What Is Faith?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What is faith? Is faith something we believe despite the facts, as many would tell us? Is faith a blind leap into the dark?
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Our Christian faith is not a blind leap into the dark. God has given us minds, and He honors that gift by giving us reason to believe that Jesus Christ is the promised Savior. Consider: God gave us hundreds of prophecies about this Savior, saw to it that each one was fulfilled in the life of Christ, and then made sure that people actually saw that the prophecies were fulfilled. That is indeed powerful evidence - more than reasonable cause for us to believe his Word.
Our argument from Old Testament prophecy also shows that God does not expect faith to be a belief in something despite the facts. The world that the Bible talks about - the one God made as recorded in Scripture and the one science studies - is the real, material world in which we live. Because we know that the Word of God is true, we have every right to expect the facts about this world as related in Scripture to agree with facts established by experience.
Faith, as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, is better grounded in God's Word and the world we know than is the so called science of evolution - which is truly a faith in things unseen.
Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven; I thank You that Your Word, the Bible, is true and trustworthy. Help me to use the Bible in a way that reflects its true importance and teach me as I study. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
