What faith is

When your friend says, "I have faith in you" or "I believe in you," is she saying, "I believe you exist"? No. She means she has confidence in you to be good to your word.

In the same way, when Christians say "I have faith in God" or "I believe in God," we aren’t saying only that God exists. We mean much more. We’re saying we trust God to keep his promises and do what he has said.

It's no surprise that skeptics sometimes taunt Christians, saying that faith is a blind belief, trusting something although there’s no evidence that something will help.

To a Christian faith means trust based on solid evidence. We cannot separate the question of whether to trust someone from the evidence of whether that person can be trusted. If someone is trustworthy, then trusting that person is reasonable -- it's not "blind" at all. God shows us his trustworthiness in Jesus.

How we get faith

The message of Christ creates trust in God. Paul writes, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). The centuries old promises that God meticulously kept in Jesus makes us confident that God is faithful. We build our faith on that solid ground.

• God has not abandoned us in this world. He has sent his Son as our constant friend and Savior. Remember, Immanuel, "God with us."
• God has not abandoned us to the grave. Our evidence is Christ who rose from the dead and promised us, "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40).
• God has not abandoned us in our sins. He is faithful to us. The proof is Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). God loves us and comes to heal us, to show compassion, to gather us to himself.

Whenever troubles shake our trust in God, we rebuild our faith by focusing on what God has done. We "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

What faith does

Trusting Christ's promises provides a rock-solid foundation, no matter how difficult life becomes. Trusting that we are forgiven in Christ calms us when we fear God's anger. Trusting that God himself entered the world shows us that nothing can separate us from his love that is in Christ Jesus. Trusting that we will be raised from the dead strengthens us when we fear death and harm. Trusting that Christ has taken care of sin and death, gives us peace because a risen Jesus assures, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart: I have overcome the world."

Our faith has a bedrock-sure foundation. Let the skeptics taunt. You’re the one on solid ground.

Anne Kim is a programmer/analyst who enjoys spreading the good news of Christ and answering questions about Christianity and the Bible.