What Is Faith And Why Do We Need It?

In the movie “Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade”, there is a scene known as “Indy’s Walk of Faith”.  Indy is on a quest to find the Holy Grail (cup of Christ) and in the process finds himself trying to save his father’s life.  The scene shows him standing on the edge of a large crevasse with no apparent way across.  According to the clues left for him, he is required to have complete faith when he steps out onto what seems air.  “It’s impossible, nobody can jump this…”.  After a momentary pause, Indiana Jones realizes what he must do to save his fathers life.  “It is a leap of faith”, says Indy.  At that moment he realized that on his own, he couldn’t cross over but with faith it was possible.

What does faith looks like?
The Bible defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen”.  In the Bible, the book of Hebrews contains an entire chapter identifying people who were living examples of great faith.  Noah (the guy who built the ark) is one of those who made the list.  The bible says “by faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household.”  Noah made a choice to have “FAITH” and believe God, building the arc even though he didn’t understand God’s plan.

[pullquote style=”right”]Without faith it is impossible to please God. [/pullquote]So, why do we need faith? 
Faith in God is what saves us from eternal death.  Faith protects us during spiritual warfare.  The Bible described faith as a Shield.  Using the analogy of  military armor, faith requires the user to take up and hold faith to be protected from the fiery darts cast towards us from the evil one.  Faith is intentional.  It is something that we must exercise.  Faith in God is the most important act we can exercise outward towards our Heavenly Father.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.  Without faith we will be devastated by the enemy.  Without faith we will not be saved.  Without faith we won’t go to heaven.  Without faith we are not a follower of Christ.  We need faith in order to have a life with God.

How can we come to God in faith?
God has made a way to come to him through Jesus Christ.  Romans 10:17 says “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  That means when we hear the good news about Jesus Christ, we have an opportunity to respond.  If we respond in faith, believing that Christ died for you and me and surrender our lives to Him ,we have a relationship with God for eternity and he will never leave us or forget about us.  John 3:16 says “God loves us so much that he gave his only Son (Jesus) that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life”.  God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.  In the book of Romans, Paul says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    With faith, we receive God’s precious FREE gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.  There is nothing we can do to make ourselves right before God but he still loves us and wants us to put our faith & trust in nothing but Him.