THE NATURE OF FAITH. Hebrews 11:1-2. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It seems remarkable that things unseen can be known to be true with complete certainty. I may not know all that much about them, or why and how they came to be, but belief without any doubt ultimately depends on how that truth came to me. In itself, true faith is being positively sure, resting on its statements with absolute conviction in the One who tells the truth and is the Source of all the information. By its very nature, true faith involves hearing and receiving without hesitation, because the Object and Source of faith is the Lord God of my salvation.
Accepting without question the truth that must be received by faith means I honor the One who gave it by believing all He says. The words I hear and the Person I trust, even though I have never seen His face, direct my witness to be a good report of the Lord Jesus and His saving grace. Faith gives understanding as I look back into the distant ancient past. It tells me how God did what He did, how it started, and how long it will last. Much of what I read is beyond me – faith assures me of the things I can’t grasp.
The manner of faith is simple – my confidence is in God, the Source of all my trust. My Gracious Father speaks to me, and with complete confidence, I listen because He has spoken to me daily for many decades. Daily learning about His ways and purposes strengthens my faith and reinforces all I have learned and experienced over the years. May I never overlook the value of being daily strengthened by the exercise of faith through God’s Word.
In Hebrews chapter eleven, we find examples of the aspects of faith that please God. Faith is confidence grounded in past experiences and assurance rooted in God's promises for the future. Our faith is in God, who created and sustains the universe. His power is limitless. Faith is the assent of the understanding to any truth. True faith is an essential grace and a mainspring of the Christian life. Faith in Christ frees us from condemnation and justifies us before God [Rom. 5:1]. The hope of righteousness is by faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith works by love He produces in us. We live and act on the promises of God even though we don't yet see them or their results.
Faith makes them real in our minds. The Christian believes God and acts on what God says. We are convinced that what God says is true. God's integrity, His truth, His wisdom, and His promises motivate us and direct our lives. Even though we don't see all that He promises at present, we know He will bring them all to pass. Our children, friends, and spouses depend on our word the same way we rely on God's word. Christians are to persevere despite setbacks and disappointments that may come. We know the Lord will preserve us in the trials of life to which we are exposed. God will do what He promised.
“Faith” is a noun corresponding to the verb “believe.” In much of the New Testament, faith is used to define the relationship to God that people are called to by the Gospel – trust in God through Christ. It is also used to define the truth we believe and the object of our confidence. As a noun in Hebrew, it indicates faithfulness as being trustworthy, and it is mostly used as a reference to God’s faithfulness.
When referring to believers in the broader sense of the word, “faithfulness” is a trustful dependence on God that renounces “self” and is an attitude of the heart toward God found in every believer. Notably, John uses the word faith as a verb, while Paul uses it as a noun to express unreserved acceptance and total dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received mercy. Our faith is in God, Christ, the Gospel, the truths revealed in the word of God, and the promises God has made. James uses the word faith as both a noun and a verb to indicate mere assent to truth. The point is that “intellectual faith” is dead and inadequate, as Paul wrote, “Faith without works is not faith at all,” but is the opposite.
There are times in the New Testament when the context indicates that “the faith” refers to the body of truth we know to be true. The Lord Jesus used the word “faith” to describe an exercise of trust that preceded miracles. To sum up the word faith: first, faith in God involves a correct belief about God. Trust in Him reflects a positive expectation about our behavior toward things unknown to us and beyond our capacity to understand fully. Trust in God rests on our belief in Him, His character, His infinite qualities, and His identity as a real person. Second, faith rests on testimony, not sight or self-evidence. The value of testimony is based on faith’s convictions, which treat it as certainties equal to knowledge. It rests on the testimony of “God who cannot lie.” Third, faith is a divine gift from God to us, revealed in His word and taught to us by the Holy Spirit. God is the originator and giver of saving faith. That is supernatural, but real. It is the daily experience of those who live by faith.
So, this first verse is not really a definition of faith but a description of what faith does. This is the reality or essence that treats what we hope for as real. Faith is not only “the substance,” but also “the evidence” or proof that unseen things are real. “The things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.”
God’s promised blessings will be fulfilled. God’s power and faithfulness in our lives today are open to the understanding of those who know Him. Spiritual things are wonderful and a present reality to people of faith, even though they are not visible or tangible. Faith is being sure of God’s promises, confident in God’s power, and sure that God will do what He says because of who He is.
As the Holy Spirit, through the writer of Hebrews, has given us the truth about the Person, facts, acts, impact, and the blessedness of having a Great High Priest at the right hand of God in previous chapters, He now gives the expected human response of believers in Christ. We come into the blessings of all we have in Christ by faith. We see the King in His beauty, heaven in its glory, and experience rest for our souls as we look for His return, knowing that all the things we believe are real.
Faith in God’s word means we receive God’s testimony as accurate and factual. We know that God is higher and greater than mere men, and we can rely on His word. It creates conviction of sin, fear, guilt, and contrition, and brings repentance toward God. It creates desire, respect, reverence, longing, hope, and trust that no human words can give. God’s word is unique because God is unique – there is no other God.
By faith in God’s word, we are moved to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; we become believers and believe in God. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” By faith, the things of God are revealed and given to us, and we receive them with our hearts and minds. “With the heart man believes unto righteousness.” Our confidence is in God, who fulfills all we hope for, and we presently live in the comfort and power of His word.
Our faith may be elementary and small, but we don’t need much to remove mountains. In this life, we live in the flesh, which has troubles, doubts, and sometimes fears, but even so, we need to let it be a life of faith. By faith, we now experience spiritual foretastes of the eternal future, so that we sing songs of faith, pray prayers of faith, believe God’s word by faith, and by faith rejoice in God our Savior.