What It Means to Have Faith

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ… in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 Peter 1:1-2

Peter is writing to people of faith, telling them that in Jesus Christ they have everything they need for life. What does it mean to have faith?

Christian faith is faith in Jesus Christ

Peter affirms that Jesus is God. People who say that Jesus is never referred to as “God” in the Bible need to see this. Peter also affirms that Jesus is Saviour and Lord.

Christian faith is confidence in Jesus’ ability to bring you through every circumstance of life. You will mess up in many ways, but by faith you know that Jesus is Lord of every trial and Saviour from every temptation. Jesus is with you and for you; He won’t mess up His work—which is to save you and on the last day present you to the Father, without fault and with great joy.

Christian faith is apostolic

We often speak about personal faith—that’s good, because nobody else can believe for you. But Christian faith is more than personal, it’s apostolic. To be a Christian means that you share the same faith as the apostles.

We often ask people, “Do you have a personal faith?” We should also ask them, “Do you have an apostolic faith? Do you share the faith of the apostles? Do you believe what they believed?” What matters is not that you have “a” faith (as if you needed to make up your own), but that you hold to “the” faith, or what Peter calls here “a faith of equal standing with ours.”

Do you pass these two tests of faith? If so, Peter is telling you that you have everything you need for life. If not, what are you waiting for?