The Three Components of True Faith

American Christianity suffers a spiritual epidemic of fake faith. This faith claims to believe in Jesus but promotes spiritual complacency and is of no spiritual value. At its best, this faith is on the same level as demonic faith: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19). Often, this faith doesn’t even approach that level, as it fails to produce even a counterfeit fear of God.

One way that we can protect ourselves from ‘fake faith’ is by examining true faith, dissecting it, and observing its component parts. If we do so, we find that saving faith has three components. The recognition of these three components – and the Latin names by which they are identified – have been observed ever since the time of the protestant reformation, some 500 years ago. So, what are these three components?

Notitia

Specific knowledge is the first component of faith (‘notitia’ is Latin for ‘knowing’ or ‘knowledge’). It refers to the content of faith: the specific truths actually asserted and believed. Many people ignore notitia when they say ‘have faith!’ or ‘just believe!’ but they fail to clarify what one should have faith in, or what one should believe. Ultimately, just ‘having faith’ does not save you: it is what your faith is in that saves (or doesn’t save) you.

We can illustrate notitia by thinking about an airplane. A friend of mine recently invited me to go flying with him. Before we got into the plane, he told me about it. This plane was an ‘experimental’ aircraft, built by amateurs. He told me the specific details about the plane. He also told me about his training as an amateur pilot. He explained that he had flown this plane often, and he guaranteed me that even though it was amateur-built, it was also very safe. My friend was filling me with knowledge about the plane and his qualifications as a pilot; he was giving me notitia.

Assensus

It is not enough to know specific facts; you must actually accept the facts as valid and true. This is where assensus (agreement, assent) comes in. Faith is more than simply having knowledge about something; it also includes agreement with that knowledge. We live in a world filled with truth claims; just because you know what an atheist believes, for example, doesn’t mean that you agree with the atheist. Just because you have heard about a conspiracy theory doesn’t mean that you accept it as valid. You may have notitia about something, but you may be lacking in assensus.

When my friend told me about the airplane and his qualifications as a pilot, I had an important decision. I had notitia about the plane flight, but was I willing to give assensus? Did I actually agree with him? Was I convinced that this amateur-built, experimental aircraft was actually safe, and did I trust his training as a pilot? How did I know that he wasn’t actually lying? Was I confident that he could actually get this metal machine in the air (or, much more significant, that he could safely get it back on the ground, if it was in the air)? Based on what I had observed about my friend, and the facts that he had given me, I yielded assensus: I agreed with him that he was safely qualified and that the aircraft actually was capable of transporting me safely.

Fiducia

Fake faith often contains notitia and assensus, but it fails to include fiducia. This Latin term refers to trust, confidence or reliance, and it is crucially different from merely assensus. Fiducia goes beyond agreement and involves the idea of commitment; it is when you are so confident in your assensus that they are willing to commit yourself to the idea, come what may.

I may have known the facts about my friend and his airplane (notitia), and I could even agree with him, that those facts are accurate (assensus). But a true faith in my friend and his aircraft required a further step: getting into the plane and buckling myself up. This is fiducia, a commitment to the ideas enough to entrust my life to them. If I had refused to take this step (and assuming that there were no other factors at play), it would indicate a lack of fiducia, and all my claims of assensus would be proven false. Fiducia is when you strap yourself into the cockpit, knowing that if you are wrong, there are big consequences to pay – but you are confident that you are not wrong.

Notitia, Assensus, and Fiducia in Christ

Now that we understand the three components of true faith, let’s see how they play out in the Christian life. This can help you as you examine your own faith, or as you help others think through what it means to believe in Jesus.

The Bible presents the facts about Jesus, the notitia. Jesus is fully God and fully man, a Lord and Savior. He came from heaven, lived on earth, died physically, was buried for three days, and then resurrected bodily. He ascended to heaven, and he will come again. All of these are facts about Jesus, but there are many others facts. The Bible tells us that Jesus accepted the Old Testament as God’s Word, Jesus taught his followers about discipleship and heaven and hell and gender and marriage and many other (controversial) topics. These are all the facts that constitute notitia of Jesus.

It is crucial that we not only know the facts, but that we agree with those facts (assensus). Do we believe that Jesus is who he claims to be? Do we accept his teachings as correct? In order to yield assensus, you don’t have to know everything there is to know about Jesus. But you do have to accept who he is, and you recognize that his word is authoritative. Doing so, you realize that anything that Jesus says is true, and you discard your own views in favor of his views. That is why Christians are always learning more and applying more of the truth about Jesus to their lives. Assensus is the step of saying, ‘Not only do I know about Jesus and his truth-claims, but I agree with him.’

Finally, saving faith is not content to mouth agreement. True faith commits itself to Christ. If he really is a Savior, who does all the saving, then it isn’t my own work that saves me: I stop working to gain God’s pleasure. If he really is the true God, then I must abandon my idolatry. If he really is Lord, then I must obey him, rather than continue to live in sin. True fiducia doesn’t believe in Jesus and keep an ‘insurance policy’ in case Jesus isn’t real; that’s like trying to get into a plane, but also wanting to stay on the ground. It doesn’t work. You are either all in, or all out. Which one will it be?