Biblical Thinking, part 6: Saving Faith in Heart and Mind!

As Christians, we are defined as people of faith.  Faith itself is made up of the characteristics of trust, confidence, reliability, fidelity, assurance, troth, evidence, and actions.  Saving faith in the life of the Christian lives in our minds and our hearts, and is made up of a tandem necessity.  This tandem is made up of our knowledge of the gospel (mind) and our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel (heart).  This can also be described as our knowledge or intellectual consent in our minds (“to believe that…”) and our trust and commitment in our will, emotions, and visceral awareness in our heart (“to believe in…”).  The cumulative effect of these of faith in mind and heart is reflected in actions.

The tandem necessity of Heart and Mind is comprised of a dynamic that is important to understand.  That dynamic is first, that Christianity is propositional.  That is to say that Christianity is made of a series of necessary truths that provide the knowledge of the components of the Christian faith and provide the framework for Christianity as a system of thought and a system of belief (Mind = to believe that).  The second part of this dynamic operates within the established Intellectual framework to form the disposition of our soul in order that the posture of our heart be bowed in humility, strengthened in trust, and that Christ be formed in us (Romans 8:29; John 3:30) all by the practice of our faith through divine enablement (Heart = to believe in). John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion that “faith is more of the heart than of the brain, and more of a disposition than of understanding.”  Another way you might say this is that Christianity is first taught, then caught meaning that first our minds are informed so that we understand, then as our faith grows, eventually we “get it!”

The Apostle Paul, in speaking of our hearts (GK. kardia) describes this as the control center of the orientation of our souls that governs our loves, our longings, our desires and our affections, the sum  of which is our “gut feelings” or our knowledge of visceral truth (GK. splachnon; sample texts: Phil.1:8, 2:1; Colossians 3:12).  This is the place in our being where we are to direct our hearts towards Christ that God would be our first love.  In our minds we know the gospel, we know our doctrines, our theology, our creeds, and our practices, but it is only in obedience to God that we grow our love and affection for Christ (John 3:36; John 15:14; Luke 6:46).

So how would a Christian perform a status check on their eternal destiny?  In 2Corinthians 13:5, we are told to test ourselves to see if we have faith.  This passage tells us to examine ourselves, meaning to examine our lives.  Does my life reflect a transformation that we are becoming more like Jesus?  In answering this question, there is an important distinction to make between a morally upright life and a transformed life.  One might look at their lives and be able to check all the boxes, i.e. I go to church, I lead a small group, I tithe, I donate to charity, I lend money when I have it, etc.  You get the idea, not a jerk, at least not on the surface.  All of these items may be part of a transformed life, but not the sum of a transformed life by far.

The things we want to look at are the change that happens from the inside out.  The test is really for heart change, not behaviour modification.  In addition, we need to recognize that we are on a journey to be transformed to be like Jesus, and none of us are there yet (Romans 8:29), so give yourself and others grace in this process, the important thing is that we are continually growing in the right direction.  What we really want to evaluate is the disposition of our heart.  For example, do I seek to honor God in all that I do?  Do I read and pray on my own outside of church?  Do I seek out opportunities to give and am I a cheerful giver?  Do I have a heart for people who do not know Christ? Do I pray for those people in my life that do not know Christ?  How often is prayer my first response to needs or trials in life? How is my language?  I do I bless and encourage people with my words? Do I use a lot of profanity? Am I harsh in my interactions with people?  Do I look at others with contempt, especially those who live life in a way that violates my sensibilities?  Am I a good forgiver?  Can I give financially in a way that makes me uncomfortable, but trusting that God will provide?

The questions above are a short list of questions to consider when we test ourselves to see if we are living like a person of faith.  The answers to these questions will show that you are either growing in pride or humility!  The answers to these questions will also be an indicator of producing the fruit of the Spirit such as love, peace, kindness, gentleness, etc.  The sum of all of this will inevitably produce moral goodness, but it is important for us to remember that moral goodness is to be a byproduct of the work Christ is doing in you, it is not of ourselves (John 15:5).  It is in the bearing of fruit that we glorify God and prove to be disciples of Jesus (John 15:8).

Father God, may we engage the world with gladness, and singleness of heart, through Christ our Lord! Amen!