What does Faith Look Like?
Faith is something that’s talked about a lot in the Bible. So why is faith important? To answer that, let’s look at a really quick summary of the overarching message of the gospel:
Basically, God is holy, good and perfect. Humans, by nature, choose to do evil things that are not good and are imperfect and we deserve to be separated from what is good and holy. However, God loves us so much that he was willing to come in the form of Jesus and pay the death penalty himself, so that we might be spared and have eternal life with Him. This amazing gift of life God gives us is called grace. And we receive this grace through faith, as Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us:
"8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast."
So we see that the Bible says that the way we receive this awesome gift is through faith. But even though I professed to be a Christian and believe in Christianity for a really long time, I didn’t know whether or not I actually had any faith. While I don't believe I have the time (or knowledge) to make a comprehensive definition of what faith is, I want to paint a picture of how the Bible portrays faith so we can get a better grasp on what it looks like to have faith in our lives.
Hebrews 11 is a great place to look at what faith looks like because it give us a whole catalogue of people who were faithful to God. I encourage you to read the book yourselves and take a look at these stories. But the verse one gives us a pretty upfront definition of faith: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "
Hebrews 11 is a great place to look at what faith looks like because it give us a whole catalogue of people who were faithful to God. I encourage you to read the book yourselves and take a look at these stories. But the verse one gives us a pretty upfront definition of faith: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "
In order to see how faith works in these stories let’s look at just one of these examples. I chose Moses because thanks to Dreamworks' Prince of Egypt, people are a little more familiar with his story. But if you missed the Bible and the film, here’s a quick summary of Moses’ life—
Moses is part of a people group called the Israelites, who are God’s chosen people. The people of Israel were enslaved to the Egyptians, but the Israelites started to get too numerous and the Pharoah was afraid of a revolt, so he ordered all the baby boys under age two in Egypt to be killed. This is the atmosphere that Moses is born into. So when Moses is born, his mom puts him in a basket coated in pitch and floats the basket down the Nile River to save his life. The Pharoah’s daughter ends up finding the basket and raises Moses as her son. However, Moses allies himself with the Israelites and eventually ends up (through a series of plagues on the Egpytians) leading the Israelite people to freedom and becoming their leader on the way to the promised land.
Moses is part of a people group called the Israelites, who are God’s chosen people. The people of Israel were enslaved to the Egyptians, but the Israelites started to get too numerous and the Pharoah was afraid of a revolt, so he ordered all the baby boys under age two in Egypt to be killed. This is the atmosphere that Moses is born into. So when Moses is born, his mom puts him in a basket coated in pitch and floats the basket down the Nile River to save his life. The Pharoah’s daughter ends up finding the basket and raises Moses as her son. However, Moses allies himself with the Israelites and eventually ends up (through a series of plagues on the Egpytians) leading the Israelite people to freedom and becoming their leader on the way to the promised land.
So what does the Bible Say about Moses faith?
Let’s take a look at what Hebrews 11 says. It talks about Moses in verses 24-27.
"24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible."
So, to start off: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”
One of the first things we can see in this passage is that faith begins with the choice we have to make when our way clashes with God’s way. Moses gets a choice, and so do we.
It’s safe to say Moses wanted to be an Egyptian prince. The benefits are obvious—Egypt is a huge economic and military power in the ancient world. But Moses knows that in order to follow God, he has to choose to be one of His people. It’s important to understand that Moses is doing more than choosing his immediate family in this story—Moses is choosing his God. Pharaoh is a human representative of the ancient Egyptian gods, so in making this decision, Moses is deciding that he is going to follow the God of the Israelites rather than the Egyptian gods. And Moses chooses God’s way instead of his own.
Everyone—not just Christians and people who believe in God, but everyone—will reach a point where their ways will clash with God’s ways and where they are going to make a choice on which way to follow. Maybe lying on my resume will make me look better for my job, or maybe God’s law says to give to the poor and money is a little tight right now…or maybe I just don’t want to do it. Our desires are by nature against the will of God, and we are going to be drawn to make decisions that are not in line with God’s will. Faith will require that we choose God’s way instead of our own.
So why choose God’s way instead of our own?
Well, let’s look at why Moses does it.
26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Moses chooses the path he does because he was “looking ahead to his reward.” Throughout the Bible, God promises individuals a lot of different things—children, a country, freedom, strength—but all of God’s promises are better than the rewards of following your own way. And one thing God promises to everyone is Himself.
There are two things to note about the rewards that Moses pursues. The first is that these are promises. This means the reward we seek when we follow God will probably have a different timeline than the usually faster gratification of following our own ways. Moses spends years wandering in the desert before he becomes the leader of the Israelites. God is on a different timeline than we are, and when he promises to give us something, we have to trust that he will do so in His timing, not in ours. The second thing about promises is that we often don’t know how they will come about, because they are a gift of God, rather than something that we cause to happen or some reward we earn. But because it is a gift of God, it also better than the reward we can earn for ourselves.
For example, God promises Moses that he would lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses doesn’t know how or when this promise will be fulfilled. He can’t see how he’ll free the Israelites. But the promise God makes to Moses is better than the guarantee of following his own plans. In God’s plan, Moses will still be a leader, but he will lead his own people, and he will lead them to the Promised Land, which is a better land than Egypt.
In the same way, God promises us blessings for following him by faith. His grace offers us eternal life through Christ, which is pretty much better than anything.
Now it’s important to remember as we face these choices that we have to look at the promises of God, which are often not immediately apparent to us. 2nd Corinthians 4:18 talks about this when it says: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
If we aren’t looking at what God promises through Scripture and prayer, then we’re not going to evaluate this in our decision making. We’ll end up following our own path and miss out on the better promise.
We see in the passage that Moses demonstrates his faith not just by his intellectual agreement with God’s laws, but by actually choosing to do what God said.
"27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. "
Some people will look at Scripture, see the promises of God, and think, “Boy, those look good! I want those promises and the rewards of following my own way.” They will mentally assent to God’s will, but they won’t change their actions and choose to follow Him.
26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Scripture tells us that the unseen reward of faith is better than the immediate reward of not following God.
Moses chooses the path he does because he was “looking ahead to his reward.” Throughout the Bible, God promises individuals a lot of different things—children, a country, freedom, strength—but all of God’s promises are better than the rewards of following your own way. And one thing God promises to everyone is Himself.
There are two things to note about the rewards that Moses pursues. The first is that these are promises. This means the reward we seek when we follow God will probably have a different timeline than the usually faster gratification of following our own ways. Moses spends years wandering in the desert before he becomes the leader of the Israelites. God is on a different timeline than we are, and when he promises to give us something, we have to trust that he will do so in His timing, not in ours. The second thing about promises is that we often don’t know how they will come about, because they are a gift of God, rather than something that we cause to happen or some reward we earn. But because it is a gift of God, it also better than the reward we can earn for ourselves.
For example, God promises Moses that he would lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses doesn’t know how or when this promise will be fulfilled. He can’t see how he’ll free the Israelites. But the promise God makes to Moses is better than the guarantee of following his own plans. In God’s plan, Moses will still be a leader, but he will lead his own people, and he will lead them to the Promised Land, which is a better land than Egypt.
In the same way, God promises us blessings for following him by faith. His grace offers us eternal life through Christ, which is pretty much better than anything.
Now it’s important to remember as we face these choices that we have to look at the promises of God, which are often not immediately apparent to us. 2nd Corinthians 4:18 talks about this when it says: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
If we aren’t looking at what God promises through Scripture and prayer, then we’re not going to evaluate this in our decision making. We’ll end up following our own path and miss out on the better promise.
But Faith requires more than recognition of an unseen promise. Faith requires action.
We see in the passage that Moses demonstrates his faith not just by his intellectual agreement with God’s laws, but by actually choosing to do what God said.
"27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. "
Faith reveals itself in action. Moses chooses and acts. He refuses to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Later he leaves Egypt against the wishes of Pharaoh.
Some people will look at Scripture, see the promises of God, and think, “Boy, those look good! I want those promises and the rewards of following my own way.” They will mentally assent to God’s will, but they won’t change their actions and choose to follow Him.
James 2:14-17 talks about this divergence between thought and action pretty sharply: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
This is what we do a lot. We agree that “It is God’s will for me to help this person. That is what is good and right.” And then we do nothing and somehow expect to be rewarded for agreeing on what is the right thing to do.
God gives us a choice. We can follow the world’s way and receive the world’s rewards. Or we can follow God’s way and receive God’s promises. But hoping to receive God’s promises when you follow the world’s ways will only ever get you the world’s rewards. If you really want the rewards of God’s promises, your faith must show itself in action.
So, as you face these decisions and make this choice, prepare yourself and choose.
However, we must know that acting in faith will have consequences.
We see that Moses suffers for choosing to follow God: “25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
When we step out in faith we lose the pleasures and rewards of sin. Moses is denied the pleasures of sin.
We will miss out on certain pleasures when we follow God. Moses doesn’t get to be an Egyptian prince. He is mistreated by the Egyptians and he spends the majority of his adult life wandering in the desert. It is absolutely necessary to recognize that this will happen so that you are not surprised and do not lose your faith because of it.
There are two important things to recognize here. One is that when we act on faith, we will lose out on some of the temporary pleasures of this world. In America, we may lose comforts and friendships. In places not so friendly to the gospel, people can lose their jobs, their freedom, or even their very lives. We have to recognize that we will be risking or sacrificing things of this world so that when we act on faith we can be prepared for, rather than shocked by, that loss.
However, it is also important to remember that whatever we lose when we choose to follow God is a temporary loss. Pleasure dissipates in a moment. Money is spent. Friendships end. We have to remember that even life itself has an expiration date. What we lose when we have faith and follow God is something we were always going to lose eventually.
Finally, we must hold on to the ultimate reward: receiving the blessing of Christ.
“26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”
Moses is looking to his ultimate reward when he chooses to follow God. We must not forget the promises of God as we look towards making our decisions based on faith. We do not choose arbitrarily to deny ourselves the pleasures of sin. We do not turn down the kingdoms of this world for no reason. We are willing to make those sacrifices because we will receive the promises of God, and because the promises of God are eternal. God promises eternal life for those who choose to believe in Him. And God promises blessings, treasures, and rewards for those who seek to follow his laws. When we choose to be faithful, we choose to receive grace and the reward of eternal life.
One last thing: Don’t think you can escape this choice. Everyone reading this is on a path—you’re either following God’s way or following your own. And you will reap the rewards and consequences of the path you choose. Know what your choices are. Know the consequences. Choose wisely.
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