“Faith in Jesus is not a passive set of beliefs but is an active and intentional venture.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 1, 2025
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. Romans 9:30-32, NKJV
The 19th-century theologian John Henry Newman wrote one of the most convicting sermons I’ve ever read, titled simply “The Ventures of Faith.” Here, he asks a direct and pointed question with which every serious follower of Jesus must wrestle. “What have we ventured for Christ? What have we given to Him on a belief of His promise?”
Faith in Jesus is not a passive set of beliefs but is an active and intentional venture. We “attain to righteousness,” according to Romans 9, when we “seek it by faith.” There is an inherent risk in taking Jesus at his word! We are meant to have “skin in the game” to the extent that were it to fail, it would cost us something.
However, as Newman goes on, he accurately diagnoses the spiritual condition of most men and women in his day and in our own. “I really fear that most men called Christians, whatever they may profess, whatever they may think they feel, whatever warmth and illumination and love they may claim as their own, yet would go on almost as they do, neither much better nor much worse, if they believed Christianity to be a fable.” How can this be? Because, according to Newman, “They venture nothing, they risk, they sacrifice, they abandon nothing on the faith of Christ’s word.”
Simply put, we can so easily live as functional atheists. At the level of ideas, we may profess belief in God and affirm the resurrection of Jesus, yet if this belief does not transform our habits and actions and behaviors, there is a profound disconnect, so much so that we function as though our faith is nothing more than a pleasant and moving fairy tale.
Jesus longs for so much more from his disciples. He invites us to join him in the healing and renewal of all things, the transformation that brings forth new life and an overflow of the goodness of his mercy and love within his creation. This is a risk worth taking and a venture worthy of nothing less than your entire life. And so, seek it by faith, and prove your faith to be more than a fable.
Prayer
Father, may our faith in you be tied to lives that are radically devoted to your kingdom, not simply in word but in deed, through Christ our Lord, amen.
Application
Wrestle with this question today: “What have (you) ventured for Christ? What have (you) given to Him on a belief of His promise?”
Related Reading
Luke 9:23-24; Hebrews 11:1; James 2:17
Worship Resource
Kristene DiMarco: Take Courage
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