Live by "Faith?"

The word "faith" is sometimes used in a courtroom/legal context or as a convenient term used in casual everyday conversation or statements (such as: "I have faith in you").

The term "faith" is frequently meant to be taken as "belief (in whatever)" or even "confidence (about whatever)."

However, if application or involvement with religion is in any way inferred or insinuated, use of the word "faith" brings various and mixed reactions . . . sometimes negative and disdaining.

Why that is is that the abstraction of "faith" is misused as an excuse for committing (and not "performing") evil works or actions or something that is supposed to justify bad and wrong behaviors.

Other times, "faith" appears to be synonymous with silly, laughable, perhaps even ridiculous assumption (many times related to religion) - and, worse yet: presumption of superstitiously and gullably making out some idea or supposition which is either false or non-existent instead true and actually existing in reality.

Consider some Biblical references relating to "faith:"

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live."
3:28 For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.
4:5 And to one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
5:9 Since, therefore, we are now justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.
14:23 But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

First Corinthians 15:17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Galatians 2:16 ...yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified [non-reliable works of the law done by us do not and cannot absolve our past sins].
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for "He who through faith is righteous shall live";
Galatians 3:24 So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law [neither The Law nor our hit-and-miss compliance/non-compliance with/against The Law atones for past sins]; you have fallen away from grace.

Titus 3:5 ...He saved us, not because of works done by us [and carelessly/rebellious not done by us] in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:6 which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Titus 3:7 so that we might be justified by HIS grace [from which grace, or non-merited favor, comes both His then our faith AND works] and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Hebrews 10:38 ...but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the men of old received divine approval.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear [a scientific statement of beginning origins].

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who seek Him [makes sense].
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.
13 These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land; but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets....
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
39 And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered [not fatally, however] his son Isaac upon the altar?
James 2:24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Yes, indeed: "faith" definitely has religious connotations!

While we are on the subject of religion, and specifically the [Judeo]-Christian religion, note that the verse:

Romans 3:28 For we hold that a man is justified by faith? apart from works of law.

. . . cannot be absurdly re-phrased to instead ridiculously read (as Julie Andrews sang in the movie The Sound of Music): "I have confidence in confidence alone."

. . . because of the qualifying words in the following verse defining that faith - in exactly WHAT one should have legitimate and acceptable confidence in:

Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we are now justified by His [i.e. Christ's] blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.

Another thing.

Many people wrongly and falsely presume (not "assume") that the verse:

Romans 3:28 For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.

means that we humans no longer have to follow, obey, nor keep The Law (including civil government law).

But the verse does not mean nor imply that.

What it does mean is that atonement against sins is not accomplished by us doing or not doing, wanting to do or not wanting to do, works of the law.

Atonement against sins is ONLY granted and given (not achieved) by the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on a cross some 2000 years ago over in the Middle Eastern land of Israel.

But is "faith" merely relegated to the realm of religion?

There are three entities to have faith in:

(1) inanimate physical entities or phenomena
(2) physical lifeforms (such as animals and/or humans), and
(3) supernatural beings (typically: Divinity).

To trust in God-created natural processes, forces, inanimate physical entities, and other such environmental phenomena is (depending upon our knowledge of such and all related to such) impeccable, regarding absolute consistency and awesome precision.

To trust in [somewhat-nonpredictable] humans is dicey, treacherous and dangerous - or at least precarious.

To trust in God the Creator (similar to non-lifeform environmental phenomena He has created) is ultimate trustworthy security and dependability.

We all, in fact - whether we are atheistic Russian or Chinese communists, antisemitic and so-called "palestinian" (actually: anti-Zionist) terrorists, agnostic Americans, cultic heathen, sex-or-money-or-fame-obsessed idolaters, or fundamentalist orthodox believers in the sacred-66-canonical-books Judeo-Christian [Old-and-New-Testaments] Holy Bible . . . either non-admittedly or admittedly, live by faith.

Let's take us (and not simply "you") as an example.

We are lying in bed at the break of day, or when we wake up.
As we lie there, we have [admitted or non-admitted] faith (or confidence, or trust) that the bed and the nucleonic material it consists of, will continue to hold together and support us so that we do not violently and painfully all of a sudden fall down on the floor.
We have faith that the ceiling and the nucleonic material it consists of will not suddenly come crashing down on us as we lie there in bed.
When we step out of bed, we have faith that the floor and the nucleonic material it consists of will continue to hold together and support us so that we do not fall through it to the basement below.

If we do NOT have such faith, confidence, trust . . . we will freeze into quiet insanity, paralyzed with terror, lapse into catatonic stupor, become totally immobile, and whoever finds us might promptly phone 911 to have State mental-hospital guys come and take us away to indefinite-term incarceration within the happy home, the funny farm, behind enclosed razor wire or barbed-wire fencing.

Some of the following things are related to the precarious quasi-reliability of humans:

We have faith that the light switch will turn on the light, so that we even try at all to turn the light on.
We have faith that the toilet will flush and refill after urinating and/or defecating into it.
We have faith that water - of the correct temperature - will come out of the faucet when we twist it on.
We have faith that our breakfast cereal and milk has not turned into some type of slow-acting poison during the night.
We have faith that when we insert the key into our car the key will hold together and do the function it should.
We have faith that the car battery will again turn over the engine, and the spark plugs will fire, and the gasoline will still be combustible.
We have faith that when we put the car in gear, the transmission will work, and the rubber of the tires (and the nucleonic material it consists of) will continue to hold together rather than go flat or collapse.
We have faith that the red stoplight will change to green. That cross-traffic at the intersection will stop for red stoplights instead of smashing into us broadside.

I'm sure you get the picture and see my point of where I am coming from, and where I intend to go with this.

One might ask the needless compound question: "How do you know that all of what you described will continue to hold together?"

One should answer the first part of that question: "DO you know (or do you not know) IF (or: that) all of what you described will continue to hold together?" . . . and then ask the probably-lengthy-and-detailed How of whatever answer there is to the first part of the question.

Colossians 1:16 . . . for in Him [Christ Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities . . . all things were created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

What should be our response?

Should we acknowledge that we certainly do live by "faith?"

Should we give credit to God the Creator for His perfect and absolutely-dependable environmental-entities consistency?

Should we like -- or instead dislike -- all that?
Should we comply, accommodate, and be thankful or grateful about -- or instead complain about and adversarially revile -- the impeccable and absolute consistency and reliability of God-created stable phenomena around us?

Do people like to be around a constant grumbler, an incessantly-depressing downer? How long would one like that last on a job, whether in a fast-food restaurant, some other commercial-customers business, or even and especially a marriage?

Proverbs 21:9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Proverbs 21:19 It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and fretful woman.
Proverbs 25:24 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Proverbs 27:15 A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike

First Kings 11:3 [Solomon] had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

Ecclesiastes 2:8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, man's delight. [Ooooolala!]

Song 6:8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number.
Song 6:9 My dove, my perfect one, is only one, the darling of her mother, flawless to her that bore her. The maidens saw her and called her happy; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.

So, should we obediently and submissively be thankful . . . or not?

First Chronicles 16:8 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call on His name, make known His works among the peoples!
First Chronicles 16:34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His continuous love endures forever!

Psalm 9:1 To the choirmaster: according to Muthlabben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful works.
28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.
30:4 Sing praises to the LORD, you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.

How about us attempting to atone for our sins by self-sacrificing [with animals or some other strange whatever]?

Psalm 54:6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to thy name, LORD, for it is good.
Psalm 66:15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats.
Psalm 116:17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense to you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!

Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil.
Ecclesiastes 9:2 since one fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good man, so is the sinner; and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.

Isaiah 1:11 "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?" says the LORD; "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats."

Jeremiah 6:20 "To what purpose does frankincense come to me from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me."

Amos 5:21 "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Hebrews 10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
Hebrews 10:8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),
Hebrews 10:9 then he added, "Wow, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
Hebrews 10:10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Psalm 118:28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extoll you.
Psalm 118:29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His continuous love endures for ever!
Psalm 136:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His continuous love endures forever.

Isaiah 12:1 You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you did comfort me."
Isaiah 12:4 And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His works among the nations, proclaim that His name is exalted."

Jeremiah 33:11 . . . Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for His continuous love endures forever . . .

Daniel 2:23 "To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and strength, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter."

Mark 8:6 And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.
Mark 14:23 And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

Luke 2:38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Romans 1:21 for although they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed
Romans 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

First Corinthians 1:4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus
First Corinthians 10:30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
First Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Second Corinthians 1:11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to many prayers.
Second Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. [Keep your noxious perfumes and incense odors to yourself!]

Second Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Ephesians 5:20 . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

First Thessalonians 5:18 . . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Second Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
Second Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

Revelation 11:17 saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, that you have taken your great power and begun to reign."