How Can I Live by Faith?

How Can I Live by Faith? explores what it means to trust God in every dimension of the Christian life—from salvation to daily obedience to the hour of death. Part of the Crucial Questions series, this booklet offers a concise and accessible treatment of the nature, ground, and practice of faith.

Dr. R.C. Sproul begins by addressing a widespread misconception: that Christian faith is irrational or blind. He traces this false dichotomy between faith and reason to the influence of Enlightenment rationalism and theological liberalism, arguing that trust in God is grounded in God’s demonstrated trustworthiness. Drawing extensively on Genesis 15 and 22, Sproul shows how Abraham’s faith was not a leap into the dark but a response to the character and promises of a faithful God.

The booklet moves from the doctrine of justification by faith alone—the cardinal doctrine of the Protestant Reformation—to the practical dimensions of living and dying in faith. Sproul examines how the righteousness of Christ, received through faith, provides an unshakable foundation for the believer’s standing before God. He then turns to the call for faithfulness in daily life, emphasizing that those who trust God are themselves called to be trustworthy—people of integrity whose word can be relied upon.

Key Themes

• The reasonableness of Christian faith and its grounding in God’s trustworthiness
• Justification by faith alone and the imputed righteousness of Christ
• Abraham as a model of faith amid fear and struggle
• The call to personal faithfulness and integrity as a fruit of saving faith

Featured Quotes

“People who never argue about the most crucial question before the human race are those who don’t care about the most crucial question before the human race.”

“Abraham was a man, just like you and me. He had the same fears, the same struggles, and the same anxieties.”