Inertia: the resistance an object has to a alter in its state of motion.
Newton's first law of motion declares that force is NOT required to keep an object in motion.
Slide a book across the table and watch it slide to a rest position. The book in motion on the tabletop does not come to a rest position due to the absence of a force; rather it is the presence of a force - the force of friction - that brings the book to a rest position.