Three Aspects of Faith
Three aspects of Faith: In Whom do we believe; what do we believe; and why do we believe?
One
Faith is when you hold something to be true based on the testimony of God. With this theological virtue, God tells the person something he couldn’t have known on his own and that person makes the decision to accept what God says as accurate. Faith is therefore the virtue that enables us to add God’s knowledge to our knowledge – we can know what God has revealed to us – and this information radically changes our lives.
Many people are experiencing great anxiety about the uncertainty in the world. We know, because God revealed it, that our true homeland is heaven and that we are just passing through in this life as pilgrims or travelers making their way home. We have no lasting home here. While we are in the world, we try to add the greatest good. But we long for our homeland – Heaven – and look forward to arriving there.
Two
There are two steps to faith. Some human witness (like a parent or priest or friend) tells us what Jesus has revealed or taught); Secondly, this human witness, through the Holy Spirit, leads us to encounter Jesus, the Divine Witness, Jesus; and the encounter with the divine witness leads to a certainty of faith. Only the encounter with the Divine Witness, Jesus, has the power to give someone faith.
Faith is accepting the divine witness, Jesus. The human witness merely facilitated the encounter with Jesus. Therefore, if the human witness ever fails us, we do not lose our faith which is based on the Divine Witness, Jesus
Three
What do we believe by faith?
Although faith demands placing one’s trust in the Persons of the Trinity, that isn’t all there is to it. There’s an actual content of belief, actual propositions we must hold as true. The question is, where do we find this content of faith, these propositions which must be believed? Where are they contained? One of the best places to find the truths of faith is the Nicene Creed, which we Catholics say at every Sunday mass. It is called “Our Profession of Faith.” In the Creed we declare our belief in the Trinity, in God’s becoming man at the Incarnation, Christ’s Redemption of humanity through His Death and Resurrection, the Catholic Church, and the Sacraments. This is a good general outline of what God has told us and what we are to hold as true on His authority. The best synthesis of all that Jesus teaches is given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Four
Why do we believe? Because we want union with God.
To reach union with God we must not only believe what Jesus said, we must also do it. We must put it into practice; we must live it. To conclude his greatest teaching Jesus said: 'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
It is not enough to simply accept the content of faith as true. I could know everything in the Catechism but if I did not live it, then I do not have faith.
James 2:19 You believe in the one God - that is good, but the demons have the same belief, and they are in hell.
Faith must transform your whole life. When someone claims to be a Christian, to believe in Jesus, but not change their life, they are living in denial. Many Christians are in denial. If I don’t do what Jesus taught, like developing a real friendship with him by spending time in prayer, admitting my sin, changing my life to do good, loving my family, forgiving my enemies, accepting the will of God in all things…if we accept what Jesus said, but don’t actively incorporate it into everything we do – well, that is a sign we live in denial, that our faith is dead. Faith only lives insofar as it changes our life.
Five
Only Jesus can give us Faith; but you have a job here as well.
No matter how much I want my son or daughter or friend to have faith. I cannot give it to them. We cannot generate faith in someone else. Only Christ can. Only the encounter with the Divine Witness, Jesus, has the power to give someone faith.
Still, we have necessary role to play. It is our job to help people to Jesus.
Our job is to prepare the way for Jesus to come. You must make sure that you know me and love me unconditionally before I will trust you and accept what you are saying. That doesn’t mean you accept my sin or error. It does necessitate that you know me and love me before you can help me to faith.
How do we prepare the way for someone to encounter Jesus Christ?
By being Missionaries of Friendship. With our family and with our friends.
By sharing life with others, praying and offering sacrifice for them. By learning the art of asking good questions and follow-up questions to get people thinking about the most important questions in life that cause them to think. Fostering good conversation that causes a hunger and thirst for God to rise in the soul. And when we see that hunger and thirst for God, then we invite them to what they are hungry for. Invite them to pray with you or learn more or help them to the Church and the Sacraments.
You cannot make another person have faith. But through friendship there is much that we must do. St Francis of Assis said “Through Friendship learn faith.”