What else does the Holy Scripture say that faith in God must consist in?
The Apostle Paul writes: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb 11:6; see Q003, Q390). Faith thus embraces both God’s being and his goodness: we trust not only that he is, but that he is for us.
The same Apostle expresses the effect of faith upon Christians in his prayer:
I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… that according to the riches of his glory, he would grant you to be inwardly strengthened with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that you may be rooted and grounded in love (Eph 3:14–17).
Faith is the open door by which Christ enters and abides in the heart. St James the Just also writes of the effect of faith, by which he always means true faith, the kind made manifest in good works:
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (Jas 1:2–4)
