Questions About Faith

Everybody puts their faith in something.

Whether they think they do or not, everybody puts their faith in something in life. If you cannot put specific words to it, simply ask, “How am I living? What’s important to me? What do I make a priority in my life? What am I really living for?”

Where’s your treasure in life?

Is what you’re living for satisfying you? When answering this question, most of us will say, “Yes – and no!” We may enjoy our lives, but we still want more out of life. Often, we look to satisfy our need for a more fulfilling life through our relationships or material possessions. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying relationships or possessions, Jesus offers us a wise warning in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“Sure, I want more out of life. Now what?”

If you want more out of life, consider where your treasure is. Jesus summed up living life in one simple statement with two profound commandments – “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37–39). At some point in our lives, all of us will likely face the reality that we live for something other than loving God and loving others. This means that our faith – and our treasure – is misplaced and needs to be refocused so that we can live for something more.

“Well, how do I begin to live for something more?”

God makes it clear that “the first and greatest commandment” is to live for Him by loving Him. If we aren’t living for Him, then separation exists between God and us. It’s this separation – better known as sin – that keeps us from feeling satisfied and fulfilled in life. So, how can we bridge the great divide and live for God? Because He loves us, God has already made a way!

Jesus, the Son of God, came to love us all with a perfect love. It was this perfect love that sent Jesus to the cross to be put to death – even though, unlike us, He lived a sinless life. Because Jesus lived for God and never sinned, death had no power over Him. He rose from the grave, and His death became the payment for all of humanity’s sin.

“Great! Since Jesus paid for my sin, what do I need to do?”

Jesus took the penalty for our sin, and all we need to do is accept that sacrifice. That means we can bridge the great divide between God and us by believing in God and His Son Jesus, and then accepting the sacrifice that Jesus made for our sin. If we do this, God forgives us, and the way is made clear for us to live lives of love for God – and others. The price for our sin is paid in full, and you don’t need to do anything else. You’re a Christian who belongs to the family of God forever.

“Okay, I choose to believe and follow God. What’s next?”

Simply put, to live as a Christian is to love and obey God (1 John 5:2). That may sound easy enough, but it can be difficult because we tend to want to live for ourselves and not God – even after becoming a Christian. Paul, a believer in Jesus who wrote much of the New Testament in the Bible, once said, in effect, that “I want to do what is good and right, but I keep on doing what is wrong” (Romans 7:19). So, what’s the key?

“Follow me,” Jesus said in Luke 9:23. The key to living the Christian life and loving God is to keep following Jesus and His example as found in the Bible. What’s even better is that Jesus hasn’t left us alone to do this on our own. Jesus promised that He was going to send us a “helper” to all those who believe in Him (John 16:7). This helper is the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit. As believers in Jesus, we have God’s Holy Spirit – His very presence – in our lives and spirits. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome our difficulties in living for God (Romans 8:9–16), so we can always remember we are never alone in our Christian walk!

“If God is helping me live for Him, does that mean I don’t need to do anything else?”

Once you choose to believe and accept Jesus’ payment for your sins, you must always remember that your main goal in life is to love God first and then others. This is our responsibility as Christians. To accomplish this, we must learn to grow in our personal relationship with God. How do we do this?

As we just saw, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to help us live for God. The Holy Spirit also helps us when we pray, which is having personal time with God. God has also provided His personal word to us – the Bible – as a guidebook for living. Finally, God has also given us a family – other Christians who make up what we call the church (often referred to in the Bible as the body of Christ).

So, after choosing to live for God, we should do all we can to follow Him by growing together with His family (the church), by studying and obeying His word to us (the Bible), and by spending personal time with God in prayer (with the help of the Holy Spirit).

“So, I need to do my best to live for God all my life. What happens when life is over?”

If you chose to live for God during your life on earth, you will enjoy the reward of eternal life in Heaven with God when your life ends. It is your inheritance as a follower of Jesus Christ, and it can never be taken from you (1 Peter 1:3–5). But there’s more!

Jesus also promised that He would return one day. At that time, every person – living or dead – will have to give an account for their lives (1 Peter 4:5). For those who have chosen to believe and follow Jesus, we can simply point to the sacrifice of Jesus as payment for our sin. Then, Jesus, standing with God the Father, will say, “This one is mine.”

The day of Jesus’ return also brings the promise of a new Heaven and new earth (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). This will be a place where we live in perfect peace. Tears will be turned to joy and sorrow into laughter. It will be a place where we live in God’s very presence forever!