Will I Find Faith?: Christianity at a Crossroads

FOREWORD

I have always wondered what Jesus intended when he asked, Will the Son of Man find faith on the Earth when he returns? (Luke 18:8). That is a daunting question, one that all Christians and even unbelievers should want to understand. Nearly one billion people on earth call themselves Christian, 250 million in the United States alone, and it seems that Christianity is still growing. So, shouldn’t the answer be obvious?

Maybe so, but possibly not. The key to understanding Jesus’ question and the possible contradictions between the obvious and subtle are in understanding what Jesus meant by the word faith. A consideration of the whole of His teachings indicates that the faith He is speaking of is saving faith; faith which is required to be born again, to become Jesus’ disciple. Most of us would simply call this the faith that is required to become a Christian. Jesus described this kind of faith in detail to Nicodemus in John 3; some would say the most important chapter in all the Bible.

Many people who are born into a Christian home, even in a post-Christian nation like America, find it convenient to identify themselves as Christian; especially those whose parents or grandparents call themselves Christians. I meet people every day who say they are Christians, but what they mean is that they are not atheists and are good, religious people. They assume that being a good religious person is the same thing as being a Christian. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were good religious people, but they were Jesus’ greatest critics and He theirs.

It may seem contradictory but being religious can actually be antithetical to becoming a Christian. Religious people are kind to animals, hold the door for the elderly, go to church on special holidays, support the Red Cross, are good neighbors, may be members of a Christian church, organization or club and have their infant children baptized. So, isn’t that a Christian? According to Jesus, it is not!

CHAPTER ONE – WHAT IS FAITH?

Jesus, the founder of our faith, provided for us specific, measurable instructions for becoming His follower. In a night meeting with a Pharisee, Nikodemus, He provided detailed instruction on becoming a Christian. John tells us of their conversation:

John 3: 1-16

³Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.

³ Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

⁴ How can someone be born when they are old? Nicodemus asked. Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!

⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."[d]

⁹ How can this be? Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰You are Israel’s teacher, said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

This might be the most preached and least understood section of scripture of all time and the truth is; one either gets it or doesn’t. An elderly Puerto Rican man carefully explained these scriptures to me when I was 12 years old and I just didn’t get it, but two years later, after God had time to work in my heart, I finally got it! One moment I was a sinner, the next I was a believer. One moment I had no relationship with God, the next we were intimate friends. One moment, I had no hope for the future, the next I was overwhelmed with expectation and hope.

By the way, when I was 12, I would have told you I was a Christian because my mother had me baptised in the Catholic Church and I thought I was a follower of Christ. Later, she was excommunicated from the church for divorcing my father and we never attended church again. When I started high school, I felt very empty. Success in football, academics and relationships that I thought would bring satisfaction, just didn’t. I decided to see why church was important to some of my friends. A nearby church had visited our home to invite us to attend, so we decided to give it a try. I am so thankful that it was a Gospel preaching church. The sermon I heard that day was not taken from John 3, but the message of John 3:16 was woven throughout the passionate preaching.

We know that Nikodemus got it because he braved the might of Rome, asked Pilate for Jesus’ dead body, and buried the Lord’s body in his own tomb; temporarily I might add. But, we do not know when he got it…was it that night when he first spoke with Jesus, was it when he saw a leper healed, was it when he saw 5,000 families fed with a boys lunch, was it when he observed Jesus on the cross saying, Father forgive them for they know not what they do? We know that Nicodemus became a Christian because it was evidenced in his behavior, but we cannot say exactly when.

Before returning to my topic, allow me to make 3 comments about the somewhat confusing simile found John 3:

1. Verses 6-7 are the key to understanding what Jesus meant about being born again.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

One can only become a Christian through the intervention and working of the Spirit of God. Going to church is not enough, doing good works is not enough, being born into a Christian home is not enough, saying a prayer at an altar is not enough. Salvation requires that the Holy Spirit convict us to bring us to the point of genuine repentance and His tender touch to assist us in exercising saving faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. The spiritual New Birth is accomplished only in and through the Holy Spirit. We are saved through God’s grace, when He, the Holy Spirit, moves upon our heart and draws us to Jesus. If unusual things are happening in your life,