Where Is Your Faith Located? by Bill Crofton

“Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.  For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.’”  Romans 4:1-3

Some people think our relationship with God depends simply on believing the right things.  I have met them; for many years I think I was one of them. There are also people who behave as if their relationship with God depends essentially on whether they perform right kind of actions:

•           Churchgoing

•           Baptism

•           Communion

•           Foot washing

•           Tithing, etc.

In Romans 4, Paul emphasizes that God‘s counting Abraham’s trust in Him as faithfulness happened BEFORE he did anything, such as get circumcised (which comes in Genesis 17).  In Galatians 3, Paul makes the broader point that it was centuries after Abraham’s day that Israel received the detailed requirements of the Torah described in Exodus and Leviticus.  That shows clearly that the covenant relationship between God and Abraham DIDN’T depend on Abraham’s obedience to the Torah, but on God’s Grace and God’s Promise.  So it can’t be that our relationship with God is “conditional” on our doing things such as getting circumcised, observing the Sabbath, getting baptized, or going to church.  Those things follow, but they are NOT conditions, in my humble opinion.

Let me quote a source I found interesting.  The Jewish theologian Martin Buber once drew a contrast between what Jews mean by faith and what Christians mean by faith.  “For Christians,” he said, “faith involves believing that certain things are true; for Jews, faith is a matter of trust in a person.”

A Christian may be horrified at that contrast, because many Christians would say a personal relationship of trust is foundational and central to Christian faith.  But one can see how Buber could come to his conclusion.  Believing the right things is important for many Christians, but it is not for many Jews.  However, Buber could not have trusted in God were it not for some knowledge of who God was, right?  Both facts and commitment seem important.  For anyone inclined to trust facts, Abraham’s act of commitment functions as a reminder that FAITH is indeed a matter of trust, not merely of believing the right things.

Let me push on just a little bit.  In my view, there is a related point—in a way, a converse one perhaps.  For Jews and Christians, faith is not merely a matter of trust, but trust in a particular Person, correct?  We sometimes refer to “people of faith” or to someone “coming to faith,” as if it is the faith that matters.  It is not faith that matters, but the PERSON in whom you have faith, correct?  Faith is useless if misplaced, and doubt doesn’t matter so much if you doubt the right person. 

In his account of the development of Christian witness in China and of the demands it placed on his faith, a 19th century missionary pioneer commented how people pray, “Lord increase our faith” despite Jesus’ rebuke of his disciples for that prayer.  In effect, he observes Jesus said it is not great faith you need but faith in a Great God.  Faith as small as a grain of mustard seed is sufficient if correctly located.  Abraham did not merely believe; He believed in YAHWEH.

Bill Crofton