Faith Defined: The very root meaning of faith is the acceptance of something that is true. Exercising faith in God is to accept what He says as the truth. Faith is taking God at His word. This is why the words trust and believe are often associated with faith.  We are accepting something that we have not seen or heard for ourselves.  We are trusting the word of another.

Bible salvation is dependent upon a person’s faith.  The Bible declares that all mankind are sinners and in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23).  God’s Word also declares that salvation is only possible through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid for our sin debt on the cross of Calvary.  Exercising faith means we believe what God says about our sin and the Savior. We take God at His Word and trust what He says as being the truth.

The gift of salvation was received when I took God at His word about my sin and need for a Savior.  I had to agree with God about my sin and trust Christ to be my redeemer.  I had never met Jesus Christ.  I did not in person see His death on the cross at Calvary.  But the Bible says that God loves me (John 3:16).  The Bible says that I am a sinner and Jesus Christ paid my sin debt (Romans 6:23).  I had to trust God and take Him at His Word.  The moment I exercised faith God did what He promised – He saved me!  He also gave evident in my heart that what He said was the truth. (Hebrews 11:1).