Introduction

When discussing any topic, definitions are important especially when dealing with such an important topic as faith. In the previous article, we discovered that there are numerous false views about faith. The only correct view of faith is God’s view which He has given to us in His Word. Before looking at the Biblical understanding of faith, let us briefly survey the false Satanic views.

False Faiths

Instead of evaluating all false forms of faith, let us separate them into three distinct groups. This is a bit of a simplification but suits the purpose of this article. 

1) No Faith

Some state that they do not need faith at all. This view claims that faith is unreasonable, and it uses phrases such as “a leap of faith.” It tries to make man and his reason the basis of reality. This is an unprovable position and therefore only accepted by faith. Since the core tenant of “no faith” must be accepted by faith, this view cannot even prove itself true. This is a self-destructive position. 

2) Internal Faith

This view states that you just have to have faith in yourself. It would make faith a power or a key that activates your hidden potential. Both the first and second views have man usurp the sovereignty of God. It assumes that man is god which is the Satanic lie of Genesis 3. We know that man is sinful (Romans 3:23) and fallible which makes him unreliable as an object of faith.

3) External Faith. 

In this view, man uses faith as some sort of coin whereby he pays an external false deity of his own making. This deity now has to work or perform for the man. Other versions of this view have faith as something which empowers the idol to have enough strength to work for the ‘believer.’ The Bible declares that all idols are powerless and lifeless (Psalm 115:3-7). Those who worship them, become like them (Psalm 115:8).  We should not think of idols as little statues that people worshipped in the past. Modern man has many idols of his own making.

True Faith

Neither time nor space would allow for an exhaustive look at all the Bible has to say on faith. This article will focus then on Hebrews 11 which is known as the Hall of Faith chapter.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

In this chapter which focuses so much on faith, it is not surprising that God begins by telling us exactly what “faith is.” In this definition of faith, there are two parts.

1) Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. 

Assurance is a word which means foundation. In the Greek, it is a compound word which literally means something which stands under something else. It provides strength and support like a foundation provides to a building. Hope in modern English is no more than a strong wish. I hope it doesn’t rain today. However, Biblical hope is a confident expectation and can be synonymous with the word trust. So, Biblical faith is not something nebulous or irrational. Instead, it is foundational. 

2) Faith is the conviction of things not seen.

Conviction is a word which has the idea of testing something and proving it to be true. Faith looks to the unseen realities presented in God’s Word and finds strength and stability there. Time and time again, it proves that God and His Word are reliable. The great strength comes not from faith itself, but in the power and proven dependability of God’s Word. 

Example: Verse 3 gives an example of faith. 

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

None of us were present to see the creation of the universe by God, but He did not leave mankind to try and reason back to how the universe began as though reason alone was sufficient. Instead, God gave His own authoritative account of how He made the universe. We can have a confident trust in His infallible Word and use that faith as the basis for our reasonable scientific pursuits. We can also confidently trust in His upkeeping of the universe (Colossians 1:17) in a consistent manner (Genesis 8:22) until such time as He destroys the current universe to make way for the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter 3:11-12; Revelation 21:1).

Context

Hebrews 11:1 was not written in a vacuum. Instead it is part of the author’s overall instruction and is directly tied to the previous chapters. The book was written to a church suffering persecution. Some of its members have suffered public abuse, been cast into prison, and had private property confiscated (Hebrews 10:32-34). Other members of the church were wondering if it was even safe for them to go to church and risk exposure to such persecution (Hebrews 10:25). They were not self-isolating because of a contagion but instead were trying to hide their faith to avoid suffering for God. A third group was ministering joyfully to those who were suffering for Christ’s sake even though, by doing so, they risked the same persecution (Hebrews 10:32-34). 

God had made promises to all three groups. He is sovereign even over the persecution. He decides when it begins, how severe it is, and how long it lasts. He controls whom it touches and whom are spared. He brings blessings on those who respond in faith (Hebrews 10:35-36) and judgment on those who refuse to obey Him even out of self-preservation (Hebrews 10:26-31).

Conclusion

But how could those suffering believers know these things were true? They could see no path to safety ahead, and even the “light at the end of the tunnel” was most likely an oncoming train. How could they know that God was in control and working for their good and His glory when the forces of evil seemed to be winning the day? They could know all these things because faith is a confident trust in the Word of God which provided stability to their day to day lives. God is perfect in every way and is totally dependable (Numbers 23:19). He alone is the proper source and object of faith. This amazing faith that He alone provides is the joyful possession of every believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Since this faith is so amazing and provides so much stability, how does someone get it? That is the topic of the next article on faith.