Faith

All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, ‘You must do this. I can’t.’

Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis

In a very simple sense, Christians use the term “faith” to mean “belief.” But this puzzles many people: Christians see this “faith” as a virtue. To simply believe something? Where is the virtue in that? What is moral or immoral about believing a set of statements or propositions?

In any case, if one’s best reasoning tells him that the weight of evidence is against Christianity, Lewis is not suggesting that in the face of this one accept Christianity on “faith” – against one’s reason. Instead, he describes proper faith as holding on to things that your reason has once accepted – in spite of your changing moods, in times when your previously accepted conclusions are stretched and challenged.

There are times, even for the most faithful Christian, where the entire thing looks improbable – a rebellion of our moods against our real self – the real self being those things that our reason has accepted as true.

That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods ‘where they get off’, you can never be a sound Christian or even a sound atheist…

Train this habit of faith – it takes training, like any other discipline. Recognize that our moods will change, yet we are to hold on to that which we believe. Keep the main doctrines of Christianity on your mind daily, deliberately and purposefully; daily prayer and religious reading and churchgoing are all necessary for this. Regular reminders of what we believe.

But there is a higher sense of faith which Lewis cares to explore. He describes this as the most difficult subject he has yet to tackle. He wants to start by returning to the necessity of humility, and the first step toward humility is to recognize that one is proud.

I want to add now that the next step is to make some serious attempt to practise the Christian virtues.

It is practice to see that one can only fail. Do not just practice for a week – anyone can hold their breath for a short time. Lewis suggests trying six weeks. This is enough time to fall back – and fall even further behind than where one was when he began. It sounds like a bad approach, but the point is to discover how bad one is by trying for an extended period of time to be good.

We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it.

Only when we seriously attempt to live the Christian virtues do we learn how significantly we fail (this is true enough for me; when I didn’t try to live these virtues, I thought I was quite virtuous). This coming to failure regularly is a very humbling experience, and one certain to remove pride. Only a man who has tried his best and fails – running into the same brick wall over and over – can understand this. The humility that comes with this begins the process of building Christian virtues.

With all of this said, it isn’t really so that God cares about our actions – not as an end to themselves. He is concerned about men of a certain character or quality. But it is through living and practicing the actions that we become such men. And this road begins with humility, asking God for help because we have tried and failed, perhaps dozens of times, to walk the road on our own.

We cannot get into this right relationship with God until we first see our bankruptcy. This isn’t merely an intellectual discovery – yeah, I get it, we are all sinners. No, it is personal, deep – discovered. Truly seeing how bankrupt is our condition. Finding out by experience that this is the case.

We say, “next time I will try harder.” Yet, it doesn’t change. We finally reach the point where we turn to God – as noted in the open: God, You must do this; I cannot.

It is the change from being confident about our own efforts to the state in which we despair of doing anything for ourselves and leave it to God.

We put our trust in Christ, that He will share with us His perfect human obedience. He will share His ‘sonship,” we will be sons of God. Yet, it is not a passive endeavor. Of course, to trust Him means to strive to do what He says. Can you say you trust someone if you never take His advice?

As an aside, here is where the false division of faith and works loses it for me; the Christian life is participatory. Yes, it all starts with and is dependent on God’s grace. But it doesn’t end here. Lewis touches on just this – good actions or faith in Christ? Which is it?

…it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.

Once we have realized our completely hopeless condition, I also find it hard to separate the two. Out of our faith in Him, good actions will inevitably follow.

Philippians 2: 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We are to work – work – out our salvation, and it is by God working in us – for His good pleasure. We are to work, but it is God doing the work. What, exactly, is God doing, and what, exactly, is man doing? We are both working. Beyond saying it is all through God’s grace, try to separate this in any way practical and meaningful to how we are to live a Christian life. I cannot.

Those who doctrinally lean strongly on good works will always say you need faith; those who doctrinally rely more heavily on faith will always say good works are necessary. It seems to me a distinction without a practical difference.

With this, we will begin to see the first glimpse of heaven; the glorious gift available to us through our trust in Christ.

Conclusion

Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given to you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.

True…and humbling. But not even the first step on this road is possible without God’s grace.

Faith. Know this is true and hold onto it no matter the ups and downs, the different moods, the troubles life inevitably throws at you. This is the faith of a house built on a rock – no matter the storms, the house will stand.

God, grant me this faith.

Epilogue

Not doing these things [good works] in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already.

I really like this sentence – He has begun to save…. The word “saved” or “salvation” is not such a simple word. “I accepted Christ as my savior on June 4, 20XX. I am saved.” No. salvation is not merely an event.

Salvation is not a get out of jail free card – “wow, I have avoided hell.” No, we are saved “for” something, not only saved “from” something. Salvation is a journey, not merely a destination.

I have been asked often: tell me about your conversion story, how and when were you saved? All I can say is that you all are reading it.

The story continues. I have been saved; I am being saved; I will be saved.

Praise God.