There are a lot of confusions among both believers and unbelievers about faith. As far as I'm concerned, the word "faith" has at least four different definitions and applications in the Bible. The first one is in light of Romans 4:5 which is man's responsibility; in other words, it's something that God expects from us. The second one is in light of James 2:19 which is something that even demons have, but it's "belief that" rather than "belief in" and won't save us. "Belief that" is a matter of knowledge, whereas "belief in" is a matter of trust. The third one is in light of Hebrews 12:2 which refers to the Christian faith or Christianity in general; not something we do, but rather something that Christ has done for us. We didn't create the Christian faith or Christianity; Christ did. The last one is in light of 1 Corinthians 12:9 which refers to faithfulness or the the kind of faith that is required to end the race after coming to Christ, which is a gift from the Holy Spirit, so that God's promise of redemption is guaranteed as Ephesians 1:14 states.
The Gospel is clear that eternal life is a gift from God, not by works so that no one can boast; we just have to receive it through faith. But how can we receive this gift, if we can't believe the Gospel? We obviously can't. And how can we believe the Gospel, if we don't trust God with all of our heart, mind and soul since knowledge and wisdom begin with God? We obviously can't. This is why it all comes down to one word, which is "faith". In general it may be said that temporal faith which does not save is grounded in the emotional life and only seeks personal enjoyment rather than the glory of God and is therefore a selfish faith that does not save. The kind of faith that God requires in the Bible in order to save us is one that is grounded in Him alone, with the ability to see beyond emotions and what might seem to be a contradiction, and is therefore a selfless faith. In Romans 4:16 and James 2:21, we read about Abraham's faith as an example of a kind of faith that saves. In Hebrews 11:17-19, we read that by faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death! As we can see, Abraham trusted God and managed to see beyond his emotions and what might have seemed like a contradiction.
Critics like to argue that we have a blind and irrational faith. But as we read above, Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. Therefore, his faith was neither blind, nor irrational. Not only that, everybody already trusts God with their senses and cognitive faculties. It would be absolutely foolish to say that for example child molestation could be moral, and the reason we think it's immoral, could be because God is manipulating our senses. Now someone might object to me and say that what God asked Abraham was almost the same as child molestation, but that is neither true nor accurate not to mention that this objection completely ignores the historical context of this event. You have to understand that during Abraham's time, child sacrifice was a very common practice and pagans had been deceived that by sacrificing their children to their false gods, they could earn their favors. God wanted to demonstrate to the pagans that He has faithful followers who are willing to do what they are doing, but this is not what the Creator of this world wants!
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that we should not put the LORD our God to the test and there are good reasons for that. How are we exactly going to test our Creator? Everything we want to use to test God is already created either by God or through Him or is eternal and part of His nature since God is by definition the origin of everything that exists. If we already trust the things that God has created such as our senses and our cognitive faculties, wanting to test God with them or refusing to trust God with everything else is therefore nothing more than a childish tantrum. Because if God was supposedly "evil", He would manipulate our cognitive faculties, and get us to do whatever He wants, and even give us the illusion of freedom and choice. Therefore, in order to doubt God's goodness, you would have to first trust Him, and if you trust Him with certain things such as your senses and cognitive faculties, then no offense, but you would have to be a fool to refuse to trust Him with everything else!
In Isaiah 29:16, God says: You turn things upside down! Shall the Potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its Maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of Him who formed it, “He has no understanding?” This is a clear demonstration of the folly of refusing to trust God or our Maker. Proverbs 1:7 says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Notice that fearing God in this context does not mean being scared of God, but rather having respect and reverence for God. You cannot learn from God, if you're scared of Him. You can only learn if you draw near to Him through faith with respect and reverence. Always remember that wisdom and knowledge begin with God!
