So what actually is Christian faith?

September 10, 2021 Tom Creedy

Martin Salter unpacks what belief in the Christian faith actually **is**, with three key elements coming to the fore, in this edited extract from his new evangelistic title 'So Loved'.

Christians down through the ages have generally recognized three elements of belief or faith: understanding, assent and trust. Each is necessary for a proper grasp of what it means to believe.

1 Understanding

There must be a basic understanding of what the Christian faith is about. If, after reading this book, you think Christianity is about rule-keeping and being nice, then I’ve failed. I’d have left you with a wrong understanding.

Belief requires that we believe in something or someone, and we can’t believe in something we basically don’t understand. As we’ve seen so far, in considering John 3:16, some of the basics of the Christian message may be summarized as follows:

• There is a God.
• He loves this world – he’s not distant or uncaring. 
• The ‘world’ (including you and me) has rebelled against him, which the Bible calls ‘sin’.
• He gave: Christianity is about his grace, not our works.
• His Son: Jesus came to reveal God to us, to show us what we’re like and, ultimately, to die in our place, taking the punishment that our rebellion deserves.
• Whoever: this message is for all people, not just some people.
• Believes: we can come back to God simply by trusting in what Jesus has done for us.

These are some of the basic truths of Christianity that we need to understand if we are to put our faith in Jesus. However, it’s important to emphasize again: this isn’t an exam requiring a ‘grade A’ understanding. There are lots of things that Christians will have questions about.

2 Assent

Belief has within it a sense of assent or agreement. It begins with understanding the claims, then moves to a point of agreement with those claims. I understand that some people think mushrooms taste good; I just don’t agree. No-one should eat fungus. It’s an abomination.

Recently, I saw a documentary about a group of people who believe that the earth is flat. I’m not quite sure why I watched it – a sort of morbid curiosity, perhaps. Flat-earthers write books, host online video lectures and organize annual conferences. As I watched, I was fascinated with the theories presented and the attempts to counter the mainstream view of the earth as a sphere. I wouldn’t claim fully to understand everything that they’ve written, but I think I grasped enough of the basics to understand the claim. However, I disagree with the claim. Their evidence is ultimately unpersuasive, and they fail to address the wealth of evidence demonstrating that the earth is a globe, orbiting the sun. So I don’t believe the earth is flat. I understand the argument but I don’t assent to it.

I have claimed the Bible teaches that there is one God, that we have all lived lives that dismiss him, that he sent his Son to die for us, and that we can be forgiven through the Son’s death on the cross. Belief would not only understand those things but would also agree. Unbelief might understand the claim but would simply not agree that those claims are true.

So there’s an element of invitation here.

An important question is: ‘Do you understand the argument so far?’

A more important question is: ‘Do you agree?’

3 Trust

Belief or faith requires trust. It is one thing to understand and agree. It is another to trust those things for oneself.

Every year our church family takes a group of young people away for a week in the Lake District. Activities include walking, canoeing, climbing and abseiling (rappelling). I’m not particularly fond of heights, so the climbing and abseiling are not my favourites. When it comes to abseiling, I’m happy with the first two elements of belief. I understand that the rope can take my weight and it’s been set up by a competent instructor. I mentally assent to the truth of those things. I’ve seen other people abseil safely. It’s the third element that I struggle with – leaning back on the rope and stepping backwards off the edge. Mentally, I understand and agree. But that isn’t enough. It requires trust to commit.

Belief or faith involves an understanding of the message, assent to its truthfulness and then a commitment to trust.

It’s not about fuzzy feelings or perfect understanding.

It’s a commitment to begin a journey, with a single step, trusting the message and promise of Jesus Christ. Of course, you also have to want to take that step. The abseiler translates trust into action when she decides that the experience outweighs the nerves. The bungee jumper leaps because he believes it will offer a new thrill. Are they anxious and unsure? Most are. But for them, the sensation is worth the leap.

‘Surely,’ you ask, ‘there is something I must do?’

No.

Jesus is crystal clear – all that is required is belief in what he has done.

One of C. S. Lewis’s chapters on faith in Mere Christianity contains this gem:I think everyone who has some vague belief in God, until he becomes a Christian, has the idea of an exam, or of a bargain in his mind. The first result of real Christianity is to blow that idea into bits . . . God has been waiting for the moment at which you discover that there is no question of earning a pass mark in this exam or putting him in your debt . . . Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God . . . It is like a small child going to its father and saying, ‘Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present.’ Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child’s present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction.

Lewis is saying that faith itself is a gift. The fact that you’re reading this book, that you have a brain putting the pieces of this puzzle together, that someone has spoken to you about these things, that you perhaps are now disposed to find out more – all of this is, I believe, from God. So even our faith is a gift, a work begun in us by God himself.

John Bunyan’s famous The Pilgrim’s Progress shows us that belief is not just an initiatory act or decision, but a continuing journey of trust and learning. The more we learn, the richer our faith becomes. But it must begin somewhere, with an initial decision of the will to start out on the road of faith.

We hope this blog post has provided some clarity - if you are exploring faith, we'd encourage you to find a local church. In the meantime, you might find the books below helpful as you think about what faith is.