What are the Different Levels of Faith?

How long have you been a Christian? One year? Ten years? Fifty years? Each passing year should bring a greater amount of spiritual maturity, but that is no more automatic than it is with physical or emotional maturity. This world is populated with people who keep having birthdays but they never really grow up? There are physiological explanations for stunted physical growth. It could be poor care or a lack of proper nourishment. Emotional growth also has genetic explanations but may be the result of the lack of, or lazy avoidance of, the processes that lead to adulthood.

Spiritual retardation does not have any physiological excuses. Spiritual maturity is obtained through following the truth of God's Word plain and simple.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

- Hebrews 5:14

Any Christian who wants to grow in their faith is free to put into practice the principles taught in the Bible for developing greater faith. All one has to do is learn and apply what the Bible says. So the big question is, do you have the desire to grow up in your faith?

Beginning with this chapter you will learn the fundamentals of the progressive levels of faith. But it is up to you to apply the things you learn.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

- James 1:22

This study is all for naught if you do not put to use the insights learned from the scriptures we will be studying.

As Christians growing in our walk with the Lord, there are basically five levels of faith that we progress through. Think of them as stages of life. We start with infancy and grow into the toddler stage; then there is preadolescence, adolescence, etc. In the same way we pass through various stages of our faith as we grow up spiritually.

There are five basic levels of faith that we as Christians grow through. It would be helpful if you memorized these five levels since we will be talking about them throughout the book. These five levels are Imitating Faith, Affiliating Faith, Searching Faith, Solidifying Faith and Mature Faith.

The names of these levels are assigned for description only. They do not appear in the Bible, except for "mature" faith, but having a consistent terminology is how we can ensure we are saying and hearing the same thing. Learn the names of each level. As you are doing so, I will show you the scriptural basis for all five of them. Then in the proceeding chapters we can examine each level in greater detail.

The most basic level of faith is:

LEVEL 1
Imitating Faith

Those with Imitating Faith are learning by following the example of others. They see and do. They really don't understand the whys and wherefores. They watch and imitate. This is the faith of a child wanting to take the Lord's Supper because he sees others doing it, wanting to put money in the offering plate because others do. This is faith, but it is faith at its most unpretentious level.

Each of these levels of faith I intend to show you through biblical examples, but Imitating Faith is a difficult one to find in the Bible. It is essentially a child's faith. The Bible does not go into detail about the personal lives of children. Rarely would an adult start at this level, but if anyone in the Bible exhibited such immature qualities, it was Simon the Sorcerer.

Are you familiar with the account in Acts 8 of how Simon the Sorcerer became a follower of Christ? While in Samaria Simon had the opportunity to hear Philip preach and watch him perform miracles. After watching Philip baptize several of the Samaritans into Christ the text says, "Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip," Acts 8:13.

Simon believed the gospel. He was baptized into Christ, but he had much to learn. His faith was unstable and undeveloped. Simon appears not to have fully understood the driving motivation behind Christian behavior, because later in the text when Peter and John were imparting the miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of their hands, Simon offered to pay them for it.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

- Acts 8:18-19

His faith was imitating at this point. He did not fully understand what was going on. He saw what the apostles did and wanted to copy it.

The main distinction between Imitating and Affiliating Faith is that with Imitating Faith there is hardly any understanding of the purpose behind the actions. Those with Imitating Faith do not fully grasp why Christians do the things they do. Imitating believers just watch and do what others are doing.

Clearly Simon did not understand what he was doing, or he would not have made such an audacious request, one for which Peter rebuked him strongly in Acts 8:20-23.

But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!"

Simon had a very simple faith. I guess you could say he was the original "Simple Simon." His faith was still faith, but it was faith at its most rudimentary level.

LEVEL 2
Affiliating Faith

At this level there is a basic understanding of why things are done, but it is still a copycat faith. It is faith based on who one affiliates with, rather than being based on the individual's own seeking process. The faith is not really owned; it is borrowed from others. Herein lies the problem with Affiliating Faith. It is weak faith. The roots don't go deep enough because listening to and accepting what others are saying does not provide enough footing for deep dependence on God. There is always the hesitation, the shadow of doubt, that prevents such a believer from turning loose and trusting God whole-heartedly.

Affiliating Faith is easy enough to see in the first century Christians. One of the better examples is in the Gospel of John. As a result of conversing with Christ about living water in chapter four, the Samaritan woman came to believe Jesus was indeed the Messiah, sent from God. This woman returned to her village to tell her family and friends about Jesus. They acquired enough faith through their affiliation with her that they were willing to investigate Jesus for themselves. She led them to Christ through her affiliation with them, but once they met Christ personally the text says,

and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

- John 4:42

The town's people came to Christ through their affiliation with the Samaritan woman. Affiliating Faith is the best way to lead someone to Christ. You most likely came to Christ through your affiliation with a parent, friend, teacher or preacher. There is nothing wrong with coming to Christ on this level, but it is important that we do not stay at this immature stage of faith our whole lives. The Samaritan townspeople went on to search out the basis for their faith. They grew to know Christ firsthand instead of relying on what someone else told them.

Too many Christians find themselves trapped in Affiliating Faith. The majority of church attenders are at the affiliative level. They are content with having others tell them what to believe. Centuries of this lazy approach to Christianity have resulted in hundreds of splintered groups naming themselves with different denominational names, dividing what Christ intended as one church teaching one faith, Ephesians 4:4-5.

Allow me to illustrate this condition for you. Imagine that you are an Affiliate Believer tied with an imaginary rope to another believer who is in turn tied to Christ. It is okay to come to Christ through an affiliation with someone connected to Christ. Almost all of us do. But as long as you stay in this position, there is a buffer between you and Jesus keeping you from having a deep personal relationship with the Savior. Everything you learn about Jesus is filtered through the one you affiliate with. The believer between you and Jesus cannot grow their own faith very well because they have to concentrate on the tie they have with you.

Helping another grow in their faith is, in itself, a growing experience, but the in-between disciple has the added responsibility of making sure you are nourished and neglects or gives less attention to their own personal relationship with Christ. (This is what causes burn-out with church leaders.) No doubt, that person should focus on you for a time until you are mature enough to stand on your own, but it is unhealthy when the condition becomes permanent.

This in-between disciple also cannot reach out to others as well because they are still "tied down" spoon-feeding you. You are also not likely to reach out to others either because you are not closely tied to Jesus. (Affiliating Believers are moderately evangelistic at best. Few share their faith at all.)

There is added danger if the in-between believer moves away, passes away or worse of all, falls away. You are going to have a struggle not to fall away yourself. Have you ever seen a preacher leave a congregation and several members stop attending and/or completely lose their faith?

Their relationship with God was dependent on their affiliation with the preacher. Christians should not have their relationships with Christ dependent on the spiritual wellbeing of others, no matter who it is. Each one should search out his or her own faith. Affiliate believers need to be pressing on to deeper faith and making sure they are connected directly to Christ.

LEVEL 3
Searching Faith

This is when we reach the point where we start investigating and seeking out what we believe. Searching Faith is reaching that level of maturity where we can no longer be content believing something because others do. There is a developed drive to search and own our faith for ourselves. Searching Faith breaks us out of the comfort zone because we are struggling to find out why we believe what we believe.

Many biblical characters exemplify Searching Faith. One of the most obvious examples is the Bereans. The Bereans in Acts 17 were commended because

they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

- Acts 17:11b

This is the very definition of Searching Faith. Their level of maturity was such that they did not base their faith merely on the affiliation they had with Paul and Silas. They pursued the doctrine of Christianity to the point it became their very own.

Young Christians will do this out of sheer love for Christ, if we allow them to. The problem is Searching Faith is often squelched by well-intentioned church peers and parents. Searching Faith looks like doubt because the young believer is questioning long-held beliefs. But if they are not allowed to search, they will resort to one of three options.

They may try to find another church where they can search out their faith. Considering some of the bizarre things that are done in the name of Christianity, for a young Christian to go "church hopping" is a frightening thought. Some religious groups may allow them the flexibility to believe what they want to believe, but without the guidance to stay within the safe borders of God's Word. Some denominations have written doctrines and creeds that are not up for discussion as to whether they align with the Word of God. The searching process will not be fostered in that environment.

If not encouraged to search, some might give up and settle for long-term Affiliating Faith. Our church buildings are full of Christians in this condition. Their faith is stagnant and their religion brings them very little joy. God never intended for His children to remain in this premature stage indefinitely.

The third and worst potential response is they may abandon their faith altogether. You may know someone who was discouraged from developing their faith. Eventually they gave up trying. It was most likely a slow dimming of their gospel light, rather than a quick decision to leave. Whether fast or slow, today the light is out; they no longer serve and worship God.

None of these choices are good ones. That is why it is essential that we learn how to distinguish Searching Faith from spiritual digression and provide each Christian in our congregation with the environment to grow, grow, grow. The message the Lord's church needs to send to its members is that our assemblies are the place to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12.

LEVEL 4
Solidifying Faith

There comes a point where the believer has searched through all the evidence and needs to piece the findings together. This does not mark the end of searching. As Christians, we will be searching the rest of our lives as far as discovering more about Christ, His kingdom and His Word. But there is a crucial stage of growth between Searching and Mature Faith where our system of beliefs needs to formulate stability.

As the search for answers progresses, we start arriving at some conclusions about what we believe and our faith begins to solidify. It is possible to get stuck at Searching Faith just like Affiliating Faith. You can search and search for a lifetime, but at some point you have to come to a decision. Do I believe it or not? Am I going to abide by this doctrine or has my research led me to the conclusion that it is false. Solidifying your faith is essential to spiritual growth. There has to be a point where we plant the tent peg and erect the tent of our personal world view.

This process of drawing conclusions is different from the initial decision to come to Christ and receive His cleansing through the waters of baptism. That is certainly an act of faith. The acceptance of the Lordship of Jesus and belief in Him as the Savior is essential to the beginning of the faith journey, but Bible characters also display a period of congealing of the wisdom gained through examining the gospel, which leads to maturity.

Timothy is a worthy example of Solidifying Faith. His Searching resulted in a Solidifying of his understanding of who God was and what He wanted from him. Under the guidance of Paul, Timothy never stopped searching out the truths of God's Word. But during his faith journey he pieced together the evidence before him, determining what he would believe, practice and preach to the church in Ephesus. His faith was not quite mature, but he had many godly attributes.

Timothy's faith was sincere. Paul commends him for it:

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

- II Timothy 1:5

Paul exhorts him to "kindle afresh" his spiritual gift.

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

- II Timothy 1:6

We must also put kindling on our faith to increase the flame.

The spiritual gift referred to here was a miraculous gift received by the laying on of the Apostle Paul's hands. There were many miraculous gifts mentioned in scripture. One of them was faith. "... to another faith by the same Spirit," I Corinthians 12:9. Imagine receiving a miraculous endowment of faith, divinely bestowed upon you by the Creator. Miraculous faith, faith beyond what is normally experienced. What a gift it would be to have faith beyond what one might attain by normal investigation. Just to be clear, I am not inferring faith was Timothy's gift. The text in II Timothy does not say what his gift was but it needed to be increased like a fire, "kindle afresh" by adding small dry sticks and blowing in the right place and in the right amount.

Anyone who has tried to ignite a piece of paper with a dashboard cigarette lighter can relate to Paul's illustration. The paper just smokes and smolders until you fan it or blow on it. Timothy had been searching out his faith under the careful tutelage of Paul, but now it was time to focus his search and piece together evidences he had uncovered. It was time to solidify his faith. There are other biblical examples we will look at later on, but for now, when you think of Solidifying Faith, think of Timothy.

LEVEL 5
Mature Faith

This should be the goal of every Christian. As we will see in later chapters, Mature Faith does not mean that one is "sinlessly" perfect. It is simply reaching that level of trust where nothing or no one can dissuade you from doing the will of the Lord.

For an example of Mature Faith, there are a number of biblical characters in both the Old and New testaments we could consider. But Paul is one of the easiest to identify with because we can see how his faith increased from the day of his conversion. His faith grew like a mustard seed to the point he was fully mature.

Toward the end of Paul's life when he was under arrest and being taken by ship to Rome to stand trial, the ship he was on was caught in a furious storm that lasted several days. Everyone on the ship lost hope of surviving, except Paul.

He reassured the others saying,

²³For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, ²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

- Acts 27:23-24

The confidence with which Paul faced tribulation tells us the maturity level of his faith. This is what grownup faith looks like.

Zero in on his statement about "the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve." Paul knew who he belonged to and whom he was serving. While most who call themselves Christians claim to belong to God, the actions and choices of the individual can send a contrary message. Mature faith is when one has unwavering loyalty to Jesus, confirmed day in and day out by a righteous lifestyle. Paul was not perfect, but nothing was going to dissuade him from obeying his Master. Paul is a great example of Mature Faith.

These five levels of faith will be the backbone of the following chapters. It would be wise for you to take a few minutes to memorize them and learn the basic meaning of each one. Have someone quiz you to ensure you know all five levels and find someone to discuss how the stages of faith are playing out in your life in a practical way. If you look through the scriptures, you will find many other examples. In your daily Bible reading, be aware of the maturing faith of those you read about. The more you work with this model the more comfortable it will become and the more you will be able to accomplish with it in helping yourself and helping others progress toward deeper faith.