“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
Many of us would agree that it takes faith to believe in God… To believe in a God we cannot physically see. We must by faith believe that HE IS.
Today I want to explore the word faith.
I counted in my NLT study Bible/concordance that faith (in) is mentioned 105 times, faithful is mentioned 45 times and faithfully/faithfulness 20 more times. Almost all of them are in the New Testament.
What is faith? What is the definition?
Some of the dictionary definitions I found on faith are: allegiance to a duty or person, sincerity of intentions, belief and trust in and loyalty to God, a firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust, something that is believed, especially with strong conviction, a system of religious beliefs.
The Bible tells us that, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
I like the NKJV of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
So the dictionary definition, “a firm belief in something for which there is no proof” is similar to what Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Evidence of things not seen.”. We cannot see faith. But Hebrews 11:6 says I need faith to please God. To please him, I must know Him, know what pleases Him and know what He requires of me. I cannot physically see God. So how can I first believe that He Is. That God exists? Believing in Someone we cannot see takes faith. Where is my “proof?”
We have faith in God because of what the Bible says. We believe what God reveals about Himself in His Word; although we cannot see God in the flesh, there is proof…we can see His work in creation all around us, if we choose to look. Like that song says, “His fingerprints are everywhere.” His Word is proof.
Some define faith as meaning a form of spirituality. Maybe you have heard someone “spiritual” called a “person of faith.” Spiritual and faith are not necessarily the same.
Or perhaps others see faith as a guarantee that good things will happen to them, like a golden ticket to health & wealth. Example…”I have faith that God will give me ….”
Still others think it is a blind leap against known facts—to take the risk even though the outcome is unknown, they choose to do it anyway. Example, “My faith will make everything all right, no matter what I do.”
Biblical faith is not any of those. In doing research for this blog, I read a lot of different views. This is what I came up with:
Biblical faith is confident action in response to what God has made known to us in His Word and in Creation. We know that He made the universe, He told us. We do not know all the details and we were not present when it happened, but He said He created all. It is an act of faith to believe He did that.
To live by faith, I think is to obey and take confident action based on what God has said about His own character—to know He is real, that He exists, and He will accomplish His will & purposes!
Faith is woven into the fabric of our lives as believers. We know that someday all things will be made right. God again says it will happen, We may not see it on earth but in Heaven, it will be as He says. As believers we will be rewarded as we diligently seek Him. Some rewards we will see on earth, other we will have to wait until we get home. We have faith that we have trusted in the Right Person—GOD.
Diligently, (Earnestly, constantly, vigorously, committed, persistent) seek,(to search high & low for, to look for, examine, to taste, to hear). Seek Him as if your life depends on it, because it does.
Next time we will look at answering a couple questions. How do I get faith? Where does it come from?
Until next time, I encourage you to keep diligently seeking Him, He wants you to find Him!
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