Faith is precious in God’s sight. Afterall, we are saved by faith, and prayers made with faith are greatly rewarded. But have you ever wondered why is faith important to God? Why does God require faith in order to be saved?
In the beginning, lack of faith in God
To answer this question, let’s go back to the beginning, to the first man and woman.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’
And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”‘
But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:1-6)
So the first sin was distrust of God or, in other words, lack of faith in God. Adam and Eve did not believe that God had the best for them, and they thought perhaps God did not want them to be wise. Of course, they were deceived by the serpent’s false words. God did not want Adam and Eve to experience or practice evil. But by trusting in the serpent instead of God, they committed evil when, previously, they only did good. Now instead of just knowing good, they would know evil as well.
Why is faith important: From unbelief to belief
This was the first sin, and the end result of sin is death. Because lack of trust in God was the root reason for the first sin, God wants to turn that around and use our trust in Him as the root reason for life. This is why faith is so important.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
All we have to do to receive the gift of eternal life is to believe God’s words:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus died for us so that we could live. If we believe God in this, we have overcome the original sin of not trusting Him.
Why is faith important: From unfaithfulness to faithfulness
But faith is more than simply belief in God. It also means loyalty and commitment to God. The first man and woman were unfaithful to God, because they could not remain faithful to Him in a very little thing, that is, refrain from eating the fruit of one tree.
But when we believe in Jesus, we pledge ourselves to be loyal and committed to God. If we keep our pledge of loyalty to God, we defeat the original sin of unfaithfulness.
So why is faith important to God? He wants to turn around the original sin of unbelief and unfaithfulness. And He wants us to trust Him and be loyal to Him. He wants us to resist the enemy and obey His commandments.
God has been faithful to us, and sent His Son to die for us. In response, we should also be faithful to Him.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
Why is faith important: Key to heaven on earth
Finally, faith can be compared to the beginning of the wealth of heaven. By trusting God, anything is possible. So if we have faith, we can have all the resources of heaven opened up to us. We can have all the help we ever need.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).
“With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
There is no limit to God, but people don’t receive because they don’t believe.
Jesus came to earth to bring heaven to us. We don’t have to wait until we go to heaven to experience God, to be healed, to be set free, to see God’s miraculous wonders, or to move mountains. Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
So trust God and learn to be faithful to Him. As God blesses you, you can bring God’s peace and blessings to others as well.
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Read John 14 in the Bible.
Learn how to increase your faith.