Faith is ………..
A reflection by Paul Stow
I recently Googled the question ‘what is faith’, and it led me to a very helpful dictionary definition which read, ‘An unquestioning belief specifically in God, religion. Complete trust and confidence’.
From this definition two words stand out – ‘unquestioning’ and ‘complete’. ‘Unquestioning’ means you do NOT question, doubt, or dispute. So, with regard to our faith in God and in particular in God’s Son Jesus, it means everything we are told about Him from the Scriptures – even if we do not fully understand everything we are told – we do NOT question, doubt, or dispute.
And ‘complete’ means nothing more can be added. In other words, our faith is to consist of full or complete confidence and assurance in Jesus who ultimately, is the object of our faith. My faith and your faith in God are to be unquestioning, and it is to be complete. And in verse 1 of the passage, the writer says a similar thing. He wrote, ‘Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for, and CERTAIN of what we do not see’.
You will notice the writer begins the verse with the word ‘Now’, and I read that by using the word ‘Now’, he is giving identification to a point in time, namely the present. In the opening verses to the previous Chapter, the writer discusses the problem with the Law and how animal sacrifices can never take away the sins of the Jews, following which he reminds his readers how Jesus solved the problem of sin through the Cross, and how believers in Jesus are to persevere because of what He did for them at the Cross.
He then urges them to draw near to God with a sincere heart ‘and in the full or complete assurance of faith’, and He also warns that if they deliberately keep on sinning after they have received the ‘knowledge of the truth’ about Jesus and what He did for them at the Cross, no sacrifice can be made on their behalf, and they were in grave danger of incurring the full wrath of God – Chapter 10 v 26 & 27.
Finally, the writer goes on to remind his readers of what they have been through and how they are to continue in the faith.
And he also reminds them of how they do NOT belong to those who have fallen back into disbelief and are destroyed (which is a reference to those who, because of their disbelief, are separated from God for eternity) but rather they belong to those who continue to believe, namely the church, and who are saved – verse 39.
Verses 26 – 39 of Chapter 10 are all about God’s people persevering in faithful obedience, and verse 1 of Chapter 11 is all about God’s people living out that obedient faith in the NOW; In the present.
And having reminded them of what is required of them, the writer follows it up by describing what Christian faith is – what constitutes Christian faith. He writes, ‘Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see’.
When it comes to verses like this, it is always helpful to see what other versions or translations say, and again using Google, I discovered a version called the Amplified Bible, and this is what verse 1 said in that translation: –
‘Now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for, being the proof of things, we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses’.
The 4 Gospels and 23 Epistles or letters that make up the New Testament were originally written in ancient Greek, and for every English word, there was often several Greek words, each of which carried different meanings depending on how it was used – which is something the Amplified Translation takes into account.
In the Amplified Translation of verse 1, there are 3 parts or segments to it, and in the first part it reads ‘faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for’. Those of you who own your home outright will have either in your possession or stored in your Bank or Building Society, the title deeds to your home.
The title deed, which will have your full name printed on it, is a legal document that guarantees the property belongs to you and you alone. So, by telling us ‘faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for’, we are being told that whatever we are believing God for, especially His promise of salvation to us, our faith gives us ‘title of assurance’ that we will receive in full His promise.
The second part of the verse tells us how faith gives us ‘the proof of things we do NOT see’, In other words, our faith gives us the conviction and assurance of the REALITY of the invisible eternal God and His invisible eternal Kingdom, and also of God’s promises, provisions, plans, and purposes that originate from God’s invisible Kingdom.
Our faith assures us that the eternal God, His eternal Kingdom, and the things that flow to us from His eternal Kingdom, really do exist, and that when we leave this world through physical death, we will see and live in that eternal reality.
And the third part of the verse tells us how faith ‘perceives as real fact what is not revealed in the senses. In other words, it is our faith that causes us to accept as fact – as truth – what we are told in scripture about God and the things of God, and once we have accepted them through faith, will our senses and our minds which, before faith are closed to these truths, be able to accept them.
So, faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for – it’s believing with full assurance and confidence that we have possessed and will possess what God has promised us in His Word;
It is the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality – it’s the deep inner conviction of the reality of God’s invisible Kingdom; of all the things God will pour into our lives which originate from His invisible Kingdom, and of how one day we will fully experience the reality of God and His Kingdom.
And it’s perceiving as real fact or truth what is not revealed in the senses. It’s faith and only faith that will cause us to accept the biblical facts – the Biblical truths – about God, His Kingdom, and the things that originate from His Kingdom, which will then not only cause our minds to accept them, but will cause us to live them out day by day.
‘Faith – true Biblical faith – is being SURE of what we hope for, and CERTAIN of what we do not see’. As a people of the One, True, Living God, may assurance and certainty, especially as we continue to live in challenging and uncertain times, always be at the heart of our faith in the One, True, and Living God. AMEN.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for the incredible gift of faith that you have freely given us which enabled us to believe in your beloved Son Jesus, and which because of our faith in Him, has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
As we continue to walk in faith, we ask that you will strengthen our faith, especially during times of difficulty and trial, and that until the day you call us home to be with you where we will receive in full the inheritance you have kept for us from the moment we confessed Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, you will help us to keep our eyes fixed firmly upon Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. AMEN