the old covenant laws of rewards and punishments. This is certainly the message of the New Testament, but here it is in Old Testament prophecy, proof that it has always been so. Paul says in Romans that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. His righteousness was because of his faith, and he received that faith from God just as we do. It’s always been this way.

Those who experienced the Jesus Movement know all about this. They started out with nothing but faith. We would all be better off like this. It’s possible to know too much in that you rely on what you know and not on the faith that comes through the Holy Spirit when you step out in vulnerability and trepidation like we did then. This is what we bring forward about faith: being in total dependence upon God, and being willing to act on what our faith tells us to do.

What a unifying factor among generations — coming together over the radical rallying cry, “By faith alone!” Through faith, we can find common ground between generations, both trusting, both risking, both believing that God is up to something, both grateful for His pardon and His grace for when it comes to faith, regardless of one’s generation, we all speak the same language.

Introducing our new podcast, Between the Answers 

Beginning September 18 through mid-October, the daily “Between the Answers” Podcast will look back to the pioneers of a historical phenomenon: the Jesus Movement, examine why it transformed into a broader social and political force over time, and ask questions about the Movement’s original message and its transformative power today. Our premise lies in the questions we need to ask between the answers. 

Join Marti & John for their newest podcast, “Radical Faith” by clicking on the logo: