Whether or not we think of ourselves as religious, all of us live our lives by faith.

We have faith that the otherwise worthless pieces of green paper in our wallet will be treated by store owners as if they were actually worth something.

We have faith that the metal tube we climb into will not only take off,

but then cruise suavely at an altitude of 35,000 feet and then land gently somewhere else.

We have faith that our employers will pay us in future for the work we're presently doing. Everywhere we turn, we choose to

trust, to believe, to have faith. If we didn't have faith, if we refused to put our trust in

other people and other things, life would be impossible. It would be still born. And yet, faith in itself

isn't necessarily a virtue. It depends what we have faith in. There is, after all,

such a thing as misplaced faith, naive faith, blind faith. We may have faith in a doctor who

disastrously misdiagnoses us. We may have faith in a politician who once elected

forgets his campaign promises. We may have faith in a spouse shortly before we discover secretive texts

on their iPhone. The reason that it's proper to put our faith in Christ is because Christ is

perfectly good and perfectly trustworthy. As we look at Christ's life, death and resurrection, we see someone

who at every point is completely and utterly worthy of our faith in Him. And we know that

faith in Christ, though it may certainly be ridiculed today, will definitely be vindicated

tomorrow. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews

11, verse 1. The reformers spoke in the 16th century about being justified

by faith alone, in Christ alone. Some heard that as an invitation to sin. They reasoned that

if you tell people that all they need is faith in Christ in order to be saved,

then why bother doing good works? The reformers responded, there's no such thing as genuine faith

that doesn't result in good works. If someone has faith, then they will certainly do good works. That's James's

point when he says, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have

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