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Walk by Faith

By Mark Larson

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). This should be the resolve and commitment of every Christian. Walking by faith is foundational to being a child of God. Yet, what exactly does it mean to walk by faith? Walking by faith means different things to different people. What does it mean to you?  To know for sure what it means to walk by faith we must go to the Scriptures for the answer.

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18, NASB). Before the statement “for we walk by faith, not by sight” is made (2 Cor. 5:7), the apostle Paul emphasizes what the focus of Christians should be in life:  On “things which are not seen” or “eternal.” There is a great temptation, even for Christians, to rely solely on that which is physical from day to day and look only “at the things which are seen” or “temporal.” There is a tendency to go by only those things that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell, and follow after the things of this world (1 John 2:15-16). Many people today desire to see miracles as visible proof to believing in God (“Seeing is believing”), yet that is not the basis of which we are to derive our faith in Him (Mat. 16:4). Many people base their faith on their feelings, yet such is unreliable for salvation (Prov. 14:12).

To Walk by Faith is to Rely on What We Know from the Scriptures. In the same chapter as the statement “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), the apostle of Christ says this: “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:1-4). How can we be sure that a spiritual house or immortal, heavenly body awaits us? “We know” it by revelation of God! The apostles knew, by inspiration of God, that an immortal body is made by God for every Christian (2 Cor. 5:1 / Eph. 3:3-5). What they knew by revelation of God, they passed on us in the written Word of God. And when we read it, we can understand it (Eph. 3:4)! Confidence in our salvation, while living in a decaying body, comes by walking by faith, not by sight
(Gal. 2:20).True assurance or solid faith is established in our hearts by the hearing of God’s word (Rom. 10:17). Though we do not literally see the spiritual realities and eternal future, we have all the evidence we need from God’s word
(Heb. 11:1). Rather than depend on our physical senses, we must use the Scriptures as our guide (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The joy of our salvation greatly depends on looking at the unseen (1 Pet. 1:8-9). Someone anonymously wrote, “Some things have to be believed to be seen.”  Indeed, we must have faith in the unseen in order to see eternal things and such faith only comes from the Scriptures.

However, walking by faith is not mere knowledge of God’s word, only to doubt Him in daily living. For example, we may have the knowledge that teaching the lost is important, yet do we put our faith in the Lord to see it through?
(Mat. 28:16-20). We may know from God’s word that He will take care of us, but when “the storms of life” arrive do we believe? (Mark 4:37-41). This leads us to a second aspect to “walking by faith.”

Walking by faith Requires not Only Knowing God’s word, but Trusting in Him Who Gave it. “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord —  for we walk by faith, not by sight —  we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:5-8).God has prepared His children “for this very purpose” (i.e., “to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven” 2 Cor. 5:2). God has promised it to us with a “pledge” of the Holy Spirit (i.e., expressed to us in the word of God, See also Eph. 1:13-14). This gives us “good courage” or confidence in our eternal future, despite the fact that we, for the time being, are “absent from the Lord.” What do you put your trust in from day to day? Is it the wisdom of men or the power of God? (1 Cor. 2:4-5). To confidently walk by faith each day, we must not put trust in ourselves and our knowledge, but in God who gave us the knowledge and the many wonderful promises given in His word (e.g., Rom. 4:17, 20-21).

To walk by faith, we must have knowledge of the truth and put our trust in God. Yet, that is not all there is to walking by faith. To stop here in our study would leave the definition of walking by faith incomplete. Knowledge of the Scriptures and belief or trust in God is very important, yet by itself, such faith is dead and will not save anyone (James 2:14-26).

To Walk by Faith, We Make it Our Sole Ambition to Please the Lord. “Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:9-10). To “walk by faith”
(2 Cor. 5:7), our conduct or manner of life will be faithful in which we make it our number one aim to please the Lord in all we do. Walking by faith is to take every step in life in obedience to God’s word. We do so knowing that God will hold us accountable for our “deeds in the body, according to what [we have] done, whether good or bad.” Walking by faith is to not take a step without first considering what God’s will is on the matter (Eph. 5:15-17). We strive to please God in everything we do because that what is walking by faith involves, what salvation requires. We are to live by faith each day, not merely possess it
(Heb. 10:38-39).

If you want to gain the eternal promises of God, you must obey the conditions upon which His promises are based and walk by faith (e.g., John 3:16;
Rom. 10:9; Acts 2:38; Rev. 2:10; Mat. 7:21). To one day be “at home with the Lord,” walk by faith as God directs in His Word.