When I see and experience God’s love for me, found in a personal relationship with Jesus and lived out in true friendship with others who know Him and love Him – my life becomes filled and strengthened with the many wonderful benefits of salvation.

There is no challenge too great, no failure too bad, no enemy too strong – for we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us! And there is no dream too big, and no hope too audacious, and no task too impossible – for we can do all things through Him who loves us.

If faith is not a strong feeling, wishful thinking, or a positive mental attitude, then what is it? The author of Hebrews provides us with a sure, clear answer: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). Faith, in other words—true, biblical faith—produces a certainty regarding the unseen things that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to hope for. But that’s not all. The apostle Paul offers this helpful reminder: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8, emphasis added).

Do you ever wonder why it is, believer, that you believe what you believe? When you get down on your knees and pray all alone in your room, how can you trust that God hears all of your prayers? Where does this assurance come from? Only as the result of God graciously opening your eyes to the truth of who He is. Such faith creates conviction. Such faith is a gift from God—a gift that He wants us to receive and enjoy.

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Adapted from the sermon “What Is Faith?” by Alistair Begg

In The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale offers the following advice on how he thinks people should start their day: “First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, ‘I believe,’ three times.”¹ He doesn’t say in what or in whom to say you believe, because in his view, it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that you just believe. Actually believing in something—especially something outside yourself—is superfluous.

Once again, God’s Word paints a different picture. In New Testament faith, what we believe is crucial! It is faith’s object that gives faith itself any sort of significance. Biblical faith is not a positive mental attitude that seeks to bring into existence the things that are believed in. It is good to think positively. It is even right to desire to be around positive people rather than negative people. Yet positive thinking in and of itself is not biblical faith.

The author of Hebrews writes, “Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (11:6). Real faith is reliable because its object is God, who is completely trustworthy.

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Adapted from the sermon “What Is Faith?” by Alistair Begg

Another prevalent view is that Christian faith requires us to remove our brains and put it under our seats—in short, to stop thinking. Behind this opinion is the assumption that if you were to ever examine the evidence for Christianity, you would discover that it’s flimsy; therefore, the only way to be a Christian is to launch oneself into mindless oblivion. Faith then becomes a leap in the dark, a conviction that if I just believe enough and get pumped up enough, then something which isn’t true can become true.

Again, though, Scripture helps us see the truth more clearly. The apostle John wrote that his testimony was regarding “that … which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1). Later, in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul described the hundreds of people who were, like John, witnesses to what Jesus did in rising from the dead (vv. 5–8). And faith rests on the evidence not only of the eyes but also of what the Scriptures have long testified. The book of Acts, for example, praises the people of Berea for not simply believing what Paul said but also testing it against the Scriptures (Acts 17:10–12).

Biblical faith, then, doesn’t ask anyone to check their brains at the door. It is not “Believe or else!” but “Believe because…”

Adapted from the sermon “What Is Faith?” by Alistair Begg