After the Message - On Faith

What makes faith strong?

It's a question that echoes through the corridors of Christian life. Many of us can point to a moment—or perhaps a gradual awakening—when we first believed in Jesus. That initial trust, that saving faith, is a precious gift from God. It's the foundation of our relationship with Him, the bedrock upon which everything else is built.

But here's the beautiful truth: God doesn't intend for our faith to remain static. He doesn't save us and then leave us unchanged. The same grace that rescued us from sin is actively working to transform us, to mature us, to make our faith not just genuine but robust and resilient.

The book of Titus, a pastoral letter written by the Apostle Paul to a young church leader, addresses this very journey. In its opening verses, we discover three essential elements that strengthen faith and move us from merely being saved to being sound in our spiritual lives: truth, godliness, and hope.

The Foundation of Truth

Paul writes that he serves "for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth." Notice that faith and truth are immediately linked together, two strands woven into a single cord.

Some Christians today seem uncomfortable with emphasizing truth. Perhaps they fear it sounds too intellectual, too removed from the heart of faith. "I don't need theology," they might say. "I just want to love God and love people."

While the sentiment sounds noble, it rests on a flawed assumption: that we can truly love someone we don't know. And we cannot know God without some knowledge of truth.

This doesn't mean salvation depends on passing a theological exam. There won't be a quiz at heaven's gates testing your understanding of the Trinity or your ability to define sanctification. We're welcomed into God's glory by the blood of Jesus, not by our intellectual achievements.

Yet mature faith—sound faith—must be anchored in truth. Think of it like the invisible bridge in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. When Indiana faces the chasm called "the leap from the lion's head," he doesn't make a blind leap into nothing. He steps forward based on knowledge from his father's diary, which told him the truth: a bridge exists, even though he cannot see it.

Christian faith works similarly. It's not blind. It's based on true knowledge revealed by God. Jesus himself said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We won't know everything—we're not God—but we should pursue the knowledge He has given us.

Sound faith deepens as our knowledge of truth grows. When we study Scripture, learn Christian doctrine, and grow in our understanding of who God is and what He has done, our faith becomes stronger, more stable, more able to withstand the storms of life.

The Practice of Godliness

Paul connects truth with something else: godliness. He writes about "knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness."

Some modern Christian teachers hesitate to emphasize godly living, worried that people might think they can earn God's love through good behavior. This concern has merit. We must be crystal clear: we never earn anything from God. Not His love, not His forgiveness, not His mercy. Salvation is entirely a gift of grace, not a reward for obedience.

But here's the fuller picture: the grace that saves us also shapes us. Jesus doesn't just forgive our sin; He trains us in godliness. The same grace that rescued us is now transforming us.

Throughout Scripture, Paul consistently links faith with godly living. In Romans, he speaks of "the obedience of faith." In Titus, he calls believers away from arrogance, violence, and greed, and toward self-control, gentleness, and hospitality. If faith didn't lead to godly living, we could discard half the Bible.

James puts it vividly: if we praise God but curse our brother with the same mouth, we're like someone trying to hold spring water and poison together. Eventually, the poison wins. If our lives are filled with lies, contradictions, and slander, these things slowly erode what we claim to believe about Jesus.

This doesn't mean perfection. We won't achieve that until glory. It doesn't mean a life without stumbles, struggles, or setbacks—those are inevitable. But it does mean taking up a genuine pursuit of godliness by God's grace.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." The question becomes personal: Do we love Him? If we want solid faith in Jesus, we must learn to walk in His ways and take godliness seriously.

The Confidence of Hope

The third element Paul introduces is hope: "in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began."

Biblical hope isn't wishful thinking or crossing your fingers. It's confident expectation that eternal life truly awaits us because God has promised it. Hope and faith rise and fall together. Increased hope means increased faith.

Paul identifies two sources for this hope—one ancient, one current.

The ancient source is God's promise itself. Imagine rewinding time backward through your life, through your parents' lives, through all of human history, back to Adam, back to the very first moment of creation when God said, "Let there be light." Now imagine going back one moment further, before time began.

There, before the ages, stands God—the God who never lies—with a promise of life. Not just temporary life, but eternal life: rich, blessed, fruitful, forever life. That ancient promise still stands, unchanged by time, unshaken by history, a source of enduring hope.

The current source of hope is the preaching of God's word. Paul writes that at the proper time, God "manifested in his word through the preaching." The same eternal promise made before time began is now being proclaimed in time, in our hearing.

Preaching isn't meant to test our endurance or our ability to sit still. The proclamation of God's word is designed to strengthen our faith and hope. As Scripture says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

Moving Forward

These three elements—truth, godliness, and hope—work together to build sound faith. They're not separate projects but interconnected gifts from God, each strengthening the others.

Pursue truth by diving into Scripture, learning what God has revealed about Himself and His ways. Pursue godliness by allowing God's grace to shape your character and actions, not to earn His love but because you already have it. Pursue hope by clinging to God's ancient promises and hearing His word proclaimed.

The journey from saving faith to sound faith is one of grace from beginning to end. God initiates it, sustains it, and will complete it. Our part is simply to receive these gifts He offers and allow them to transform us from the inside out.

That's the path to a faith that doesn't just exist but thrives—a faith that stands firm through every season of life.