Of Faith and Doctrine


"Any faith in Him, however small, is better than any belief about Him, however great."
---George MacDonald

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

When you go to seminary you get caught up in studying great theologians of the past and your hunger for truth about the Lord grows, ignites, and stimulates your thoughts to love the Lord with all your mind. And then you discuss, debate, and argue doctrine with your classmates and peers and there becomes division in the church and discord in the body of Christ, which only unity is the ultimate good for the mission of the believers in God. Soon your Christianity becomes and slips into an intellectual accent of great truths about God instead of belief in Him. 

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." James 2:19

The definition of faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing. True Christianity is more about a relationship; it's a relationship with a person, and that person is Christ Himself. It's placing your trust in His Word, it's a walk of obedience to His commands in Scripture. It's prayer and communicating all the desires, wants, and wishes of your heart to Him. God communicates to us through our reading and studying of the Bible and by the power of the Holy Spirit which indwells us to enlighten our soul to His truth.

I don't believe anyone can be absolutely one hundred percent accurate in their doctrinal beliefs because our minds as humans are finite. We are not all-knowing as God is; He is omniscient. My faith as a Christian is not in my theology or belief about God, but it is in the person and work of Christ alone for my salvation. I've known many Christians who disagree doctrinally and theologically and have embraced different theological systems of belief, but how can I be so arrogant to judge their differences of thought or belief about God? 

Hebrews 11
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."