But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
The life lived by faith will be a life that is pleasing to God. If we will learn to live by faith we will be positioned to receive all of the blessing God has planned for our lives.
We have been discussing faith with a goal of trying to determine what it is. People will often ask what faith a person referencing the church they attend. In previous posts we’ve seen that faith is so much more than just the church we go to or the denomination we belong to.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Hebrews 10:38
Faith is how God functions. It is how He created the universe and it is how He lives. We have already seen that imitating Him will require us to develop in faith to the point where it becomes our lifestyle.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
This is one of the best definitions of faith to be found in Scripture. I’ll never forget the first time I found this verse. I was a child sitting on the bench of my mother’s piano. At the time I did not understand it but the verse stuck with me.
And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction.
Hebrews 11:1 (YLT)
Here we see two key words that need to be kept in mind: 1) confidence and 2) conviction.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Romans 4:20-21
The writer of Hebrews told us that faith provides us with confidence and conviction. Paul expands on this definition by telling us that Abraham was “full persuaded”. It is this persuasion that births the confidence and conviction of faith!
Faith does not wonder or get confused. It is fully persuaded of God’s Word in two areas – things that are not seen and things that are hoped for.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Romans 8:24-25
Paul tells us that we “are saved by hope”. We are saved by faith and hope because the two are inseparable.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith is the substance of the things we are hoping for.
Hope can be defined as a confident expectation. Paul tells us that we are “saved by hope”. Hope drives our faith and we are going to begin dissecting how it works with faith in the next post.
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