Faith Questions

 by Tony Robledo

I want to pose some questions about faith. I think some of us think we know the basics of our salvation inside-and-out. I think others of us, in a false attempt to be humble, appeal to ‘mystery’ as soon as questions turn inconveniently difficult.

This is about asking good questions. It’s looking into those gaps in our theology glossed over by too much repetition, overlooked by too much leaping and bounding through the gospel. This is for those who crawl through the gospel. This is for those who, like blind beggars, must feel on their hands and knees every inch of the way. There, on our hands and knees, we stumble across questions as we crawl.

How would you answer these questions?

We’re told that our works can’t save us. I agree. And we’re told that our works–our righteousness–can’t save us because we’re sinful people; even our so-called righteousness is marred by the sin we have. Instead, we’re told that if we believe, Christ’s righteousness is considered by the Father to be ours. So, in equation form, it would look a little like this:

Our Faith + Christ’s Righteousness = Salvation

So how is it that our works are marred by our sin, but our faith somehow remains intact?

We’re immediately assured that it’s because our faith is a gift from God given by grace–rightly so. But we’re the ones acting on that gift by believing. We believe, we trust, we hope. And so this leads to another question: How is it that faith is not considered to be a work, considering it’s not just something we have, but something we do? What keeps our sin from corrupting faith like it corrupts works?

And what is this faith, exactly? And how does it connect me to a Savior who died 2,000 years ago? Does it teleport my sins to him across time? Does it teleport his righteousness to me across time? So is faith some abstract, intangible, invisible, super-spiritual teleportation device? What is this faith, and how would you explain it?

And then there’s the whole thing about time. Ever try to change yesterday by doing something today? Doesn’t work so well, does it? Here’s a slightly humorous illustration:

Let’s say I’m in class and forgot to bring one of my books with me. The fact is, I went to class without my book. The book wasn’t in my bag when I left my room. The book isn’t in my bag now. One leads to the other. No amount of faith or belief will change the historical fact that my book was not in my bag, and so now still isn’t.

But when we talk about faith, we make it do acrobatics through time. The fact is, a long time ago Jesus died on the cross and said, “It is finished.” So how are today’s sins added to yesterday’s cross? By faith? So does faith not only teleport my sins, but actually have history-altering qualities? And Scripture supports this where?

I think it’s time we took a closer look at our faith. We need to be authentic in asking hard questions, vigilant in seeking solid answers, merciless toward negligence, gracious toward ignorance.

I think it’s time. How would you answer these questions?

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