Webster’s says that faith
is: allegiance to duty or a person, fidelity
to one's promises, sincerity of intentions, belief and trust in and loyalty to
God, firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust, something
that is believed especially with strong conviction, and without question
If you look up the word “faith” in a concordance you are
going to find over 300 verses, but Hebrews 11:1 sums them all up with its
simple explanation:
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)
Substance and evidence,
now they sound like things someone can grasp and hang on to – but are they? I like how the Amplified Bible puts this
verse:
“Now faith is the
assurance (title deed, confirmation) of
things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their
reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical
senses].” (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)
So, faith is assurance, a title deed, a confirmation of what
is hoped for. Someone can assure you
that you will get the car you are purchasing but is it really yours? No, at least not yet. When you actually hold the title to that car
then you can claim it as yours. I do not
know about you but the first car I bought was a used 1969 Plymouth Valiant and
I paid cash for it. I was then given the
title to the car. I felt completely at
ease with that title in my hand because it was my guarantee that it was mine in
my eyes and the eyes of the law. It was
a “done deal”. Faith is the title to
whatever God promises us. When we hold
faith in our hearts and souls we are holding God’s guarantee that what He said
is ours. It is a done deal.
Faith is also the evidence of things not seen. This second part of this verse is often kind
of ignored compared to the first part but it is just as important. Faith is the conviction of the reality of
what we cannot see. I cannot “see” the
wind but I can know it is there because I “feel” it. This is not faith. I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord on
October 30, 1973. It took faith to do
so. Could I see Jesus? No.
Could I see God? No. I went to church. Did that make me a Christian? No. What
made the difference? I heard the
preachers preach from God’s Word and say that I was a sinner and Jesus came to
take away my sins. I heard the preacher
that night ask me if I was ready to see God face to face that night in February
if I happened to die in a car crash on the way home. I acknowledged that I was not and I decided
to make sure I was by accepting what Jesus did for me that night. That decision was faith in action. Faith was being convicted of the reality of my
sin and my need for Someone to take it away.
Since that night I have grown in faith day by day, month by month, and year
by year. How? “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God,” (Romans 10:17 KJV). I spent daily time with God by reading and
pondering His Word (but more about this verse is for a future blog article).
Basically faith is trust
in God and getting the handle on His promises even though we cannot see them
yet.
“The fundamental fact of
existence is that this trust in God,
this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth
living. It’s our handle on what we can’t
see.” (Hebrews 11:1 MSG)
Are we alone in this endeavor of finding faith and using
it? Definitely not! Read the rest of Hebrews 11 and find many
many more Christians who found and used their faith. Find out just how powerful God was in their
lives. It will encourage you in grasping
and using faith.
“Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things
we hope for, it means being certain
of things we cannot see. It was this kind of faith that won their
reputation for the saints of old. And it is after all only by faith that our
minds accept as fact that the whole scheme of time and space was created by
God’s command—that the world which we can see has come into being through
principles which are invisible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3 PHILLIPS)
I love how Graham Cooke
puts it: “I think the problem in modern
day Christianity is that we mostly use faith as an event, a special time to
believe for something. I think faith is way more precious than that. It is an
ongoing relational experience. I would see it that faith is a consequence of
our continuous relationship and fellowship with God's majesty and sovereignty.
One thing I have learned, and am learning, is the more you sow faith, the more
it grows!”
