We are not saved by the amount of our faith,
but by the object of our faith.
On September 8th,1974, famous daredevil Evel Knievel climbed into a steam-powered rocket and attempted to blast across Idaho’s Snake River Canyon. He had carefully assessed both sides of the canyon, prepared a ramp, and arranged for a parachute to deploy to bring him to safety on the other side of the river. He widely acclaimed his faith in this venture and was certain of its success. Unfortunately, the parachute opened too early, leading to a crash landing in the canyon below. Despite his great faith, he discovered that he had placed it in the wrong object.
About this same time, my wife and I were traveling to a similar canyon called the Royal Gorge. A bridge had been built across the canyon. As we stepped up to the bridge, we could see a dizzying distance to the river below. It took a great deal of persuading to entice my wife to cross the bridge. Her faith was weak and we took very hesitating steps across the bridge and before long, we arrived in safety on the other side. We made it to safety, not because of the amount of our faith but because of the object of our faith.
Our physical lives are dependent upon placing our faith in the right objects. The spiritual nature, likewise, looks for that in which it can exercise its faith. G. Campbell Morgan, in the Crises of the Christ, makes this statement. “It is unthinkable and impossible that human nature should exist without a god in some form. The most blatant infidel, denying the existence of a Supreme Being, yet worships; and where there is no other object, then man enshrines his own intellect, bows down before that, declaring that he will receive and yield to the things he can comprehend, thus making his understanding the very deity that receives his worship. The creation of a god upon the basis of man’s knowledge of himself lies at the back of the whole story of idolatry.” Hardpress Publishing, Fifth Edition, Pages 22-23. Over the many centuries, the evil one has induced fallen humanity to exercise great faith in many false gods. Evel Kneivel’s misplaced faith resulted in bodily injury. Misplaced faith in these lies of the evil one, however, result in eternal separation from God.
Having blinded the eyes of many to the glory of the finished work of Christ, the devil does not consider his work to be finished. He also turns his attention to those who have placed their faith in Christ. Although he has failed in his attempt to induce us to place our faith in false gods, the enemy of our souls now attempts to rob us of the joy we now have in our relationship with Christ. He does this by motivating us to look at our faith rather than at the object of our faith, which is Christ. He gives us the impression that our faith is too little to receive the blessings that are available to us from our Lord. Although we don’t hear his audible voice, we are led to compare our faith with others and we always come up on the short end of the stick. When we read Hebrews chapter eleven we may be led to conclude that those heroes of faith were in a different league, and that is why the Lord honored and blessed them. He causes us to remember instances in our own life when our faith was weak. He may pose imaginary situations in the future and then remind us that if these things were to happen to us we would never be able to handle it. His focus is ultimately to force us to look at ourselves rather than to Christ, who is the object of our faith.
How much faith is necessary to follow our Lord? The disciples sensed a lack of faith when told by the Lord that they must forgive one another seven times in one day! Their conversation is chronicled for us in Luke 17:5-6. “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” “He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.’” Even faith as small as a mustard seed will be enough! G. Campbell Morgan interprets this passage to mean that it is the quality of our faith, not the quantity, that is important. The elements of the quality of faith that is required are illustrated for us by three different individuals in the scriptures, all of which were noted for not having a large amount of faith!
The first of these was the apostle Peter, who, along with other disciples was to hear this comment from the Lord. “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Mark 8:26. He demonstrated, however, a critical quality of faith in the following passage of scripture. “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’” John 6:68-69. His faith was one that was characterized by the abandonment of all other alternatives than faith in Him. Psalm 20:7 states that “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” The chariots and horses of today include material wealth, our own training and education, political parties, other people and various philosophies to name a few. If we, however, like Peter, have rejected other alternatives and have abandoned ourselves to Him, even with a small amount of faith, it will be enough.
In the Gospel of Mark we have the story of a man whose need was met not because of the amount of faith but because of the object of his faith. It is recorded in Chapter nine that a man brought his son to Jesus, but with doubts as to the ability of the Lord to do anything. “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22) He further confessed his doubts when he related “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) He did not possess a great quantity of faith. He did have, however, a critical quality of faith which was evidenced by the fact that he brought whatever faith he had to Jesus. If we have sufficient faith to come to Jesus, it will be enough!
A third individual that the scriptures record as having little quantity of faith was Gideon. In Judges chapter six we read the account where two times he used a wool fleece to test God’s ability to do what He had promised to do! Yet the Lord brought him to a point where he acted based on the promise of God. In chapter seven it is recorded that he said to the three hundred men “Watch me, follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp do exactly as I do.” This third quality of faith is an action, an activity, a response to a promise or command given. True belief, or faith is always characterized by a response. Romans 1:5 describes this as the “obedience of faith.” In some cases, we are asked to do the very thing, perhaps the only thing, that we cannot do! Such was the man in Mark 3:5 who was asked to stretch out a shriveled hand. His faith was sufficient because he acted in response to the Lord’s command, trusting in the object of his faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than in his quantity of faith.
Do you ever feel like your faith is not enough for the Lord to act on your behalf? Does the thought ever cross your mind that if you just had more faith there would be restoration of a relationship, ability to get out of debt, or wisdom to know which course to take in a business venture? We can be confident, however, that whatever faith you have that brings you to Jesus, trusting only in Him, and responsive to His command or direction will be sufficient. We are not saved in any situation in life by the amount of our faith, but by the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ, Richard Spann