There is a difference between faith and hope.
First, faith is in the present. Hope is in the future.
Second, faith is in the spirit. Hope is in the mind.
Third, faith relates us to Jesus as the author of our faith. Hope relates us to Jesus as the perfecter of our faith.
Fourth, Faith is based on what Jesus has done. Hope looks forward to what Jesus will do.
To use the imagery of Scripture, faith is the breastplate that protects our heart. Hope is the helmet that protects our mind.
What is the main reason why faith is so important?
It’s the only basis of righteous living.
Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Where Paul speaks of the gospel and its power (dynamis), there’s a tremendous emphasis on faith.
In verse 16, he says to everyone who believes, that’s the key to releasing the power of the gospel in our lives.
And in verse 17, the word faith actually occurs three times in that one verse. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
And then he quotes the passage from Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4, but the righteous man shall live by faith.
So, in that verse, faith occurs three times. The righteous man shall live by faith, is quoted from Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4.
And that same passage in Habakkuk is also quoted twice more in the New Testament in Galatians 3.11 and in Hebrews 10.38.
In other words, four times in the Bible, God tells us this vital fact, the righteous man shall live by faith. This unites both righteousness and life with faith. It makes both righteousness and life depend upon faith.
The word live is one of the most all-inclusive words that we could use. It covers everything that’s a part of living.
It does not refer merely to what we might consider to be religious or spiritual, things like prayer or going to church or reading the Bible, but living includes ordinary, everyday acts like sleeping, eating, talking.
All of these come within the extent of faith. The only way we can be righteous in any of these everyday acts is through faith. There is no righteousness apart from faith.
Interestingly enough, further on in Romans, Paul applies this principle specifically to something so routine as eating every day.
And in Romans 14: 23, he states the opposite of living by faith.
In Romans 1.17, he says, the righteous man shall live by faith.
And in Romans 14:23, he says the opposite. Whatever is not from faith is sin.
This brings home the fact that the only basis for righteousness in our total living is faith. And if anything does not proceed from faith, it’s not righteous. In fact, it’s sin.
Romans 14:23. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.
So even eating not from faith is sin.
That raises an interesting question? What is it to eat from faith? How can faith be the basis of something so routine as eating?
I’ll suggest to you a number of different things that are involved in eating from faith.
First, we acknowledge that our food comes from God.
In Psalm 104: 14 Your compassion brings the earth’s harvest, feeding the hungry. You cause the grass to grow for livestock, along with the fruit, grains, and vegetables to feed mankind. 15 You provide sweet wine to gladden hearts. You give us daily bread to sustain life, giving us glowing health for our bodies.
So, all our basic provision of food comes from God. Faith acknowledges that. As a result of acknowledging it, faith thanks God for the food, and this in turn sanctifies the food. It gives it a special quality.
Paul says this in First Timothy 4:4-5, for everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by the means of the word of God and prayer.
So, as we thank God in prayer for our food, we sanctify it. We make it wholesome.
And thirdly, to eat in faith means also that we dedicate to God the strength our food supplies.
Paul says in Romans 12.1, I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
So, our bodies receive their strength and their sustenance from God, and in turn, we acknowledge God by dedicating back to Him the strength which the food supplies to our bodies.
Peter says in 1 Peter 4.11, Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God. Whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplied.
So, we acknowledge that through our food, God supplies us the strength with which to serve Him.
And then let’s look at the opposite of eating in faith.
In one of the books of the Bible that’s less often read, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 17, Solomon depicts what is meant not to eat in faith.
Many parts of Ecclesiastes deal with what we would call the natural man, the man who’s not related to God through faith.
And in Ecclesiastes 5.17, this is what Solomon says about such a man. Throughout his life, he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness, and anger.
So, to eat not out of faith is to eat in darkness. And the results are vexation, sickness and anger.
I think we see many demonstrations of that in our society today as people eat their food without acknowledging God, without having His blessing, and without dedicating to Him the strength their food supplies.
They are eating in darkness, and many times the consequence in their lives is vexation, sickness, and anger.
We’ve seen that the only basis for righteous living is faith, and that this applies to every area of our lives.
We’ve looked at what it means to eat out of faith. The same applies also to sleeping.
In Psalm 3 verses 4 through 6, David says this, I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of 10 thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.
Notice that David is sleeping in safety and awaking again, he attributes to his prayers. I was crying to the Lord with my voice. He answered me. In what way?
In this way that I lay down and slept, and I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.
David acknowledged that his sleep came from God. Again, he says in the next Psalm, Psalm 4, verse 8, In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for thou, O Lord, alone dost make me to dwell in safety.
I fear there are many people in society who haven’t learned that secret of lying down in peace and sleeping, that is, calculating they have God’s protection.
Isn’t that a good remedy for insomnia? In peace I will both lie down and sleep. The basis of it, of course, is faith, faith in God’s faithfulness.
And then again in Psalm 127, verse 2, the psalmist says this, it is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors, for he gives to his beloved even in his sleep. And it says that even while we’re asleep, God is giving us what we need. He’s providing. He’s watching over us.
The New International Version says it in a different way, which is also legitimate. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat. For God, grants sleep to those he loves.
So whichever way you interpret that psalm, and I believe each is legitimate, sleep is a gift from God. And if we really have faith in God, we can lie down in peace and sleep. We’ll know that God will protect us while we’re asleep and that even while we’re sleeping, He’s working on our behalf and making provision for all our needs.
He gives to His beloved even in sleep. He gives His beloved sleep.
Our conclusion is this, the only channel through which we receive life and righteousness is faith. The measure of faith is the measure of righteousness and life that we enjoy.
And therefore, let me say this, and it’s a kind of paradox, it’s dangerous in the Christian life to be too safe. It’s dangerous to settle down within the narrow limits of our own ability and our own convenience.
Because once we’re not needing faith, then we’re not experiencing life and righteousness. And God will arrange our lives so that we continually must stretch our faith and continue to live in faith the life of righteousness.