What is faith in Jesus? What does it mean to have faith in Jesus?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The Bible gives examples of men and women of the Old Testament who were credited as righteous by having faith in God. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Ruth are just a few of many Old Testament figures who had faith in God’s promises. Even though they did not know the specifics of Jesus Christ, their faith was based on the understanding that God would send a Messiah, a savior, and through Him, they would have eternal life. Faith is trusting and believing that Jesus willingly died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins; He died, was buried, and rose on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Salvation is a free gift from God; there is nothing you need to do to earn it other than having faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9). Believing in Jesus results in eternal life with God and the inexpressible joy of knowing that we are His children.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Faith in God is shown through various people in the Old Testament:
• Abel’s choice of the fattest firstborn lamb as a sacrifice to God showed his faith and reverence for Him and foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, where atoning blood was shed for believers' sins (Genesis 4:4).
• Noah was a righteous man who walked with God, which was an outward demonstration of inner faith (Genesis 6:8-9). He showed his faith through his obedience to God’s detailed instructions to build an ark and live in it with his family while God destroyed wicked people through a flood (Genesis 6:13-22).
• Abraham believed and had faith in the Lord, which was credited to him as righteous. This is seen in Abraham's willingness to follow God’s commands to leave his native land and relatives and to sacrifice his son for God (Genesis 15:6, 12:1-4, 22:1-8).
• Moses showed his faith in many ways, most notably, trusting God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt despite danger and hardship (Exodus 14:21-22).
• David trusted God and had faith that he would prevail against Goliath when the odds were against him (1 Samuel 17:44-45). He continued to show his faith by following God’s direction and trusting God for mercy by repenting and asking for the Lord’s forgiveness when he sinned (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 51:1-4, 37:3-5).
• Daniel showed his faith in numerous ways. The most well-known was when he chose to pray three times a day in obedience to God despite the king’s decree prohibiting prayer. He was thrown to the lions and saved from death because he trusted in God (Daniel 6:10-23).
• Ruth, a Moabite widow, chose to leave her homeland to make a life with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and trust in the God of Israel; this resulted in her becoming an ancestor of David and thus also of Jesus (Ruth 4:13-22).
• Despite immense loss, suffering, and trials from Satan, Job remained steadfast in his faith and trust in God by not blaming Him or sinning. In the end, God rewarded Job with double what he had before his trial began (Job 1:20-22, 19:25-26, 42:10-17).
• Habakkuk contrasts the fate of the proud, unbelieving person and the faithful believer (Habakkuk 2:4).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Hebrews chapter eleven defines faith as having confidence in our hope in Jesus and being certain of God who we cannot see. It then lists the many people from the Old Testament who lived by faith and were credited with righteousness .
• Believing means to have faith and put trust in. Believing that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins results in eternal life with our Lord and Savior (John 3:16, 5:24, 6:40, 10:28-29; Romans 6:22-23; 1 John 5:11-13; Titus 3:7).
• Salvation is a free gift given by God, and we can’t earn salvation but must place our faith in Jesus and believe in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5 ; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9).
• Trusting in Jesus and having faith that H e died on the cross for those who believe in Him transforms your life to one of inexpressible joy (Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 1:8-9).
• Sharing the good news of the gospel is essential for people to come to faith in Jesus (Romans 10:17).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Faith contains three elements: knowledge, assent, and trust.

Knowledge. To have faith in Jesus, we must first know who He is. We must understand that He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, who came to earth to save His people from their sins (John 1:41; Matthew 1:21). We must know that Jesus is God's only Son (John 3:16) who took on human flesh (John 1:14), lived a life of perfect loving obedience to God the Father (John 4:34; Hebrews 4:15), willingly sacrificed His life by dying on the cross for our sins (Philippians 2:8), rose triumphantly from the grave after three days (Matthew 12:40) and is now seated in heaven at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33) from where He will return to judge the world (Acts 1:11; John 5:28- 29) and to bring to glory all who eagerly await His coming (Colossians 3:4; Hebrews 9:28).

Assent. To assent means to agree that what the Bible says about Jesus is the truth. However, knowing who Jesus is and even assenting to that knowledge does not mean a person has faith in Jesus. For example, the Devil and demons know and acknowledge who Jesus is (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24; James 2:19), but they do not worship Him, call Him King, or accept Him as Lord.

Trust. To have faith in Jesus means to trust Him. Those who have faith in Jesus rely on Him as Savior (John 4:42; Titus 3:4-7) and commit themselves to Him as Lord (Romans 10:9). To trust in Jesus means to believe that God accepted His death as payment for your guilt and sin (Colossians 2:14) and that His perfect life and righteousness has been credited to you on the basis of your faith in Him (Romans 3:21— 22). To trust in Jesus is to believe His teachings and promises are true and accept His invitation to follow Him and live for Him (Matthew 10:37- 39; 16:24- 25; Romans 12:1; Philippians 1:21).

UNDERSTAND

• Faith in Jesus is trusting in His death and resurrection for salvation.
• Faith involves knowledge, assent, and trust.
• Those who trust in Jesus experience joy, assurance of salvation, and a changed life .

REFLECT

• How does your faith in Jesus influence your daily decisions and outlook on life?
• What challenges or doubts have tested your faith in Jesus, and how have you responded?
• How can you grow in trusting Jesus more deeply in both good times and difficult moments?

ENGAGE

• What does it mean for faith to involve knowledge, assent, and trust, and how do these elements shape our relationship with Jesus?
• How do the examples of faith from the Bible inspire or challenge the way we trust in Jesus today?
• How can we encourage one another to live out a faith that transforms our lives and reflects the joy of salvation?