Faith: What Is It All About

• Faith, it is a word that is commonly referred to involving our relationship with our Creator

• It is a word that’s meaning is often misunderstood

• We often confuse the ‘knowledge of’ with possessing faith

• For example, Judas knew of Jesus and His purpose, but had no FAITH in Him

• Faith is the fundamental understanding of God’s purpose, ability and desire

• To have faith means that we place trust into something or someone. We have faith in that person or things ability to do that which we command or ask: The Webster’s Dictionary of faith is as follow’s “To persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey.”

• Throughout the Bible we have specific illustrations of various Bible personalities that possessed, exhibited, lacked or excelled in the area of faith

• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

• The very act of becoming a child of God involves unyielding FAITH in the gift of God through His Son, Jesus Christ

• Faith saves us; nothing more, nothing less

• In the Book of Hebrews, we have a picture of what exactly Faith is and should be to us, the believer

• Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

• Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Faith Chapter” of the Bible; this chapter gives reference to great men and women of God who exhibited their love for God by living wholly on faith

• Hebrews 11:1 gives a picture of three things that Faith always involves:

o SUBSTANCE

o HOPE

o EVIDENCE

• Today, we are faced with the curse of sin, sickness within the body of one of our own, and by faith, this person has come forward to express their faith in God to heal the body of His children

• James explained that process to us and today, I would like to talk about these two passages of Scripture and how they come together to make us whole in the presence of a Holy God

• James 5:14-16: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

• Today, we celebrate the goodness of God through the giving of FAITH to us, His children

FAITH IS:

1. SUBSTANCE: (OBJECT)

• “Something real, not imaginary; something solid, not empty.”

• Substance is something that is tangible, or something that we can, without question, hold on to

• When regarding faith in God, we must know that the substance of faith is in God’s releasing of His Son for the sins of the world

• When considering faith, we must consider several things, understanding that faith is so much more than just believing

• Substance gives reference to the fact that we must have an OBJECT of faith, not just a belief in something

• In other words, “What is the object of our faith?”

• Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

• Here, the writer of Hebrews is giving us a clear picture of the object or substance of our faith; Jesus Christ

• As stated before, it is not enough to simply believe in Jesus and His ability; we must possess faith in Him and His purpose above all things. Why?

a. James 2:19: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

• We see, by the comments of James, that even the devil and his demons ‘believe’ in Jesus

• This belief, however, is simply not enough to get one saved

• Jesus is to be the substance of our faith or our faith is in vain

• We must possess the faith in Jesus’ ability to be the sufficient sacrifice for our sins

• 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

• Jesus knew no sin, but became sin for us and for that He should become the substance of our faith