CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The New Testament authors emphasize unremittingly that the key to
genuine human flourishing is faith in Jesus Christ as the revealed and
revealing Word of God, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).
In the Gospels Jesus speaks and acts with a hitherto unknown authority
that confounds his enemies but induces many others to seek him out and
put him at the center of their lives. The latter he praises for their
faith; the former he reproaches in the strongest terms, threatening that
on the day of reckoning they will fare even worse than the inhabitants
of Sodom and Gomorrah. Similarly, in his Epistles St. Paul insists that
it is faith in Jesus Christ, rather than observance of the moral,
judicial, and ritual precepts of the Mosaic Law, that effects our
liberation from the slavery of sin and the dawn of a new life as the
adopted sons and daughters of our Father God. And even though Paul
cautions that faith in Christ is worthless without the filial love of
God and concomitant fraternal love of neighbor that Christ has made
possible for us, it is clear that faith is prior to charity at least
insofar as it gives us our initial cognitive and affective access to the
object of our supernatural love. Faith in Christ, then, lies at the
heart of the Christian way of life. But what exactly is this faith and
how exactly does it function within the Christian life? What vision of
ultimate truth does it set before us? What ideal way of life does it
propose for us? And how does one imbued with that vision and that ideal,
along with the wisdom they promise, look upon the main alternatives
proposed by philosophers who have sought wisdom outside the framework of
faith in Jesus Christ? These are some of the questions I wish to broach
hereMy purpose thus differs at least formally from that of the many
contemporary Christian philosophers who have been trying to show that
faith in Christ is reasonable by standards of rationality that have some
purchase even on non-believers. This is an important project for
Christian philosophers to undertake, especially in our present
philosophical culture, which by and large rejects, oftentimes
aggressively, Jesus Christ and faith in him.1 What’s more, much good
fruit has come of this project. Not only have currently fashionable
accounts of rationality been subjected to rigorous scrutiny, but
comprehensive and philosophically interesting alternatives have been
proposed in their stead.
The Bible was written for people with no real faith. We all begin
with a minus. If we have no faith, reading the Bible produces it, and if
we have some faith we get more the same way. We don’t acquire faith
first and bring it to scripture. Scripture encourages faith “faith comes
by hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).Many who don’t believe don’t
read the Bible. They are sick and leave the medicine with the bottle
tightly corked. People without faith should be warned that if they open
the Bible they are likely to finish up as believers.The Bible brings us
to the cross people do not start moving mountains until they have been
to mount Calvary. They could not move even a molehill or a mole. Real
faith doesn’t start in university. We’ll have less if we go there
without any! If we have not been to where Christ save not even a
Doctorate in Theology will do. The starting point is fired at the “green
hill for away outside the city wall”. From there, we tread on and on
towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ (Philippians
3:14). Walking in doubt is like going back to a Victorian age. We need a
radar and faith provides it in this world of uncertainly.“the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written,
‘the just shall live by faith’ (Romans 1:17). Believe God! It is life’s
knowledge and experience across the area of faith as widely as I can,
whether people are well along the road or just and share treasures with
them I have collected over a life time.The plus life, one morning Jesus
walked along the shingled edge of Lake Galilee and beckoned too few
local fishermen. He said, “follow me!” (Matthew 4:19). At the moment
everything began for them. Until then “Everything” had only been fish
and then it became people, action, and changing world history, with
ever-increasing faith, ever-increasing effects.Jesus did not call them,
smiles and wear sackcloth. Jesus didn’t want to turn folk into stick in
the – mud’ people. He wasn’t so conventional himself! The disciplines
caught His bubbling spirit, which challenged the stuffy establishment.
He showed them new things, especially faith and love, and them they
conquered the world.The primary truth about God is that He is the
Deliverer, the emancipator, and the saviour. He is God only to the free.
Faith is a venture that turns life into an adventure. Doubts get us
nowhere. They are mooring ropes. Believing God means we cast off, like
ships designed for riding the high seas and going somewhere. Faith
inspires. Doubt paralyzes. Faith says “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me” unbelief does nothing, faith is God is
exciting.
We becomes what we were born to be only when we are “born again” by
faith in Christ Jesus. Christ said, “If the Son sets you free, you will
be free indeed” (John 8:36). The world’s greatest book on freedom is the
Bible. The very idea of freedom came from the Bible not from Greece or
Rome. Read it! Remember God made the first free nation ever seen on
earth, Israel, and He wants to put a sense of liberty in our very soul.
God opposes tyranny. The Gospel makes us the freeborn sons of God.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
People have talked about those who “bury themselves in religion”.
Well, in religion may be, but Christianity is Christ, and you can’t call
Christ a religion! He is the resurrection and the life. Christ said,
“If you hold to my teaching. Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free” (John 8:31-32). He is no deceiver millions have
found themselves gloriously free through the Gospel. His words do not
strike us with rules and commandments. His yoke is easy and His burden
is light. The Sermon on the Mount describes what Christians are
naturally, what they want to do, not what people should be like.When
Paul the Apostle was preaching in an upstairs room in Trocas “there was
many lights” there (Acts 20:8). The Bible writers have a way of saying
that kind of thing when conveying a spiritual truth. It is in view of
this that the researcher intends to investigate the effectiveness of
faith in the life of a Christian
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness
of faith in the life of a Christian, to aid the completion of the study,
the following specific objectives were formulated:
i) To investigate the effectiveness of faith in the life of a Christian
ii) To investigate the effect of faith in living a successful Christian life
iii) To evaluate the role of pastors in growing the faith of Christians
iv) To ascertain if there is a relationship between personal believes and Christian faith
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
To aid the completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher
H0:the effectiveness of faith has no effect on the growth of Christian life
H1:the effectiveness of faith has effect on the growth of Christian life
H02:faith does not contribute to effective Christian life
H2:faith does contribute to effective Christian life
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will
be of significant importance to the christiandom, as the findings
intend to spell out the importance and advantages of the effectiveness
of faith in the life of a christian.The findings will also be of great
importance to the academia’s as the findings will add to the pool of
knowledge. And finally the study will be of great importance to
students, teachers and the general public.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study covers an investigation into the
effectiveness of faith in the life of a Christian in Nigeria, in the
cause of the study, there were some factors which limited the scope of
the study:
(a) Availability of research material: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.
(b) Time: The time frame
allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher
has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the
study.
(c) Finance: The finance
available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as
resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to
cover.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Christian
A Christian is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief, in which faith may equate to confidence based on some perceived degree of warrant.
Christian faith
It also includes a belief in the New Covenant. According to most
Christian traditions, Christian faith requires a belief in Jesus''
resurrection from the dead, which he states is the plan of God the
Father. The precise understanding of the term "faith" differs among the
various Christian traditions.
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the
(overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study,
research question, significance or the study, research methodology,
definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two
highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus
the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research
design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on
the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter
five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.