We may trust an idea, a principle, another person or persons. We may buy an article, a tool or vehicle because we trust that the manufacturer has made the article well and perhaps better than another manufacturer. Our trust is perhaps so strong that we place our life in the reliance we have in the very vehicle or tool that we have chosen. This is faith in action. If we trust an idea or principle we will act in such a way that we demonstrate our agreement with that idea. But if we do not trust an idea, we will not act in accord with that idea.

Sometimes our trust in a person may be small or great and to some degree this depends upon our experience and/or knowledge of that person. Our experience of a person may be such that we would trust him or her with our life; on the other hand, from our experience we might not trust them “as far as we can see them.” So our trust in a person is to a great degree dependent upon our experiences in life with that person. Faith is a learning process, a developing trust built on a growing experience.

Sadly, in life there may be many things that can be both true and false.

So it is with faith. Our trust may be based upon real understanding and experience, or it may be based upon feelings and expectations. Some prospectors looking for gold have been mesmerized by something that looks very much like the real thing - iron pyrites - commonly called “fool’s gold.” Real faith will stand any test, but false faith we know as presumption.

A man may buy a very good motor car. He enjoys its performance for perhaps five years. Everything works well as he expects it to do, but one day he comes to an intersection and applies the brakes to stop - but it does not and there is the inevitable collision. What has gone wrong? The car had always stopped before this, and he had every expectation that it would stop on this occasion. He presumed on past experience that it would always be so. There was one problem - he had not serviced the brakes on time. Real faith is based upon the fulfillment of conditions. Presumption expects, but does not fulfill the conditions upon which the expectation may be based.

The faith of the Christian is based upon his or her reliance on the Word of God, his or her Father. Sadly, many Christians base their faith upon a partial fulfillment of the conditions upon which they expect to receive the blessings of God. While it is true that our heavenly Father sends His blessings on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), such blessings received without the proper response will inevitably result in loss of life. Cain enjoyed all the blessings that God had given but he failed to fully meet the conditions upon which the continuance of the blessings depended. He presumed that his sacrifice would be sufficient. He had not that faith-trust that meets the full requirements of God.

Speaking of the remnant in the last days, the Revelator speaks of God’s people as they “that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12.) In the Greek, the phrase, ”the faith of Jesus” may be understood two ways. Either as “the faith of Jesus” or as “faith in Jesus”; we can consider both.

Our Saviour had implicit faith-trust in His Father. This complete trust brought obedience of the highest order. He explained, “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). And in the Garden of Gethsemane, when meeting the greatest test concering His Father’s will, Jesus said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). He yielded His whole work and life into the hands of His Father.

“While the Redeemer of sinful mortals was laboring and suffering for us, He denied Himself, and His whole life was one continued scene of toil and privation. Had He chosen to do so, He could have passed His days on earth in ease and plenty, and appropriated to Himself all the pleasures and enjoyments of this life. But He did not; He considered not His own convenience. He lived not to gratify Himself, but to do good and to save others from suffering, to help those who most needed help. He endured to the end. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and He hath borne the iniquity of us all. The bitter cup was apportioned to us to drink. Our sins mingled it. But our dear Saviour took the cup from our lips and drank it Himself, and in its stead He presents to us a cup of mercy, blessing, and salvation.”1

Our Saviour demonstrated His faith-trust in His Father by the fulfillment of the task upon which They had agreed before the creation of this world. (Revelation 13:8.)

While God’s people in the last days will demonstrate a similar faith to that of their Redeemer in the goodness of God, by doing this they will also demonstrate by their life their faith-trust in Jesus. Faith has been likened to the hand that a man reaches out to receive a gift. Through our Saviour, God has promised the gift of eternal life. Our faith-trust in Jesus will be seen in our reliance upon His gift of salvation both today and for tomorrow.

The free gift of His grace is available to all those who will receive it. Someone may provide a nicely prepared meal for us, but we receive no benefit if we do not eat it. The psalmist says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). We must place the food in our mouth, chew it, and swallow or we receive no benefit. Jesus, by His life, death, and resurrection has provided the means for our reconciliation with God and He invites us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus has done His part for our salvation. Will we respond? How will we know how to respond?

“The faith in Christ that saves the soul is not what it is represented to be by many. ‘Believe, believe,’ is their cry; ‘only believe in Christ, and you will be saved. It is all you have to do.’ While true faith trusts wholly in Christ for salvation, it will lead to perfect conformity to the law of God. Faith is manifested by works. And the apostle John declares, ‘He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him’ (1 John 2:4).

“It is unsafe to trust to feelings or impressions; these are unreliable guides. God’s law is the only correct standard of holiness. It is by this law that character is to be judged. If an inquirer after salvation were to ask, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ the modern teachers of sanctification would answer, ‘Only believe that Jesus saves you.’ But when Christ was asked this question He said, ‘What is written in the law? How readest thou?’ And when the questioner replied, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, . . . and thy neighbor as thyself,’ Jesus said, ‘Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live’ (Luke 10:25-28). True sanctification will be evidenced by a conscientious regard for all the commandments of God, by a careful improvement of every talent, by a circumspect conversation, by revealing in every act the meekness of Christ.”2

However, salvation is not received as a reward for our faith in Jesus. If it were, then we would be earning salvation by merit of our faith. Rather, faith is the means of appropriating salvation - the way of receiving the gift so wonderfully given.

One day Jesus was teaching His disciples the meaning of forgiveness. They found this a bit difficult to comprehend and declared, ”Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). They were always finding difficulties in adjusting their life to the teachings of their Master because the things He taught them seemed to be quite different from the normal understanding of the people around them. So they saw a need to trust Him more - to understand Him more - to know Him more.

Some modern disciples may find themselves in a similar situation. When faced with the teachings of the word of God, they respond with, “Oh, I have a problem with that verse!” Where is the problem? It is within them. Self does not wish to accept the instruction of the Master because it cuts across what they want to do, how they want to live. Some when faced with the instruction of the word feel that they are being “hit over the head with the Bible” or perhaps with the Spirit of Prophecy. This is not so - it is self that feels attacked because self does not wish to conform to the perfect will of Jesus. They are in a similar situation to that of the early disciples. They do not have sufficient trust in His word, because they do not trust Him enough to know that His instruction is intended for their best good. And why do they not trust Him enough? Because they do not know Him enough. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Our faith - our trust in Jesus will only be partial while we know Him only partially. “O, Lord, increase OUR faith!”

Many people dream of having power. They want to have power over others. Politicians, soldiers, leaders of societies most often want to have power to control the life of other people. Sadly, as Alexander the Great of Greece, they may not have power over themselves. How many presidents of various countries even have gone down in history as failures after their dreams have crumbled when they could not control their personal life.

Before anyone can have success, he or she must have control of himself or herself, but this is a very difficult need to meet. Our condition is one of weakness. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Just as the apostle Paul, when we want to do what is right, we find ourselves doing wrong. And our excuse is usually, “I just couldn’t help it!” It is an admission of our own foolishness and weakness.

Jesus came to show us that it is possible to be strong, if we have faith, trust, and belief in Him. The apostle John says: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). And Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). If we humbly yield our weakness to Him, He will give us power to do His will. But first we must desire to know His will, and even then self may get in the way. We may say, “Yes, the Bible says that, BUT......!” As soon as we say BUT, we are contradicting just what God says - self is getting in the way and demanding, as a spoiled child, that it should be pleased. We too often tend to do this instead of seeking what God knows is best for us. If we will simply trust His word, believe what is written, and have faith in the goodness of our Creator, all will be well.

“God has given us intellectual and moral power; but to a great extent every one is the architect of his own character. Every day the structure more nearly approaches completion. The word of God warns us to take heed how we build, to see that our building is founded upon the eternal rock. The time is coming when our work will stand revealed just as it is. Now is the time for all to cultivate the powers that God has given them, that they may form characters for usefulness here and for a higher life hereafter.”3

Sometimes we struggle with the inconsistencies of our characters and weaknesses. We want to be calm, contented, and happy. If we find that our happiness depends upon some thing, or some person outside of ourselves, then we are not truly happy. True happiness comes from within ourselves when we are within the boundaries of God’s will for us. The apostle Paul knew this when he said, “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). The more we trust Jesus, the more we have faith in Him and His word, the more we will be content and happy with our lot and the place where, in His wisdom, He has placed us. When we know Him as it is possible to know Him, we will cease to struggle against the instruction He has given for our life, we will bask in the sunshine of His love and be content. O Lord, increase my trust and faith in Thee, for without Thee I can do nothing.

“With the rich promises of the Bible before you, can you give place to doubt? Can you believe that when the poor sinner longs to return, longs to forsake his sins, the Lord sternly withholds him from coming to His feet in repentance? Away with such thoughts! Nothing can hurt your own soul more than to entertain such a conception of our heavenly Father. He hates sin, but He loves the sinner, and He gave Himself in the person of Christ, that all who would might be saved and have eternal blessedness in the kingdom of glory. What stronger or more tender language could have been employed than He has chosen in which to express His love toward us? He declares, ‘Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee’ (Isaiah 49:15).

“Look up, you that are doubting and trembling, for Jesus lives to make intercession for us. Thank God for the gift of His dear Son and pray that He may not have died for you in vain. The Spirit invites you today. Come with your whole heart to Jesus, and you may claim His blessing.

“As you read the promises, remember they are the expression of unutterable love and pity. The great heart of Infinite Love is drawn toward the sinner with boundless compassion. ‘We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins’ (Ephesians 1:7). Yes, only believe that God is your helper. He wants to restore His moral image in man. As you draw near to Him with confession and repentance, He will draw near to you with mercy and forgiveness.”4

We can have faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can have faith in the love of God. We can have faith in the ministration of the Holy Spirit. All heaven wants us to have faith in our eternal Saviour.