Why does God require faith?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The Bible teaches that faith is essential for salvation and a right relationship with God. Without it, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Abraham exemplifies this: God counted his belief in God’s promises as righteous (Genesis 15:6).

Romans 1:17 quotes Habakkuk to declare that “the righteous shall live by faith,” reinforcing that the principle of being counted as righteous through faith links both Old and New Testaments. Galatians 2:16 states that no one is justified by works of the law but only through faith in Jesus Christ. This is because all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and the penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23), which only Christ, the sinless one, could pay on behalf of others (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God requires faith not merely as agreeing to some facts about Jesus, but as a heart-felt trust in His promise to save through Christ. This is made clear in Ephesians 2:8-9, which explains that salvation is a gift of grace received through faith—not earned by works. Through faith, believers are united with Christ and counted righteous before God.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Our sin broke our relationship with God and set us on a course of eternal death (Genesis 3). However, God is merciful (Psalm 103:8) and provides a way to escape that eternal judgement. While the means for salvation reaches its culmination in the New Testament, we learn in the Old Testament that salvation comes through believing God’s promises.
• Abraham sinned just like all human beings (i.e., Genesis 12:13). Yet, God promised him offspring despite his old age: “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. … So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). The Bible says, “And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” To be counted as righteous did not mean that Abraham became righteous. Instead, God was considering him as if he was righteous because of his faith. God could do that because He was looking forward to the New Testament and His Son’s death.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Hebrews 11:6 states, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
• Notice that faith is required because it is believing in God (“that He exists”) and His promises (“that he rewards those who seek Him”). Without faith, one is denying God and, therefore, rebelling against Him.
• Because Adam sinned, all of humanity is corrupted (Romans 3:10-18). Everything we do, think, or say is tainted with unrighteousness, so we can’t please God by what we do. Like Abraham, we need a righteousness that does not come from us. That is why Paul quoted Habakuk 2:4, saying, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17b).
• Paul, reminding believers that they cannot be saved by anything they do, said, “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). Justification is a legal declaration by God that someone is righteous. No one can be legally declared righteous by doing good works because they are still guilty for their sinful works. Instead, that declaration of righteousness comes through faith in Jesus.
• Jesus is fully God (John 1:1), yet He added on humanity to also be fully human (Philippians 2:6–7). As fully God, he never sinned—He was perfectly righteous. Death is only required for unrighteous men and women (Romans 6:23a), so Jesus did not have to die. However, He did so to pay for the penalty sinners deserve and so that His righteousness could be counted to others.
• Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Being saved is a pure work of God applying our sin to Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness to us. Faith is the means through which we receive that gift.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

God requires faith because, as sinful men and women, we are utterly incapable of pleasing Him. Our sinful nature means that we are born His enemy (Romans 5:10) and that He must punish our sin. While that punishment can be seen in this life in pain and sorrow, it is felt most fully in the life after death when He will pour out His wrath eternally against unrepentant sinners.

God did not have to offer a way of escape from that wrath, but in grace He sent His Son, Jesus, to die (John 3:16). When Jesus did, God punished Him as-if He had sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is the free gift Paul mentions (Romans 6:23b). However, that gift, while free, is not given to everyone. God is only pleased when we express faith in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Just like Abraham was only considered righteous after he believed God’s promises, we are only counted righteous after we express faith.

This does not mean that a Christian never has doubts (Mark 9:24), but a true believer has a general, ongoing trust in Jesus, not his or her own works. This kind of faith is possible because God has transformed him or her on the inside (2 Corinthians 5:17) and has given him or her a believing heart (Romans 10:10).

If you are looking for salvation outside of Jesus, then you will have to pay for your own sin. But, if you repent of your sin—admitting that you don’t deserve salvation—and express faith that Jesus paid for your sin, then God will count you as righteous and will rescue you from the final wrath to come (Romans 5:9).

UNDERSTAND

• Faith is how sinners are made right with God.
• Faith connects us to Jesus, who gives us His righteousness.
• God has always accepted people by faith, not works.

REFLECT

• How does your understanding of faith as trust in Jesus, not just intellectual belief, affect your daily relationship with God?
• How have you tried to earn God’s approval through your own efforts rather than relying on faith?
• How can you grow in trusting God’s promises, especially when circumstances make faith challenging?

ENGAGE

• How do we reconcile the idea that faith is a gift from God with our personal responsibility to believe and trust Him?
• What do we learn about God in the way He requires faith instead of allowing works or deeds to justify us before Him?
• How does understanding examples of faith from Scripture help us grasp the nature of righteousness and salvation today?