The Three Elements of a Saving Faith

February 25, 2024

Today’s first reading tells us the well-known story about Abraham being called by God to sacrifice his only son.  This story brings to the fore the question of what it means to be full of faith or FAITHFUL to God.  And Abraham’s story is a good place to start as he is called the father of faith  in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. (In an earlier blog - Has Jesus Truly Saved Us? - I had dealt with the question as to what kind of a God could ask for such a sacrifice)

So what is FAITH?  I have pointed out before that faith is not the same as belief, even though BELIEF is definitely an element in the journey towards Faith.  

By Beliefs I mean belief in a quality or description of things related to the divine. Thus, depending on one’s religious turn of mind, one could believe that Jesus is the incarnate son of God, or that Ram and Krishna are avatars of Vishnu, or that Mohammad is Allah’s prophet, and so on.  But isn’t it possible that people could confess  the right beliefs, but not have the faith that saves.  So we have Peter confessing publicly that Jesus is the Christ,  and yet the next moment he is rebuked by Jesus as Satan ((Mt.16:13-23) indicating that he only has the right belief, but still doesn’t have the faith that saves.   On the other hand, generations of Catholics could have the wrong beliefs (e.g. that everything in the Bible is literally true), but it would be presumptuous to say that all of them had no faith. Consequently, it would also be a  hasty judgement to say that a person has ‘lost his/her faith’ because he/she no more subscribes to certain commonly accepted 'Catholic/Christian' right beliefs’ or refuses to participate in certain 'church prescribed' practices.  So we really cannot identify right beliefs with the Faith that saves.  Beliefs do have an important role to play, but I will come to that later.

The next element of faith in God , is the development of a deep trust or confidence  in God.  It is this that Jesus often refers to when he cures a person and says: Your faith has made you whole (Luke 17:19).  Or when he praises the faith of the Syro Phoenician woman and says that because of her faith, her daughter would be healed (Mathew 15:28).  It is this trust or confidence in Jesus that allowed the Apostles and other disciples to work many miracles. In fact, for most of us, this is what faith is, and it is most often expressed when we go to places of pilgrimage or special churches, where we experience the powerful prayer of certain people which result in what we perceive as miracles.  Or when we say of certain people, whom we might know, that their prayers are answered because they have great faith. So such a deep TRUST/CONFIDENCE in God is a second stage on the journey towards faith.  And yet, is it enough to establish that one has a saving faith? Apparently not, because we have Jesus warning us: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.” (Mt. 7:21-23).  So if, as Paul claims, Faith Saves, then obviously these miracle makers too do not have faith.

Thus, while these two elements (i.e. Confessing certain beliefs, and having a deep Trust/ Confidence in God)  could be, and often are, steps towards a saving faith, it is only the presence of the third element, that is Commitment to God, that establishes the fullness of faith. The more intense, deep and long lasting this commitment is, the stronger is the faith of that individual.  This is the case of Abraham, who is willing, as we read in today’s first reading,  to offer his only child Isaac in a human sacrifice, even though God’s command makes no sense to him. In that sense, Abraham seems to have lost his belief in the goodness of God, and and also his confidence in God’s promise to give him children to carry on his name.  But he is  still willing or committed to carry out God’s command. This situation of Abraham is one where all his comforting beliefs about God are shattered, and yet he commits to doing what he understands God wants from him. Is that not the faith that Jesus experienced when his belief that God cared for him was apparently shattered on the cross and he cried out, using the words of Psalm 30 that he felt was most appropriate to express his anguish: ”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46)?  And yet, he continues to offer his commitment to God as he dies saying: “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Lk. 23:46). This extreme experience is one that only a few are called to bear, but it is this total commitment, despite everything else that may urge us to give up on that commitment, that is the proof that one has the faith that saves.

Thus, the faith experience is based on the three Cs: Confessing certain beliefs, having Confidence in God, and offering a complete Commitment to God.  This clarification of Faith into three elements helps us to navigate one of  the primary disagreements between the protesting Reformers and the Catholic Church in the 16th century, where the former insisted that no ‘works’ like indulgences could save anybody (as the Catholic Church seemed to be saying), and that ONLY Faith could save.  The former would quote Paul, who states that only “faith saves”  (Rom.1:16-17), while the Catholics would quote James’ challenging question “Can his faith alone save him?” (James 2:14). I would suggest that these two apparently contradictory statements can be harmonized if one understands that James is insisting that faith which is limited to ‘right’ beliefs (propositional beliefs), cannot save. But the faith that Paul is taking about, i.e. a complete commitment to God, does indeed save.

A couple of points need to be clarified further with regard to the above.  The first is with regard to the role of Beliefs.  When we look at terrorists who are willing to die for their cause, we have to admit that we find all these three elements (Confession of Beliefs,  Confidence and trust, and a deep Commitment) in their lives too.  But many of us would be loathe to accept that they have the saving faith that Paul talks about.  This is where the critical role of Beliefs in journeying towards Faith comes in.   If, for instance, the basis of my ‘faith’ commitment is a belief in an avenging, jealous and a blood-sacrifice-demanding God,  then, of course, I will tend to act in accordance with those beliefs, leading me to wreak vengeance, to inflict cruelty in fulfilling my ‘faith’ commitment to such a God.  And, in fact, this is exactly what many Christians and those from other religions have done over the centuries where in the name of religion,  they have wreaked havoc/cruelty on others out of their ‘belief’ in a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) who will not tolerate any who worship other gods.  But similarly, if the belief that supports my faith commitment to God is a belief in a God who is quite satisfied with obeisance and worship, then it is likely that I will be satisfied with showing my faith commitment by frequent participation in sacraments and prayer services, fasts, sacrifices, visits to pilgrimage centres and nothing more. So in such a case too we would have to ask whether such a person truly has the kind of belief that leads to a faith that saves.

Commitment, after all, is the ‘action’ part of Faith, and Jesus clearly taught us that it is by its fruits that one would know the soundness of the tree (Mathew 7:15-20).  Because, at least  according to the Parable of the Last Judgement (Mathew 25:37-40), only those who actively show love of neighbour are considered by the Son of Man as the ones who have the faith that saves, for it is only they who are invited to enter the kingdom of heaven, and this includes even those who did not know that they were responding to Jesus.

Therefore, while beliefs could be many, and one could still have faith despite a diversity of beliefs (as we see in the beliefs of people from various religions), there are some beliefs that, at least according to the revelation or insights that Jesus gave us, are clearly NOT amenable towards moving us towards a saving faith.  Hence we can judge the suitability of such beliefs by looking at the kind of action or commitment it leads us to.

So, according to Jesus, the only proof that we do have the faith commitment that saves, is when we show our commitment to God by actively working to love our neighbour.  If that is not there, then all the confessing of Jesus as saviour, all the ‘vertical’ practices we may have carried out, even the working of miracles in the name of Jesus, will not be evidence of the true commitment that is the last but necessary level of a faith that saves. 

First Reading: Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”   He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill[a] his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

 

Second Reading: Romans 8: 31b-34

If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?  Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.

 

Gospel: Mark 9: 2-10

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.  Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.