Appendix 1A: Trust-the Active Ingredient in Faith.
Trust can be likened to a two-sided faith coin. When the coin is authentic, it is valuable to both the person giving it and the person receiving it. The more trust you invest in a relationship, the less anxiety is present because character and competence have been proven. Faith is like that.
The "Faith Coin" is a picture of the responsibility that comes with Christianity. It is what you believe that positions yourself in a relationship with God. Without your response of trust to the sovereignty of God, there is no action proving your faith is genuine. You will use what you know about your faith when you trust it to work. The words belief and action must have the same target to hit the mark. They work together by moving in the same direction. This shows the authenticity of the coin, that its purchasing power is real, not phony. Christian cognitive consistency- when belief and action move in the same direction, is a phrase used to describe the force and authenticity of your faith. Without action, an observer cannot see what you believe in. One side of the coin is hearing a Biblical Word that you accept and believe but the flip side of the coin is practicing the belief so it will bring the anticipated exchange from God.
God deposited this coin in you at birth and waits for you to grow into a mature cash handler. The gift was initiated by God, despite your input, and becomes activated or becomes alive in you when you trust it enough to show others that you believe in and rely on (trust wholeheartedly in) God (Ephesians 2:8-9, 4:25, Romans 12:1-2, Colossians 3:9-10, Psalm 15:1-2). The faith coin represents a continuing relationship with the Godhead, just the same as needing money to make daily transactions is needed in today's society. You show respect and appreciation for God every time you use faith coins.
A relationship built on belief in God alone is like a one-sided coin. Inaction caused from unbelief or paralyzing anxiety voids the value of the transaction. Out of all the apostles that write about faith in the New Testament, James 2:14-26 records the strongest words to describe this exchange:
“ … 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 ... Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? … 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also.”
The Apostle Paul states it like this in Galatians 5:6: ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ Trust is the foundation of love and is expressed in both words and actions (1 John 3:18). Christian writer Jon Kuhrt, (November 5, 2022), expresses faith like this:
The true test of belief are our actions. We cannot claim to have faith if our beliefs never bear the weight of concrete decisions which involve some risk and cost. Faith must make a difference to how we speak, behave, forgive, raise our children, as well as how we work, use our time, money and other resources.
A heartfelt belief comes out in your actions as depicted by the two-sided, authentic, coin analogy. This heart-mind connection reveals a decision to act that is not stalled by doubt or anxiety. Intentional action is taken as soon as you are fully persuaded to trust the outcome of your decision! This shows your competency while revealing your character integrity (Romans 5:3-5, Titus 2:7). Christian righteousness is an outward display of trusting God, by imitating the Lord Jesus Christ - a Holy Spirit infused (God's side of the coin) expression of your soul (your side of the coin).
To activate and grow a "mustard seed" of faith you must nourish it by feeding it knowledge from the Word of God (Jeremiah 15:16, Luke 17:6). Followers of Christ, who know God's Word and trust the Spirit’s leading (so that action follows belief), will enjoy a full, abundant life, while Christians with limited knowledge of the Word will be frustrated and anxious in their faith (Luke 8:11-15, John 10:10, 2 Peter 1:9). If you are leery to or slow to trust, then one way to feel more secure is to increase your knowledge and recognize your value of being a child of God (Proverbs 9:9-10, John 3:30, 2 Peter 1:4).
God is trustworthy and asking for the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right interpretation and expression of authentic Christian behavior gives you the power you need to achieve your God-directed goals by keeping uncertainty at bay and overcome your sin-nature so you can act consistently with the description of a Christian (Proverbs 28:1, Mark 9:23-24, Romans 5:2, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Galatians 5:16-18, James 1:3-4). Hebrews 11:1 tells us that this fear and worry is the opposite of faith and trust; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Worrying about things you aren’t sure about creates inaction which perpetuates anxiety. Faith, on the other hand, brings about God's promised outcome(s). Knowing God’s Word deepens your understanding, enlarges you perception and replaces anxiety with the temporary performance tension associated with change. When you believe that ALL of what is recorded in the Christian Bible is true and possible for you, acting on it with patience and confidence shows your on your belief no matter when you see the results.
A Christian who exchanges the peace of the Holy Spirit for the anxiety of secularism, (there is a gap between who you are and how you act in public) has exchanged integrity (your personal identity) for public approval (Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2006)). This, for a Christian, creates the unrest associated with psycho-social imbalance. When you pick and choose what you want to act on in the Bible, with time and consequences, your heart grows hard, truth becomes relative for you, and your conformity to God’s standards becomes optional. This is how unbelief slips into your faith (hardness of heart, Mark 9:23-24, Hebrews 3:7-8, 13, 4:7). You believe God's Word but your afraid, it might not work for you. Faith without action because of a lack of trust is like Christian who has a one-sided coin that has no value and can't be exchanged. (Think of this in relation to the God's promises you learn about by reading the Bible, and then ask yourself are they available to you? Why or why not?
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Read more about how love* is the motive or passion that drives you to express faith in Appendices 2R, 2S, 2T, and 2U. (*A paraphrased definition of love from the Bible; Holy-unconditional generosity and enduring commitment that acts, (1 John 4:9-10, 1 John 5:3, Luke 11:28, Ephesians 4:32). You were willing to exchange your relative reality for the Truth of God, the Creator of the Universe.
A renewed mind accepts and acts on all of God’s Word, despite circumstances. It's when you express your competence and character in your attitude and behavior. Trust God-His love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Imitate God by walking in holy, self-sacrificing, love because you trust God to care for you (Ephesians 5:1-2, Matthew 6:25-26, Galatians 6:2, Hebrews 13:16). To trust the Lord is how the Christian achieves rest while working because trust is a prerequisite to love and love proves itself through voluntary action (Proverbs 3:1-8, James 2:22, 3:13, 1 John 3:18). Choice proves what’s in your heart by the actions you take and the resulting peace you feel. Every choice comes with costs and consequences. For example; A caterpillar can't turn into a butterfly unless he embraces the change and tries out his new wings!
Augustine, a fourth century philosopher, said,
“If you believe what you like in the Gospel and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
You offer your faith coin freely to the God of the universe as a sign to show your gratitude for His free gift to you; the sacrifice He made in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins so you could enter into relationship with Him. God’s Word teaches that you can trust God, a Holy, Loving God, which allows (through the bending of your will towards pleasing God) you to freely imitate His ways so you express your heart-felt faith by practicing what is true and God-honoring (Psalm 40:4, 40:8-10, Philippians 4:8-9, James 2:14-26). Your consistency between belief and actions shows your character integrity and brings psychological peace from the confidence you glean from knowing that you do what you believe in - Christian cognitive consistency (Isaiah 26:3, 32:17). When you believe in your heart that "it is finished" because of Christ's work on the cross, the peace you feel, when coupled with appreciation, yields love and love follows the example of Christ (John 19:30, 1 John 5:3, Philippians 2:8).