Faith in Jesus Christ

What is faith?
How do we get it?
How does it grow?


Perhaps we understand faith intuitively better than we can put into words.  
Joseph Smith defined faith as a principle of power.  


The scriptures teach us that faith comes from hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).  This is how faith begins.  The word of God is also vital to nourishing faith and helping it grow. (Alma 32).  Faith is part of the power that begins to flow into our lives from a careful study of the Book of Mormon as promised by President Benson.


Miracles come because of faith (Ether 12:12-8).  Faith is how we obtain every good thing (Moroni 7:20-21). And it is by faith that angels minister unto men (Moroni 7:37).  If these things have ceased it is because faith has ceased (Moroni 7:38).  Perhaps a good test for our own level of faith.


So is faith just belief?  Or is it something more?  James teaches us that the devils also believe and tremble.  And that faith without works is dead (James 2:19-20).


To me faith is our belief put into action.  Another way to say it, faith = faithfulness.


The first principle of the gospel is not just faith but more specifically faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  To me our belief / faith is two-fold:  1) faith in Christ's promises and commandments and 2) faith that He will help you.  


The problem we immediately encounter as we begin to have faith is opposition.  Our faith is tried.


Nephi's life is a great illustration of this.  It begins when his father comes home and tells the family to pack their bags cause they're leaving town for good.  I can just imagine how my teenage boys would react to this kind of news.  Nephi, too, has some doubts at first.  Unlike his brothers, however, Nephi takes his question to the Lord (1 Nephi 2:16).  He records that the Lord visited him and did soften his heart so that he believed the words of this father.  The Lord would not have needed to send the Spirit to "soften" Nephi's heart if he hadn't had doubts and concerns about what was happening.  Following this experience, Nephi then has the spiritual reassurance that they are on the Lord's errand.


When his father next receives instructions to return to Jerusalem for the plates, Nephi's answer is immediately-- I will go (1 Ne. 3:7).  He accepts that the commandment is from the Lord and expresses his faith that the Lord will help them.  


Now we all know the story of what happens.  The point is this.  Nephi and his brothers fail twice.  There is no further evidence that the Lord is with them.  In fact, the Lord doesn't intervene until it is apparent that the entire mission is doomed to failure and Nephi's brothers are beating the tar out of him with a stick.  But at that point, the Lord DOES help and the miracle occurs as a result of Nephi's faith.  This experience undoubtedly led to a further increase in Nephi's faith.


In fact we see a pattern here:


It begins with a question, confusion or doubt.  When this is taken to God, a spiritual witness or answer is received. Later the opposition shows up and often failure is apparent or imminent. This is a trial of faith.  If you hold true, the Lord intervene's, miracles occur, faith increases and you can then walk forward with increased faith.  You can also expect the pattern to repeat.


We could diagram it like this:


Question/Confusion-->Spiritual Witness-->Opposition-->Trial of Faith (Failure)-->Lord helps-->Miracle occurs-->Faith in the Lord grows-->walk forward with increased faith


We see the same thing exemplified in Joseph Smith's life in the First Vision.  He had a question.  Received a spiritual prompting when reading James.  Met opposition from Satan as he attempted to pray.  All but abandoned himself to destruction before the Father and Son appeared.


New missionaries often experience the same pattern.  A young man may receive a witness that he should serve a mission.  He may have great spiritual experiences in the MTC, but arrive in the mission field being unable to speak the language despite struggling with it for several months.  He may become discouraged (as President Hinckley).  But by pressing forward, eventually the miracles come--converts are made, the language comes, the Lord intervenes with help. 


We should expect the same pattern in our own lives.  We should also recognize one of the great challenges is that there is always a temptation during the opposition phase to turn back or to question the prompting or witness received earlier.  Elder Holland gave a masterful talk on this very issue a few years back called "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence" (Ensign Mar. 2000).  It is well worth reading.