Saturday, September 18, 2010

The definition of faith

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11 is widely known as ‘the hall of faith’. It gives numerous examples of people in the Old Testament who had faith, how they demonstrated it, and how they were commended for it. We have the familiar stories of Noah building the ark, Abraham offering his son Isaac, Moses leading the Israelites; and lesser known people like Rahab, Barak, and Jephthah.
All of these examples have a thread in common. None of these people knew what the future would hold, as they stepped out into the unknown. In the natural, there was no way of knowing whether they would reach their destination, or have victory in a battle. But they trusted that God would bring about what He had said to them. They were sure that everything would work out for the good.
Earlier we read in Rom. 8:24-25 about what hope is. It is an assurance of what will happen in the future. We can’t hope for something we already have it, because if we have it, it is not future any more. The biggest thing we hope for is salvation – our future glorification and entry to heaven. But God already sees us there (see for example Rom. 8:30, discussed here, and Heb. 10:14, see the post on that verse). This is the essence of faith. Faith is not blind trust. Faith is a certainty that God will keep His word and do what He has promised. Do you have this kind of faith?

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