A Christian is a person who has received Christ and His great salvation. How does one receive Him and His accomplished work? This question may appear difficult, yet the answer is very simple. There is only one way to receive Christ, and that is by faith. In fact, to receive is just to believe.
Someone counted the word "faith" in the New Testament. It appears one hundred fifty times. Thirty-five of these times, the word is used as a noun; the rest as a verb. When used as a verb, it is translated "believe." The reason this word is mentioned and emphasized repeatedly is because faith is the unique and crucial way of receiving Christ.
The place that faith occupies in the Christian belief is paramount. No other religion emphasizes faith in the way Christianity does. Sakya Muni never said, "Believe in me." Nor have you heard this from Confucius. Neither can you find anything of this nature from the writings of Lao-tze, Chuan-tze, or any other sages. But among the Christians, faith is constantly reiterated. The Bible repeats itself one hundred fifty times that we have to believe in Christ. There is no other way but by believing. The New Testament does mention other things such as repentance, baptism, the kingdom of the heavens, behavior, etc. However, they appear much less frequently than faith. The Bible has to repeat and stress this point because it involves our receiving of Christ and His salvation. When one believes, he receives. Otherwise, he is empty.
Let us first examine the meaning of faith. We will try to find a definition for this word.
It is remarkable that although the word "faith" has been used one hundred fifty times in the New Testament and more in the Old Testament, its definition is given only once. Only in one verse is the word explained. We have to look carefully into this one place. Let us turn to Hebrews 11:1. Here it gives us a unique explanation of faith. "Faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (ASV, 1901).