First, let’s cover several ideas people may have regarding faith and point out their weaknesses.
“To walk in faith means to trust in your heart.” The Bible never tells us to trust in our heart; it says the opposite. We are told that the heart is deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and calls us fools if we do trust our hearts (Proverbs 28:26).
“It means to trust in your feelings or gut instinct.” Again, the Bible never tells us to trust in our feelings. Feelings are too changeful from moment to moment and from person to person, even when the people are all reacting to the same event.
“It means to really, really believe.” This is too vague. Believe in what? Sincerity is not enough, for as we see in the Bible, the Pharisees were sincere, but sincerely wrong – and they crucified our Lord.
“It means to do the best you can, and leave the rest up to God.” This answer comes closest than the others, especially since the others don’t mention trusting God; but it is still lacking.
Now let’s look at several examples of faith in action from the Scriptures.
Hebrews chapter eleven tells us a lot about people who walked in faith – they gave evidence for their faith. For instance, Noah believed that God would send the Flood, so he built an ark. Abraham believed God and left his home country to go to a place he knew nothing of. Moses left the pleasures of Egypt to fulfill God’s will with the children of Israel.
In each case, these men heard God speaking to them, and they took action. To “walk” in faith means that we are taking concrete steps regarding that faith. Noah believed in the coming Flood, though he had never seen one before, and certainly had never seen water fall from the sky – so building that ark was a huge step of faith!
So walking in faith is not just believing in something. That’s why James 2:26 tells us, “faith without works is dead.” Accumulating Bible knowledge without acting on that knowledge is dead faith.
Jesus gave us many promises regarding prayer. Do we believe those promises? If our prayer life is weak, then obviously we don’t think much of them, otherwise we would pray often and with purpose.
Do we believe that those who live according to the flesh will not enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21)? If our lives revolve around fleshly pursuits rather than taking God at his word, then we are unbelieving. We are not walking in faith.
Romans 11 tells of faith’s origin. It comes by hearing God speak to you via God’s word. In other words, faith doesn’t come from self but from God. When we read the word or hear it preached and find God speaking to us, then faith comes. When we respond to God, as Noah did when he built the ark, we walk by faith. We put our faith in action.
Faith is not just believing but being convinced that God has spoken and one must act on it. We may be worried about something, read a promise of God’s love and care, and in faith gladly turn the trouble over to God and trust Him with it. That’s walking by faith.
We walk by faith, not by sight. When we follow through on our body’s cravings or personal knowledge or senses such as sight or other resources, we are not necessarily walking in faith. Rather, we may be walking (or living by or depending on) our fleshly senses instead of trusting in God.
When we became children of God, a new way of receiving information was opened to us. Some call it revelation. The Holy Spirit speaks to us to lead us (John 14:26). He will teach things that go against the natural order we’ve been accustomed to (Romans 8:13). When we follow his leading instead of our natural resources then we are walking by faith. We are in effect trusting God more than ourselves, pleasing God more than self.
How important is walking by faith? Because “without faith, it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). The Pharisees could not accept the new wine of walking by faith, so Jesus turned to a group of men who would learn to trust him and accept that wine. Jesus calls us to a life of faith. It is the narrow road that leads to pleasing God and eternal life.
What Do You Think?
a. Is “walking by faith” and “walking the talk” the same thing? What are the similarities, if any?
b. Is there a contradiction between faith and works? How does walking by faith put the two together?
