Three Kinds of Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. EPHESIANS 2:8–9

Having cleared away what faith is not, Evans turns to what Scripture does say about it. When he studies the Bible, he tells his readers in He Holds My Tomorrows and again in Feasting at the Table, he finds faith spoken of in three distinct ways: saving faith, the fruit of faith, and the gift of faith. The arrangement is simple, almost a schoolmaster’s outline, and that is part of its usefulness. But the conclusion he draws from it is profound, and it runs through the rest of his teaching.

Saving faith

The first kind of faith is the faith by which we are saved. Evans reads Ephesians 2:8 as teaching that even this faith is not something we supply from our own resources. We may choose to believe and want to believe, but the ability to trust Christ savingly comes from God. There is, he says in effect, no store of faith in us waiting to be tapped.

This is the faith every born-again believer shares. By it we are justified, reckoned righteous for Christ’s sake, and brought into the family of God. Evans loves to linger over grace here. He likes to set grace and mercy side by side, as many preachers have: grace lavishes on us the good we never earned, and mercy spares us the judgement we richly earned. Saving faith receives both.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ROMANS 5:1

But Evans adds a sad observation, drawn from long years as a pastor. Many Christians, he believes, never progress far beyond this beginning. He finds a measuring rod for maturity in the apostle John’s address to little children, young men and fathers:

I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 1 JOHN 2:13

These are not ages but stages, Evans insists. He has met young believers who were already fathers and mothers in the faith, and older church members who were still children. The little child knows his sins are forgiven and can call God Father; the young man is strong, has the Word abiding in him and overcomes the evil one; the father has come to know Him who is from the beginning. Saving faith is the door, not the house.

The fruit of faith

The second kind of faith is the fruit of the Spirit. In the King James Version the list in Galatians 5 includes faith by name:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. GALATIANS 5:22–23

Evans illustrates this with a story he has told in books and pulpits for years, and which he openly admits is invented. He and Anne, sitting in their Canadian garden one summer evening, heard a groan followed by a sigh of relief, and turned to see an apple tree straining until an apple popped out onto a branch. Then the plum trees and the cherry trees began to do the same. Nobody, of course, believes the story. Trees do not produce fruit by effort. And yet, Evans says, that is exactly how many believers think the fruit of the Spirit is produced: by trying very hard.

A tree bears fruit by standing where God planted it, drinking the rain and drawing sap from the ground. The fruit is the natural expression of the life within.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. PSALM 1:3

So it is with the fruit of faith. It grows slowly, over years, in the believer who abides in Christ. It requires pruning, patience and trust, but not strain. Evans adds a characteristic practical counsel: instead of constantly examining our branches for signs of fruit, we would do better to turn our eyes to the Vine.

He also notices that the fruits listed by Paul seem to become rarer as the list goes on. Most new believers taste love, joy and peace early; faith, meekness and self-control are rare and slow to ripen. And the word fruit is singular. These are not nine separate fruits but one fruit showing itself in different ways, as the one life of Christ is formed in us.

The gift of faith

The third kind of faith is one of the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:

To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit. 1 CORINTHIANS 12:9

Evans understands this as a special, God-given assurance for a particular situation, granted for the good of the whole body. He illustrates it with a scene he describes more than once: a church board divided over whether to employ a youth worker it cannot afford. The members pray and talk, and then one who came in opposed says that something has changed in him as he listened; he now knows the Lord is in it. Within minutes all are agreed. That, for Evans, is the gift of faith: God planting in His people, for that moment and that need, a confidence that overcomes the circumstances.

He tells too of a young friend in Wales with a crippling stammer who, against all advice, including Evans’s own, insisted on hiring a hall to tell his home town what Christ had done, and spoke clearly for the first time in his life. God had given His weak servant faith for that hour.

All from God

Having laid out the three, Evans makes the observation that governs everything else he teaches about faith. All three have their source in God, not in the believer. Saving faith is His gift; the fruit of faith is His Spirit’s growth in us; the gift of faith is His Spirit’s manifestation through us. There is nothing we can do to manufacture faith.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. HEBREWS 12:2

This is why he pleads, with some feeling, that no one should tell a sick or struggling believer to have more faith. What such a person needs to grow in, he says, is trust: the day-by-day willingness to rely on God and obey Him. That is within our reach, because it is simply the response of a child to a Father who has already acted.

Some readers will want to add that the New Testament also commands faith and commends those who grow in it; faith is God’s gift, but it is also truly our response, and Scripture does not set the two against each other. Evans would agree. His concern is with the root. Where faith is thought of as a human achievement, pride and despair follow close behind. Where it is received as God’s work, the believer is humbled and set free.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ROMANS 10:17

The practical path, then, is not to strain after faith but to put ourselves where God gives it: in His Word, in prayer, among His people, abiding in the Vine.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Using John’s three stages, little child, young man and father, ask honestly where you are in your walk with God. Do not be discouraged by the answer; ask what the next step might be.

2. List the nine fruits of the Spirit and underline the one that seems least present in your life. Instead of resolving to try harder, spend time this week simply abiding in Christ in prayer and the Word.

3. Recall a time when you, or your church, were given an unexpected confidence that God was in something. Thank Him for it.

4. Replace the phrase have more faith in your vocabulary with an offer to pray, to help or to stay alongside.

5. Read Romans 10:17 and set aside regular time to hear the Word, not only to read it.

A PRAYER

Father, I did not find my way to You by my own believing. You opened my eyes and gave me faith to trust Your Son, and I thank You.

I confess that I have often tried to produce fruit by effort, and grown weary and ashamed. Teach me instead to abide, to drink from the river of Your Spirit, and to let You bear fruit in me in its season.

When Your people face mountains, give us faith for the hour, and let it bring glory to You alone.

Author and finisher of my faith, finish what You have begun in me. Amen.