Sign up for “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen!”
(Heb 11:1)
The above is the scriptural definition of faith, one of the very few scriptural definitions given. Yet it is a definition that is not readily understood my many Christians and if so it doesn’t provide much help in pursuing this faith, or in even being motivated to pursue it.
But just a bit further in verse 6 we read, “Without faith it is impossible to please God. He who comes to him must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”
If one wants to please God because he trusts in him, then he is immediately faced with an urgent need to know what faith is, and how he can have it in his life. So the definition of faith again becomes an important need for the seeking Christian. Let’s consider the definition verse a bit further. And let’s consider it in a more personal way, applied to oneself. Then it is read, “Faith is now in me as the reality of things I hope to receive from God; the proof in me of things God has promised to me that I cannot see.” Because I have faith in me now, I know that all God promises through that faith will come true in changes to me now, and in glories that are to follow.
Faith then is a “substance” or “reality” to each one in the sense that it is so real that it affects changes in one’s life. These changes in one’s life that are brought about by this faith are also the evidence in him that the faith is real. That faith is based on a strong trust in God and a certainty that all God has promised, which all become each one’s hope, will in absolute fact take place; some in changes in his life now, and some in what will be brought to be in him in future glory.
So faith then is ALL the information God gives to each one to help him to understand his will; what he wants him to do and to become throughout his life. The accumulation of this faith of knowledge and understanding is a lifelong process through which God guides each one as he develops into the person God wants him to be. Not only is he changed now, but he is also perfected in time and thus qualified for the inheritance God has planned for him in spiritual realms from before the foundation of the world. (2 Cor 3:18; Col 1:12).
All faith is primarily revealed to us through God’s word. But much of it cannot be fully understood, and certainly not appreciated apart from experience, and so God leads us through experiences each day that are designed to teach us lessons, and to give us opportunities to apply all the lesson we learn, especially in helping others.
Even though faith is a developing process in the knowledge and understanding we gain from God, one thing that does not change about it is that God expects us always to actively live all the faith we know and understand at any given time. Faith needs to be continually and fully lived, and not just put on a shelf as something we only believe. At this point it needs to be clarified that there is a good deal of faith we can only know and understand but not live. Such would be what we understand of God and his dealings with mankind in the past, and his proposed dealing with mankind in the future. We can know and understand all these things to varying degrees, but we cannot live them. But still, these are all “substance” and “evidence” to us, and thus are strongly also our faith.
This “knowledge” faith cannot be ‘lived”, but it still does have a very important role in our lives. The broad understanding of God and Christ, and the understanding of God’s plans for mankind lead us to not only understand and greatly appreciate all the love and wisdom they show in this, but these convictions of faith also strongly motivate us to want to serve them in all the ways that we can live our faith toward them. And this faith that we can live, we need to live each day, for only in this can we please God in doing his will for us that we might be conformed to it.
To see and appreciate the full extent to which we have to live this faith, let us consider first a lesson in faith and then three scriptures that very well define this path of faith that we need walk in this life.
Romans 14 speaks of those who eat only certain foods compared to those who eat all foods. And it also speaks of those who see one day as special above others (a Sabbath), and others who see each day the same (all as Sabbaths). Verse 6 declares that each of these does what he does to God’s glory. Verse 3 confirms “God has received him.” Verse 4 confirms ”God is able to make him stand.” Verse 5 confirms “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” Verses 3 and 10 tell us not to despise or show contempt to those who live by restrictions in their lives, and also to not judge those who do not live by restrictions in their lives. Verse 22 sums up the individuality of the faith that each is to have in how they live their lives. “Do you have faith, have it to yourself before God. Happy is the man who does not condemn himself in what he approves!”
The sum of this is to realize that faith that is to be lived can be very individual in some parts, and it must conform to one’s conscience concerning himself; that is it must be lived in his own integrity. He cannot follow the faith of another, and he cannot expect others to follow his faith. As important as his integrity is to him, so he must realize the integrity of each other one is just as important to them. Each must learn to fully respect the faith of others and their individual integrity in that faith! There are three important scriptures that really define the fullness of the faith we must live. Let us look at these.
Ro 14:23 says that if one doubts he is self-condemned for he does not do what he does from faith! Then it concludes with this confirming principle, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin!” That defines one whole aspect of our life of faith. If we do anything, and don’t have faith that God will approve what we do, because our conscience does not approve it, then we commit a sin of commission! Thus we can only do what we do on the condition that we have a clear conscience concerning it, thereby knowing that God approves it. Living this keeps us from one whole category of sin in our lives!
Another scripture with a defining principle concerning faith is James 4:17, “He who know to do good and does it not, to him that is sin!” This sates a principle opposite of that in Ro 14:23. This states that if one has faith of a good thing to do; that is his conscience convicts him that he is to do it, and thus he know that this is God’s will for him, and yet he does it not, then he commits a sin of omission! This then shows us that ALL that we have by faith we need to live, and this then keeps us from another whole category of sin in our lives!
These scriptures are then as two guiderails that keep us from falling off of our path of faith and into sin. We find we must do ONLY what we have by faith and a clear conscience, but also ALL that we have by faith and a clear conscience. The actual path of faith that we walk then each day is well defined in the third scripture, quoted earlier, Heb 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God. He who comes unto God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” This path of walking only in faith and fully in faith each day is the only way to live pleasing to God and to grow daily in greater faith and greater pleasing to him.
Can we see the fullness of faith? Can we see our need to live only by faith, but also to fully live that faith? Can we see the wisdom of God to fill our consciences with his principles of righteousness, that by these we might know his will and be guided into it? Our faith and conscience mature daily, but our integrity in these must remain full each day! Let us live fully in our faith and integrity each day, and let us respect and encourage our brethren to do the same.
J. Knapp ©CDMI
