What Faith Is?

Faith in God sees the invisible, believes the incridible, and receives the impossible.

A little Girl had been attending a Sunday school session where each student had made a little plaque with the words "Have Faith in God" as the motto. She boarded a bus that would take her to her home, and as the bus was starting to move, she realized that she did not have her little motto with her. She jumped from her seat, and dashing up the aisle to the driver, she shouted, "Stop the bus! I’ve lost my ’Faith in God.’" -C. Reuben Anderson

I. FAITH IS THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR (v.1a)

-The Word Faith came from the Greek word “Hupostasis” which is made up of two words: stasis “to stand” and hupo “under” or to stand under.

-It refers to foundation, the ground on which something is built.

-In Greek dictionary hupostasis was used in ancient literature as legal term referring to “documents bearing the ownership of person’s property and forming the evidence of ownership.”

-The Greek dictionary offers this translation: “Faith is the title-deed of things hoped for.” (The Vocabulary of Greek Testament)

-The assurance this verse describes is not personal assurance of salvation but rather absolute certainty with regard to the Gospel message. It is a conviction that the truth of the Bible promises and the trustworthiness of Christ. It is present confidence of the future reality, “the assurance of things hoped for.”

-It is simply means that faith is a supernatural certainty about the truth of the Gospel and the reliability of Christ (as foundation).

-This sure faith must be God’s work in us. Although the truth of the Gospel is confirmed by many evidences, human nature is predisposed to reject the truth about Christ. So apart from the work of the Spirit in us, we can never believe in the sense this verse describes.

-Hebrews 11:1 faith is not like the everyday faith that we speak of…

-Faith is a gift of God. If faith were a mere human decision, it would no assurance at all. Moses faith characterizes the same way “he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” (Heb. 11:27)

II. FAITH IS…THE CONVICTION OF THINGS NOT SEEN (v.1b)

-Conviction implies a deeper manifestation of the inward assurance.

-People of faith are prepared to live out their belief. Their lives reflect a commitment to what their minds and hearts are assured is true. They are sure of promises and blessings yet future that they believe as if those promises were already realized. (Heb. 11:7-13; Rom 4:17-21)

-“Conviction of things unseen” echoes the apostle Peter’s description of saving faith (1 Pet. 1:8-9): Although we have not seen Christ, we love Him. Though we do not see Him now, we believe in Him—we are committed to Him—with inexpressible and glorious joy, obtaining faith’s outcome, the salvation of our souls.

-No matter what tests it, no matter the cost, this faith endures. In fact, all the examples of Heb. 11 show people whose faith were severely tested.

Augustus H. Strong describes 3 elements of Faith:

a. Notitia (knowledge) – intellectual element of faith

b. Assensus (assent) – emotional element of faith

c. Fidusia (trust) – volitional (will) element of faith

-Real faith therefore involves the whole person – mind, emotions, and will. The mind embraces knowledge, a recognition of the truth that Christ saves. The heart gives assent, a settled confidence that Christ salvation is applicable to one’s own soul. The will responds with trust, the personal commitment to Christ as the only hope for eternal salvation.

-Saving faith is the whole of our being embracing all of Christ. Faith cannot be divorce from commitment.

-All three elements of faith are clearly implied in our text: knowledge: “by faith we understand” (v.3); assent: “faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (v.1); and trust: “Faith is…the conviction of things not seen” (v.1)

-The men and women profiled in the great hall of faith were all fully committed – mind, heart, and soul – to the object of faith. How could anyone familiar with this chapter ever devise a notion of faith that lacks personal commitment.