How many of us have heard, “Ya gotta have faith!” or, “You just need to believe.” Or maybe even better, “Don’t stop believin’!” We’ve heard it countless times! Faith and belief are good, but only in so far as it is connected to the object of that faith or belief. The notion of “faith in faith” or “hope in hope” is a semantically meaningless phrase.

Just like how “love is love” is logically incoherent. Faith has to be in something. The question is; what is that something? Faith, especially in orthodox Christianity, is extremely important. But for as important as it is, many evangelicals today either are confused by what faith is or simply get it wrong.

One reason for the misunderstanding is the confusion that comes from blurring the faith with your faith. Both are necessary, but can become problematic when you negate or confuse one or the other. You need to have both in order to have true faith.

The Heidelberg Catechism, question 21 asks, “What is true faith?” Answer: “True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance (wholehearted trust), created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.”

When we talk about THE faith, we are talking about the historical tenets of Christianity. The gospel: the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. THE faith is that historical reality that took place in time and space some two-thousand years ago (Jude 3). In church history, THE faith has been summed up nicely in the Apostles’ Creed. MY faith is a relationship with God as a result of a personal belief in Jesus. You, individually, are trusting in THE faith. It is one thing to know about something, it is another thing to believe in that something.

Heidelberg Catechism, question 21 gives us both realities: THE faith and MY faith. This is done by giving us three aspects to true faith. 1) knowledge: there is a basic understanding of the facts of “everything God reveals in his Word...” 2) Assent: then there is an agreement to those facts; those revealed words are “true.” 3) Trust: this is where we display what we are willing to bank on; we have a “deep-rooted assurance” (or whole-hearted trust).

Whenever we think of faith, we ought to think of trust, rest, or receive. True faith is when you rest in the knowledge of the gospel. That is why OUR faith must always match with THE faith. Let us not forget that Christianity is more than a commitment to a set of propositions. It is a commitment to a person, specifically, to the triune God. Yes, we are called to personally believe (Acts 13:39), but we believe in the only true salvation there is (Acts 4:12).

So when your faith wavers (and it will), remember that your faith is in THE person and finished work of Christ that does not and cannot change. This is why true faith brings about real assurance because you “have been made forever right with God.”