{"id":56564,"date":"2012-12-02T21:29:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T03:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=56564"},"modified":"2022-12-02T21:32:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T03:32:33","slug":"good-faith-desire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/good-faith-desire\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Faith Desire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Sam Stinson\n

“For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls<\/em>” (Hebrews 10:37-39).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A certain store trains its worker on how to deal with customers. That worker is instructed by the company to have a “good faith” desire to do what is right and approved: “If a client comes into the office to have work done but they clearly have their hearts set on violating ethical behavior and refuse to back down, hand them back their documents and refuse to cooperate. This has nothing to do with the law per sei but our standing as a company. When the client says, ‘I know what is right but I believe this other action is okay to do’ it is our ‘good faith’ desire to do what is ethical and approved. It is our loyalty to our employer and our government that makes us unwilling to cooperate. We might lose a sale, but we retain our integrity.”<\/p>\n

The same principle is true with regard to spiritual truth. The Bible tells disciples to have a “good faith” desire to avoid what is sinful and to do what is approved in God’s sight. The Hebrews writer speaks, quoting the prophet Habakkuk, that when the carnal, wicked man comes, the one who is righteous in God’s sight will endure, living by faith (Hebrews 10:37-38). If, however, that person shrinks back and does not remain faithful when tested, that soul is destroyed (Hebrews 10:39). Faith justifies a disciple but faithlessness destroys that same disciple. If we act against what is taught in the Bible and say, “I know what the Bible teaches, but I believe this breach of faith is permissible” it is our “good faith” desire that is compromised, leading us to be destroyed. If we personally prohibit something that is clearly permitted in the Bible and we say, “I know what the Bible teaches, but I don’t like that this is permissible so I will personally make a law against it” also then we are not acting in a “good faith” desire. Our loyalty to God allows us to control our desire and actions. This is why the righteous shall live by faith. If it is important in the conducting of this world’s business, how much more important with regard to keeping God’s word by faith? There, a violation may lead to termination and arrest. Here, in God’s presence, we could be condemned to an eternity away from him. Let us take this to heart and keep burning the fire of a “good faith” desire in our Lord and be justified. Let us not be like those who backslide and are destroyed but like those who have faith and preserve their souls.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sam Stinson “For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,552],"class_list":["post-56564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-integrity"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94162,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-that-but-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":0},"title":"Not That, But This","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson The whole Bible takes a balanced approach to \"dos\" and \"don'ts.\" The author of Hebrews was written to Christians who were in danger of falling away. To address this peril, the writer offers both warnings and promises, rebukes and encouragements: \"And we desire that each one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-had-faith-to-be-healed\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":1},"title":"He Had Faith to Be Healed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by William J. Stewart It is a common perception in the religious world that one must have adequate faith for one to be healed. This false idea has allowed many fake healers to save face when their hypnotic advantage over a would-be recipient has failed. And as sure as it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56175,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-faith-of-toleration\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":2},"title":"The Faith of Toleration","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Todd Chandler via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 7, July 2008. Right and Wrong ... Fewer People Like to Think in Those Terms or Listen to Those Who Do. The business of drawing lines is risky and a quick way to get labeled judgmental, self-righteous, or hateful. So, a more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/WrongWay.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-the-bible-doesnt-prove-anything-if-it-did-how-could-we-walk-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":3},"title":"All the Bible doesn’t prove anything. If it did, how could we walk by faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: All the Bible doesn't prove anything. If it did, how could we walk by faith? Answer: It appears that you think faith is unreasoning and based on nothing. But you cannot have faith without knowledge of the Bible. \"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67902,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/real-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":4},"title":"Real Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Biblical faith is not mere belief. It is trust, but it is more than that. It is conviction, loyalty, faithfulness, allegiance, and commitment. To say that we ought to trust God and have faith is not to say that we sit back and do nothing. That is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88896,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/four-characteristics-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":56564,"position":5},"title":"Four Characteristics of Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson To say that faith is a significant theme of the Bible is an understatement. What better place to begin than the great Faith Chapter of the Bible, Hebrews 11. In this chapter, the noun \"faith\" is found 24 times, and the verb \"believe\" is used once. Hebrews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}