True Faith
Published by Olwin Gosal in 2025 · 28 September 2025
Shalom My brothers and sisters, today I want to start our reflection with a story from the life of Roy, a 15-year-old boy. “At the end of January 1999, children and teenagers from GKPB MDC Ambon held a retreat at the Field Station of the Faculty of Fisheries, Pattimura University in Hila, northern Ambon Island. On the last day of their retreat, riots broke out in Ambon city, the bus that was supposed to pick them up never arrived. Finally, Pastor Melky and three other people went down to the city, and upon their arrival at the military command (Koramil), they were told that it was no longer safe and were advised not to leave the Koramil. However, Pastor Melky could not leave the children in Hila, so they returned there by car to pick up the children. On the way, they met radical Muslims. Pastor Melky and another person were stabbed to death while two people managed to escape. From Pastor Melky's car, the group found a retreat flyer, so they went to Hila and found children and teenagers there, including Roy Pontoh. When Roy Pontoh was asked to deny his faith, he replied, "I am a Christian Warrior" and a machete slashed his arm. Roy was questioned again, but he remained steadfast in his response, "I am a Christian Warrior" and a machete slash wounded his other arm. When asked one last time, Roy still answered, "I am a Christian Warrior" and this time the machete pierced his stomach and killed him. (Sputra blog)
My friends, in this world there are many Christians or people who claim to believe in the Lord Jesus. However, the problem is, many people understand the term "faith" differently. What some call "faith" is not necessarily "faith" according to the Bible. Therefore, today we need to reflect on what true faith is, the faith we should have. And through today's reflection, we must ask ourselves, is my faith correct according to the Bible? Let's read Romans 10:9-10, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
There are two things we will reflect on today: first the characteristics of true faith, second the true content of true faith.
1. Characteristics of true faith
First, it is internal. This verse states, "Believe in your heart". This teaches that true faith begins in the heart. A person can manipulate their words or actions to appear faithful, but God sees the heart, and we can hide nothing from Him.
Faith that doesn't come from the heart is nothing more than hypocrisy that deceives oneself and others. The Pharisees appeared very pious with their rituals and traditions, claiming that what they did was worship to God, but in reality, it was only lip service and not from the heart (Matthew 15:7-10).
Believing in your heart demonstrates that faith is personal; one cannot depend on the faith of others. No matter who they are or how strong their faith, they cannot represent us before God. Some may think you are my husband, your faith is my faith, and mine is yours. Not so, my brother. Faith is personal, and it is a special relationship between one person and God. We can support each other in living our faith, but there is no such thing as "freeloading."
Second, it is external. This verse says, "If you declare with your mouth." True faith cannot be kept hidden in the heart; it must be expressed through confession and testimony to others or within the community. This demonstrates complete confidence in what is believed in the heart. In the context of the lives of believers in the first century, this was not an easy thing to do because when they confessed their faith in Jesus, they would experience persecution from unbelievers. In such a situation, the temptation to deny their faith was great, and they could be overcome by fear and shame. In Mark 8:38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
If we study the background of the book of Romans, we will find that believers in Rome at that time experienced various persecutions, tortures and deaths under Emperor Nero, such as being crucified, thrown to wild animals, or burned alive, and were punished because they claimed to believe in Jesus and refused to worship the gods.
So, my friends, the confession of the mouth that Paul refers to in the context of the Roman church is a readiness to die. Therefore, it is said that confessing with the mouth and believing in the heart is true faith in the context of the Roman church, meaning they could not manipulate what came out of their mouths, because the risk was death. No one aims to deceive others so that they are killed.
A heart that is controlled by fear and shame about confessing or witnessing faith is not a characteristic of true faith. True faith will never be afraid of suffering, persecution, even death.
2. The content of true faith.
This verse states, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord," the word "Lord" in this verse comes from the Greek κύριος (kurios), which means Lord or Master. This word indicates that Jesus is the Owner, the Ruler, and the one with full sovereignty. The word κύριος (kurios) affirms that Jesus is God, indicating His equality with the Father. John MacArthur asserts that in the first-century Jewish context, calling Jesus Lord was a very radical act, because it placed Jesus on an equal footing with Yahweh. MacArthur writes: "When someone confesses Jesus as Lord, they acknowledge His absolute authority and are willing to submit to His sovereignty." My brothers, if our faith only reaches confession without submission and surrender, then we are no different from the devil, as stated in Luke 8:28. “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”.
When someone says that he believes in Jesus as Lord, then at the same time he must have full awareness that his life belongs to Jesus, he must entrust and surrender everything to Christ. Many people can easily accept that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is the provider, Jesus is the source of blessings, but it is not easy to accept and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, because that acknowledgement will automatically negate all rights over himself.
Furthermore, it says “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead”, the event of the death of the Lord Jesus made many people say that He was not God, but all of that was silenced by His resurrection from the dead, because this shows that He truly is God, He is powerful and only He can defeat the power of sin and death.
The final part of these verses speaks of salvation. It says, "And you will be saved." This sentence speaks of the certainty that those who believe in Jesus as Lord and in His resurrection will be saved. Therefore, Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This means that there is no other way to go and meet the Father in heaven except through the Lord Jesus.
Today, God teaches us all that the fundamental principle of Christian faith, according to the Bible, is that a person submits himself completely to the reign of Christ. When a person believes that Jesus is Lord, his primary daily prayer and desire are no longer focused solely on the temporary things he can receive from Jesus, but rather on surrendering his life completely to the control, leadership, and submission of the Lord Jesus. This means that Jesus is Lord of your heart, your thoughts, your words, your deeds, your possessions, and your family.
My friends, it's truly a shame if we claim to believe in Jesus as Lord, yet we're still consumed by fear, anxiety, and shame. There are also those who profess to believe in Jesus, yet in their daily lives, they become "lords" of their own lives, doing everything according to their own desires without considering God and His will. It's as if the power of the Gospel of Christ has no impact on our lives.
My brothers, today let's be honest with God and with ourselves, what kind of faith do we have right now? If today we realize that it seems like my faith is not the right faith. Come to God asking for His forgiveness and help. O Lord, give me the true faith based on Your word. Faith that changed my heart to truly believe that Jesus is the only God in my life and in this world. Amen!