The Wednesday Word ~ 24 September, 2025 A.D.

What is Faith? Is it Necessary?

by D.G. Miles McKee

(1) Is faith necessary? Yes indeed, faith is necessary.  For example, we can´t get a hold of our salvation without faith.

The Bible says, we are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Grace, therefore, is the explanation of our salvation and faith is how we take a hold of it.

But what are we saved from? Among other things, we are saved from the wrath of God (see Romans 5:9) and this amazing, saving salvation is all "by grace through faith."

Salvation by grace through faith is an excellent truth and we learn to take a hold of it by faith alone.  Self-righteous people reject this. They want to be saved by their own morality. But what do the Scriptures say? The Scriptures say that salvation is “not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I love what the hymnwriter, Stewart Townend, says.  He wrote,

“I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.”

Anytime we add anything to grace through faith, we subtract from its meaning. Faith trusts that grace must be free or else it is not grace at all. 

 

(2) What is faith? Is it Necessary?

Yes indeed it is necessary. The truth is that we can`t live for God unless we´ve got faith. We are told this in Habakkuk 2:4. where we read, “The just shall live by faith.” But what does that mean? Living by faith means that we are trusting in God’s sovereignty and goodness in every situation.  Sometimes the road ahead seems to be littered with roadblocks and heartbreaks but living by faith we continue to trust our almighty Saviour.  As John Newton said, “The storms of our life are guided by the hands that were nailed to the cross.”

 

(3) What is faith? Is it Necessary?

Yes, it is necessary! It is a certainty that we can´t walk the Christian life without faith.  In fact, the Bible clearly says, “… we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7). But remember, faith cannot actually save us. Faith was not tried, found guilty and executed on our behalf.  Also, the power of faith is generated by the Holy Spirit yet this making alive by the Spirit does not justify us. Nothing within us saves us. We are entirely saved outside ourselves by the finished work. The Scottish theologian of another generation, Thomas Chalmers, said it this way…

“Faith is like the hand of the beggar that takes the gift while adding nothing to it.”

 

(4) What is faith? Is it Necessary?

Yes it is! The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith causes us to have confidence in the Lord as we trust in His faithfulness and promises. This pleases God.

The Father is well pleased when we behold the Lord Jesus. We, as followers, are to continually "Behold the Lamb” (John 1:29). By the way, the question is not whether we have heard about Him, read about Him or even preached about Him. Many have done these things yet have never beheld Him by faith as their personal saviour.  What about you?

In conclusion, when describing what faith means it has been said,

For All I Take Him

For All I Trust Him.

For All I Thank Him.

God is well pleased when we think like this.

 

And that´s the Gospel Truth!