What is faith?

Faith begins with what is unseen, not what is seen. Believing comes before seeing. Jesus said to Thomas,

"Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) NKJV

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe (first) that you receive them, and (then) you will have them" (Mark 11:24) NKJV. (italics added)

"Now faith is… the evidence of things not seen." (Heb 11:1) NKJV

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5:7) NKJ

"(as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed--God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; (Rom 4:17) NKJV

"while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor 4:17-18) NKJV

"For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." (Romans 8:24-25) (NKJ)

When we develop our faith to the place where we believe what the Word of God says regardless of what our physical senses, or our surrounding circumstances indicate, then we are exhibiting true Bible faith, and that’s what will bring us results. Faith is blinded when we focus on what our human senses tell us; but faith has 20/20 vision when it sees the promises of God, and believes.

Proverbs 4:20-22 says,

"My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. NKJV

We are to keep God’s Word in front of our eyes, and in the midst of our heart. Why? Because God’s Words are life to us, and health to our flesh. But we Christians too often keep our eyes focused on our physical condition, or our circumstances; then we wonder why we are defeated. God has provided for all our needs, including our health, but we either don’t believe His Word, or we don’t keep our eyes focused on the things unseen (the promises of God). Jesus did not praise Thomas for his belief, because his was a natural belief. That’s the way most Christians want to believe. They want to see it before they believe it. But, Jesus praised those who believed first. Jesus also said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:24) NKJV. Believing comes before seeing.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (NKJ)

2a. Now faith

The Greek word for faith is "pistis", ^4102^, primarily, "firm persuasion," a conviction based upon hearing (akin to peitho, "to persuade"), is used in the NT always of "faith in God or Christ, or things spiritual." (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

2b. is the substance

The Greek word used here for "substance" is hypostasis.

The following is an excerpt from "Word Studies in the Greek New Testament" by Kenneth S. Wuest:

The Greek word translated "substance" had a technical meaning in the business world of the first century. It referred to one’s property or effects. It was used in such expressions as "Out of this estate I declare that my husband owes me," or, "more land than I actually possess," the italicized words being the translation of the word (hypostasis). It was also used to refer to "the whole body of documents bearing on the ownership of a person’s property, deposited in the archives, and forming the evidence of ownership." Moulton and Milligan in their, Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament" say of these uses, "These varied uses are at first sight somewhat perplexing, but in all the cases there is the same central idea of something that underlies visible conditions and guarantees a future of possession." Thus they translate Heb 11:1 "Faith is the title deed of things hoped for."

To substantiate this usage, there is in "Living Yesterdays," a delightful brochure by H.R. Minn, the story of a woman named Dionysia. She is described as "a woman of set jaw and grim determination." It seems that she had lost a case in a local court over a piece of land to which she had claim. Not satisfied with the decision of a lower court, she determined to take her case to a higher court in Alexandria. She sent her slave to that city, with the legal documents safely encased in a stone box. On the way, the slave lost his life in a fire, which destroyed the inn where he had put up for the night. Archeologists have uncovered these remains. In the box they found the legal documents. They read the note which this woman had sent to the judge in Alexandria, "in order that my lord the judge may know that my appeal is just, I attach my hypostasis." The attached document was translated and found to be the title deed to the piece of land which she claimed as her own possession, the evidence of her ownership.

Wuest closes with this summation of Heb 11:1 :

"What a flood of light is thrown upon this teaching regarding faith. The act of exercising true faith as one prays, or as one leans on the resources of God, is itself the title deed or evidence of the sure answer to our prayer or the unfailing source of the divine supply. It is God’s guarantee in advance that we already possess the things asked for. They may still be in His hands, awaiting the proper time for their delivery, but they are ours. If the answers to our prayers are not forthcoming at once, let us rest content with the title deed, which God has given us, namely, a Holy Spirit energized act of faith. We may be absolutely certain that our God will honor this title deed at the right moment."

2c. of things hoped for

From Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words:

HOPE (elpiz ^1680^, in the NT, "favorable and confident expectation" . "Hope" describes the happy anticipation of good") (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

From Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary:

Confident expectancy. In the Bible, the word hope stands for both the act of hoping <Rom. 4:18; 1 Cor. 9:10 and the thing hoped for <Col. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:3 . Hope does not arise from the individual's desires or wishes but from God, who is Himself the believer's hope: "My hope is in You" <Ps. 39:7 . Genuine hope is not wishful thinking, but a firm assurance about things that are unseen and still in the future <Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:1,7 . (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Hope is not wishful thinking, but the joyful anticipation of seeing the manifestation of what God has promised us. Faith is our title deed, our "evidence", that we have a rightful claim to these promises. For example, Paul writes:

Romans 8:24-25 - For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope (2 Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. NKJ); for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (NKJ)

We are eagerly waiting for the physical manifestation of what was promised. But that does not void the promise! Lets look at an example of faith and hope: Paul writes to Titus:

Titus 1:1-3 - Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; (NKJ)

For example, we do not yet see the manifestation of our eternal life, because we still dwell in these fleshly bodies; but we know we have received eternal life because God, who can not lie, promised it before time began. So where did God promise us eternal life? Note that each of these scriptures does not speak of eternal life as something that is going to be received. These scriptures speak of eternal life having already been given.

John 3:14-16 - "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJ)

John 10:28-29 - "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. (NKJ)

John 17:1-3 - Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (NKJ)

Rom 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJ)

We hope for (elpiz) eternal life, or in other words, we wait with confident expectation for God to manifest in us that which He has already given us.

2d. the evidence

(REPROOF, REPROVE; translated in Heb. 11:1 as "evidence") NT:1650

A. Noun. elegchos--

1) a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested

2) conviction

Our firm persuasion (faith) is not only our title deed, it is also the proof by which the unseen promises of God are proved or tested.

2e. of things not seen.

NAY (not)

1. ou ^3756^, "no, not," expressing a negation absolutely, is rendered "nay," e. g., in <Matt. 5:37; 13:29; John 7:12 , KJV (RV, "not so"); <Acts 16:37; 2 Cor. 1:17-19; Jas. 5:12 . (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

LOOK (translated here as seen)

A. Verbs.

1. blepo ^991^, primarily, "to have sight, to see," then, "observe, discern, perceive," frequently implying special contemplation (cf. No. 4), is rendered by the verb "to look" in <Luke 9:62 , "looking (back)"; <John 13:22 "(the disciples) looked (one on another)"; <Acts 1:9 , RV, "were looking" (KJV, "beheld"); <3:4 , "look (on us)"; <27:12 , RV, looking," KJV, "that lieth (towards)," of the haven Phenix; <Eph. 5:15 , RV, "look (therefore carefully how ye walk)," KJV, "see (that ye walk circumspectly)"; <Rev. 11:9 and <18:9 , RV, "look upon" (KJV, "shall see"). (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Our physical eyes (and other physical senses) are useless to us when it comes to faith. We cannot have faith if we rely on those senses. We must see through the eyes of our spirit, and not our bodies.

2 Cor 5:7 - For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NKJ)

2 Cor 4:16-18 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen (2 Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. NKJ) For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV)

Rom 4:17 - (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed-- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; (NKJ)

Now our firm persuasion (faith) is the title deed (substance) of things confidently expected (hoped for), the proof (evidence) of things not looked upon (unseen).

As humans, we interact with two worlds: our bodies with the physical world, and our spirit with the spiritual world. In a physical world, our faith (firm persuasion) is our title deed; the proof, or evidence we need to claim the spiritual promises God made, for which we wait with confident expectation (hope) for those promises to be physically manifested at some point in the future. That title deed of faith is the proof (evidence) that what is not physically manifested (that which is unseen), exists spiritually. If this was not the case, and God’s promise did not exist at all, then how can there be evidence for something that does not exist? Yet, the Scriptures are clear that faith is "the evidence, or proof of things not seen". Now, just because we can’t physically see (with our physical senses, i.e. touch, taste, smell, or emotionally feel) what God has promised, doesn’t mean that the promise doesn’t exist. The promise does exist, but in the spiritual world (see the section "Faith is of the spirit, not of the flesh or soul!") because God says it does, and what He has promised, will come to pass (physically manifest itself) in the physical world. Hope is our joyful anticipation of that promise being physically manifested.

Let’s look at a scriptural example of faith in action. Paul writes in Romans:

Rom 4:3 13 , 17-25 ;5:1-5 - For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God (was firmly persuaded. i.e. had faith), and it was accounted to him for righteousness." For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Abraham believed God’s word) (as it is written, "I have made you {past tense} a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed-- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; (i.e. things unseen) who, contrary to hope, in hope believed (in faith, he joyfully was anticipating the manifestation of God’s promise), so that he became the father of many nations {past tense}, according to what was spoken (always based on the Word of God), "So shall your descendants be." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. (He did not rely on what was seen, i.e. their old bodies, but what was unseen; God’s promise) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced (firm persuasion) that what He had promised He was also able to perform (i.e. future physical manifestation of a spiritual promise. This is hope! He used the title deed of faith to claim God’s promise, i.e. he believed and did not doubt; James 1) And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." (This is also how we obtain our righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ)

Note: Abraham was told he had become the father of many nations ("I have made you"), yet he never saw the manifestation of that promise except in Issac. However, he believed God’s promise and lived as though he had received it. He saw through the eyes of his spirit, the fulfillment of God’s promise, believed it, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Who is it that strengthens our hope and keeps us from being disappointed?

Rom 5:5 - Now hope does not disappoint (remember, hope is confident expectation), because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NKJ)

As we will see in a couple of sections, because of God’s immeasurable love for us, God not only provides us with faith, but here we see He also sustains our hope by giving us the Holy Spirit.

Click Here: What Validates Our Faith

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