What Is Faith? Part 1
Faith has the idea of belief inherent to it but it is more than that; there is also trust and certainty.
What Is Faith? Part 1
I had someone contact me this past weekend and ask me what I thought faith is. It made me stop and think for a minute. We all have faith, to some degree or another, and we all have some idea of what faith means but how do you put that into words? The Book of Hebrews gives us a starting place as the author of that book introduces us to the “Hall Of Fame” of Faith.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Faith has the idea of belief inherent to it but it is more than that; there is also trust and certainty. Notice that the passage from Hebrews mentions assurance and conviction. Let’s talk about assurance today and then I’ll come back and talk about conviction tomorrow.
The Greek word used here is “hypostasis” and it used to describe an underlying support. Think of the legs on a table or the tires on a car. That’s what “assurance” is referring to. Faith is what you have in a tire or a table leg. You know that the table will stand up to use because it has sturdy legs under it. Likewise with your tires on your car.
We drive our cars and put stuff on tables every day, taking for granted that they will work just fine and we won’t have a problem. We have some trust them because they do their job every day. They are reliable and have proven their trustworthiness.
When I sit down to eat, I have faith in my table. When I get in my car, I have faith in my tires. I have faith in a bridge when I cross it and in my GPS when I turn it on. That’s how I feel about my Bible. I have faith in God and His Word that He is faithful and able.
Faith is when you live your life according to what you believe. You depend on the underlying support of what God has said and what He has done. I have faith in God because I trust in Him.
How can that trust be so certain? Tomorrow I’ll explain conviction and what it means to the believer.
