A person with true faith believes that God exists and that God rewards those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) He understands that God is real; that He created the world. He trusts that God is good; that He brings blessings as a reward.
The gospels present us with Jesus and examples of true faith. Take a look at the faith of the centurion in Matthew 8. The centurion understands God’s power, goodness, and also sees the unseen.
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. – Matthew 8:5-13
The centurion trusts that Jesus can heal his servant without making a trip to his house. He is compassionate; doing all this for a lowly servant! Jesus responds by commending and rewarding his faith. Do you think that if the centurion’s name had been given, it would be a Biblical name used by parents naming their children?
