Ask Your Preacher
Faith in Action
Monday, November 04, 2019It seems many christians think being faithful means one attends all gatherings of the church – Sunday morning Bible study, worship in the morning and evening, and Wednesday evening Bible study. Please help me with a biblical definition of faithfulness for my use in discussions. Thank you for your clear answers that are backed by Scripture.
Sincerely,
Faithful Attender
Dear Faithful Attender,
Faith is a simple word with a lot of big implications. The word for ‘faith’ in Greek is ‘pistis’. ‘Pistis’ is translated ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ in English, so when you see the word ‘believe’ or the word ‘faith’ in your Bible… they are the same Greek word. The word means ‘conviction that something is true’. The Bible specifically uses the word ‘faith’ to describe our attitude toward God (Acts 20:21). Faith is a requirement for salvation (Eph 2:8).
Biblical faith exists when we trust in the unseen God (Heb 11:1). Faith is also described as a lifestyle of seeking God (Heb 11:6). Faith without action is dead (Jas 2:26). Even the demons believe in God… but they don’t seek Him (Jas 2:19). Faith has its origin in the Scriptures – we believe because we hear God’s Word (Rom 10:17). Biblical faith is best described as ‘hearing what God says and then doing your best to loyally act upon those words’.
Using that definition, regular church attendance is a part of faith because God tells us to not forsake assembling with the saints (Heb 10:24-25). However, attendance is certainly not the all-defining characteristic of a faithful lifestyle. One could easily attend every meeting of the church and still be a godless heathen the rest of the week (the man who had his father’s wife is a great example of this – 1 Cor 5:1-2). Faith is a life guided by the words of the Bible. A faithful person allows the Bible to be their compass and lets God reign within them (Lk 17:21). SB