A Theological Virtue And A Basic Factor For Christ’s Faithful
The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues which adapt man’s faculties for participation in the divine nature ¬¬(Cf.2 Pt.1:4).For the theological virtues, relate directly to God.They dispose Christian to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity.They have the one and true God as their origin, motive, and object.
The theology cal virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character.
Faith is one of the three theological virtues (the others are hope and charity).The rich roots of the word “faith” comes from the Latin term Fides which means “belief” and “trust” in a general sense, faith can be described as a trust, a conviction, commitment to a response, or belief in someone or something.
Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe that he has said and revealed to us, and that which the Holy Church proposes for our beliefs, because he is truth.By faith, “man freely commits his entire self to God.” (DV.5) for this reason the believers seeks to know and do God’s will.“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written ‘the one who is righteous will live by faith’ (Rom 1:17)
In accordance with the scripture, ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ (Heb 11:1) true faith is not credulity, that is, a readiness to believe something without sound evidence.Genuine faith requires basic or fundamental knowledge, acquaintance of what that evidence indicates, thus it is impossible to have real faith without accurate knowledge (Cf.Rom.10:10)
Analog of faith
The letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel’s ancestors, laid special emphasis on Abraham’s faith; ‘by faith, Abraham obeyed the voice of God instructing him to travel to an unknown place.’ (Cf.Heb 11:8, Gen.12:1-4).By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise.‘And by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice.’ (Cf.Heb 11:17).
Likewise, the Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith.By faith, Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the Angel Gabriel, believing that ‘with God nothing will be impossible’ and so giving her assent: ‘Behold I am the handmaid of the lord; let it be (done) to me according to your word.’ (Luke 1:37-38) in another sight, Elizabeth greeted her: ‘blessed is she who believes that there would be a fulfillment of what was spokes to her from the lord.’ (Lk.1:45) it is for this faith that all generations call her blessed (Cf.Lk.1:48)
Some Characteristics of Faith.
Faith is a Gift:
When St.Peter confessed that ‘Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come ‘from flesh and blood.But form my father who is in heaven.’ (Mt.16:17).Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him.;Before this faith can be exercised man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the hearts and converts if to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and make it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’ (DVC; Cf.Ds 377, 3010)
Perseverance in faith
Faith is a entirely free gift that God makes to man.We can lose this priceless gift, as Paul indicated to St.Timothy: ‘wage the good welfare, holding faith and a good conscience, certain persons] have made shipwreck of their faith.(1 Tim.1:18-19) to live, grow and preserve in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be working through charity,’
The Necessity of Work in Faith
The gift in Jesus Christ and in the one who sent him, is necessary for obtaining salvation, ‘since without faith it is impossible to please God’ and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will any one obtain eternal life ‘but he who endures to the end’ (Mt.10:22).
Necessity of Work in Faith.
The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it but ‘faith apart form works is dead’ (Jas 2:26).When it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite all the Christ faithful to Christ and does not make him a living member of his body.
Faith, if it does not have good works, is dead in itself.Nevertheless, a certain one will say ‘ you have faith, and I have works.Show me your faith apart form works, and I shall show you my faith by my works.Was not Abraham our father declared righteous by works after he had wanted to offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? You behold that his faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected.Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.’ (Jas.2:26)
How to Acquire Faith
The scripture tells us that ‘faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ’ (Rom.10:17).A person must first find out what the Bible says, and he will strengthen his conviction if he examines it carefully to be convinced of its reliability.
Faith is acquired through meditation on the things of God to build up appreciation for them, a person impress them on his figurative heart.(Rom.10:10) ‘For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
CONCLUSION
All Christ’s faithful are invited, to have faith in Jesus who is the promised messiah of Israel and God’s greatest revelation, call others to repentance (for the kingdom of God is at hand) and to have faith in Him, in order to truly believe and live in accordance with his good news about salvation for all humanity.Key beliefs and values in primitive Christian’s communities centered on Jesus’ death and resurrection and on the import of his life-changing message for the whole of the human race.Great thinkers such as Saint Augustine, and Saint Thomas Aquinas (13th Century) have held that true Christians’ faith is like an inner light, a thorough conviction about God and the ways of God towards human beings and the church in particular.Jesus who is the promised messiah of Israel and God’s greatest revelation, call others to repentance (for the reign of God is at hand) and to have faith in him, in order to truly believe and live in accordance with his good news about salvation for all humanity.Key beliefs and values in primitive Christian’s communities centered on Jesus’ death and resurrection and on the import of his life-changing message for the whole of the human race.Great thinkers such as Saint Augustine, and Saint Thomas Aquinas (13 Century) have held that true Christians’ faith is like an inner light, a thorough conviction about God and the ways of God towards human beings and the church in particular.
The gift of faith from God is the beginning of one’s everlasting life (articles 163-165).The visions of life with the creator ‘face to face’ is the goal of the human journey yet now, on earth, as Paul said we ‘walk by faith, not by sight,’ we perceive divine realities dimly and partially and one’s faith is often tested.Thus, we should run the course of human life with Christian perseverance, looking to Jesus of Nazareth as model and witness, ‘the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
By Daniel Evbotokhai.